Early Childhood Education in Emergencies (in partnership with VSO)

About this guide

This MESHGuide has been developed and checked by members of the MESH Early Years Editorial Board. It provides collective wisdom of experienced teachers and researchers, supported by a summary of existing research on early years education and child development. Contributors draw on evidence and experience in more than ten countries, developed and developing, including with children in crisis situations in Africa, Asia, and with refugees in the UK. We invite readers to expand the Guide by submitting case studies and by drawing our attention to relevant research and advice.

The evidence underpinning the resources here comes from a wide range of countries and academic disciplines: neuroscience, psychology, physical development, linguistics, child development. Where evidence exists of the efficacy of an activity or programme this is given at the relevant place in the Guide.

There is a lot of replication of existing research and one of the aims of MESH is to highlight where there are gaps in research so that these can be targeted and so wastage of resources can be minimised.

Role of education in crises

Role of education in crises: Save the Children

(Key document: Delivering Education for Children in Emergencies: A Key Building Block for the Future (2008) International Save the Children Alliance. http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/delivering_education_emergencies.pdf.) The document makes the case for prioritising education during emergencies and demonstrates what has been achieved and how this can be built upon.

Below is a summary of information from a number of sources combined with expert opinion.

 

Key Findings & Ideas Implications Examples and Resources
1) In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, education can help protect children from death or bodily harm. It can impart critical life saving information on simple hygiene and health issues that have emerged as a result of the emergency or the dangers of unexploded ordnance.  

Example 1:

Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) developed minimum standards for education in emergencies, chronic crises and early reconstruction. These standards promote consistency in education programming.

2) Children who are in school may be less vulnerable to being recruited into armed groups or being trafficked.    
3) Education can also reduce the effects of trauma and offer children a sense of normality, structure and hope for the future.    
4)  Over the longer term, quality education can be a critical ingredient in the reconstruction of post-conflict societies.    
5) Quality education can promote conflict resolution, tolerance and a respect for human rights.

At System level:

i) Every child has a right to an education. This right is embodied in a host of global agreements beginning with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in legally binding treaties including the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which states that every child has a right to education regardless of the context in which he or she lives.

ii) However, Donors may be reluctant to fund education because they see competing priorities. Education is still hugely underfunded relative to the need and to other sectors

Example 2:

Global Education Cluster, lead by UNICEF and Save the Children, which is designed to enhance coordination, improve accountability and bring quality, effective emergency response education programming to disaster and conflict-affected populations worldwide.

The Education Cluster Toolkit

http://educationcluster.net/tools-and-resources/education-cluster-toolkit/

This includes advocacy documents and a needs analysis.

 

Needs Assessment Pack

6) Continuing quality education from the outset of an emergency ensures that children’s cognitive development and learning is uninterrupted and, in the longer term, offers them increased access to social and economic opportunities.    

7)  To ensure quality, education interventions must be relevant to children’s needs, appropriate to their developmental level, participatory to engage both child and parents in the learning process, flexible to cope with changing conditions, inclusive to ensure access for all and protective so that children are not exposed to abuse, violence or conflict This approach is supported by the Global Education Cluster which is a joint initiative by the UN, UNICEF, Save the Children and others to support education.

 

Example 3:

In northern Sudan, Save the Children used schools to raise awareness of the dangers of landmines. Children’s groups and their teachers receive theater training, and the children then develop skits on the dangers of landmines, which they perform for the community and other children.

 

For Communities:

i) The education system needs to be transparent and accountable to the children, parents and communities.

ii) When school systems have completely collapsed because of protracted conflict, communities often attempt to re-start the education process themselves. Responders can support community initiatives by providing educational supplies, training to teachers and support for curriculum develop.

Iii) The creation of school management committees (SMCs), community education committees (CECs) and parent-teacher associations (PTAs) is an effective way of building community ownership of education and enabling parents to influence the education process for their children.

 

 

Example 4:

Education and System-Strengthening for Displaced Iraqis

Interventions in Jordan focussed on strengthening teacher skills and resources for Jordanian schools as well as educational resources for displaced Iraqis as an ‘everyone benefits’ approach.

Example 5: UNICEF’s School In a Box

This resource provides a range of basic educational resources including paint to create a blackboard out of the box.

Example 6: Child Clubs

Child clubs have proven to be a remarkable catalyst for development and change within communities. They help to empower children to initiate child-development activities for their own benefit. The clubs build children’s self-esteem and confidence, increase their access to information, develop their solidarity and leadership qualities, and provide opportunities for recreation and joyful learning.

 

For Administrators:

I) Initial investments in rehabilitating buildings and delivering supplies need to be supported by thoughtful integration with existing education and child protective services, and mindfulness of the local situation with regard to staff and government abilities to respond.

ii) The education response will include a needs assessment, establishing safe spaces and then some form of shelter or location to provide temporary schooling and psychosocial support to promote readiness to learn prior to the resumption of formal schooling and construction or rehabilitation of schools.

iii) Consumables from the UNICEF ‘School in a Box’ may need to be replenished to aid attendance.

iv) Alternative Schooling may be required for those who are distant from central resource areas and older children who need to catch up and accelerate their learning apart from younger children.

For Teachers:

I)  Qualified Teachers may be available amongst the refugee population and will need training for the context that they are now going to work in.

ii) Simple messages on the dangers of landmines and health and hygiene promotion can reduce their risk of death, physical harm and disease.

Iii) Teacher training in child-centered methodologies and providing quality psychosocial support for children are a crucial part of the response.

For Parents: Children and their families are demanding their right to an education during times of emergency  

For Children:

Child-Friendly Spaces. When school systems and structures are damaged or destroyed, first responders establish secure areas for children to continue their education and play activities even in the midst of the conflict or disaster. These are supervised areas that provide quite areas, opportunities for play and talk. Parents can safely leave their children to attend distribution points and perhaps find relatives.

 

 

     

 

 

 

Effective learners and cultural impact

Different cultures have different approaches to learning and to teaching children how they should live in their society.

Probably the most important research finding for those working with young children is that neuroscientists have found that intelligence is not fixed, that the brain can be developed throughout life (Howard-Jones, 2016).

However, the language used around a child who is learning may influence their belief in their capacity to learn.  In English, there are no single words to describe the stages of learning, yet in Kaupapa Māori there are words which help learners to understand the challenge of learning and the good feeling that comes from learning:       

“There are three Māori concepts that describe the stages of learning: mohiotanga, what the child brings to the learning experience, mātauranga, the challenge involved in learning something new, the struggle of learning as the learner comes to understand it, maramatanga, the understanding and feeling of achievement that comes from the struggle. “ p.1 Culturally responsive assessment based on Kaupapa Māori, www.theeducationhub.org.nz .

This knowledge about brain development underpins the advice about learning in this Guide.

In England, the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (Early education, 2012, pp.6-7) identifies three key characteristics of effective learning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing and Exploring

engagement

Finding out and exploring

·         Showing curiosity about objects, events and people

·         Using senses to explore the world around them

·         Engaging in open-ended activity

·         Showing particular interests

Playing with what they know

·         Pretending objects are things from their experience

·         Representing their experiences in play

·         Taking on a role in their play

·         Acting out experiences with other people

Being willing to ‘have a go’

·         Initiating activities

·         Seeking challenge

·         Showing a ‘can do’ attitude

·         Taking a risk, engaging in new experiences, and learning by trial and error

 

 

 

 

 

 

Active Learning

motivation

Being involved and concentrating

·         Maintaining focus on their activity for a period of time

·         Showing high levels of energy, fascination

·         Not easily distracted

·         Paying attention to details

Keeping on trying

·         Persisting with activity when challenges occur

·         Showing a belief that more effort or a different approach will pay off

·         Bouncing back after difficulties

Enjoying achieving what they set out to do

·         Showing satisfaction in meeting their own goals

·         Being proud of how they accomplished something – not just the end result

·         Enjoying meeting challenges for their own sake rather than external rewards or praise

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating and Thinking Critically thinking

Having their own ideas

·         Thinking of ideas

·         Finding ways to solve problems

·         Finding new ways to do things

Making links

·         Making links and noticing patterns in their experience

·         Making predictions

·         Testing their ideas

·         Developing ideas of grouping, sequences, cause and effect

Choosing ways to do things

·         Planning, making decisions about how to approach a task, solve a problem and reach a goal

·         Checking how well their activities are going

·         Changing strategy as needed

·         Reviewing how well the approach worked

 

Personal, social, emotional development and mental health

Advice from therapists working with refugee children and parents waiting on the French/British border in Calais and Dunkerque is to focus on building resilience by working to try and elicit survival strategies and ways children have coped and to build on these. A lot of work on trauma has come from work with the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, which is unhelpful for refugees (and others in ongoing stressful contexts) as there is no 'post-trauma', they are living with ongoing trauma.

Element Experiences/ Strategies/ Knowledge
Background, theory (attachment)
  • Provide a secure base/ maintain a sense of security (Bowlby, 1998; Ainsworth, 1970)
  • Key person approach – Warm, responsive, consistent carers (Elfer, Goldschmied & Selleck, 2012; DCSF, 2008a; DfE, 2017)
  • Dance of dialogue - attuned to the child’s needs/ treat as communicating being from birth (Read, 2014; Sharma & Cockerill, 2014)
  • Impact of care/ responsiveness/ neglect on brain development and short and long term outcomes. Minimise stress levels – impact on cortisol, myelin breakdown (Thompson, 2008; Music, 2011; Gerhardt, 2014)
  • Emotionally enabling environments/ create a sense of belonging (Gunner & Donzella 2002; Early Education, 2012)
Working with parents
  • Key person approach – triangle of trust & communication. Practitioner, child, parent (Goldschmied & Selleck, 1996).
  • Parental engagement - helpers & volunteers (self-efficacy, agency) Bandura, 1995)
  • Parents valued & respected as experts of their child(ren) (QCA, 2000). ERGO (Empathy, Respect, Genuineness, Optimism) (Scott et al, 2007)
  • Share children’s everyday successes
  • Share concerns sensitively and honestly
Transitions & Building resilience
  • Transitional objects (Winnicott, 1953)
  • Create personal stories for individual children using talk, drawings by adult or child and scribed by adult or child (Masten, 2014).
Understanding and regulating emotions & behaviour

Warm reciprocal relationships, opportunities for autonomy, encouraging ‘talk’ (Whitebread, 2013)

Conflict resolution – 6 steps to conflict resolution (Holt, 2010)

  • Opportunities for gaining the perspectives of others – stories, personal experiences
  • Observe children to identify A, B, C of behaviour
  • Model sharing and caring skills & behaviours
  • Provide images that show feelings being expressed – emotions on carved branches, emotion stones
  • Talk about feelings and provide key vocabulary as opportunities arise
  • Use situation stories
  • Provide consistent fair boundaries whilst allowing for risk and challenge
  • Opportunities to be physically active
Making relationships
  • Key Person Approach (Elfer, Goldschmied & Selleck, 2012; DCSF, 2008a; DfE, 2017)
  • Engage in playful interactions (DCSF, 2008b)
  • Social stages of play – Range of play opportunities including imaginative play, sharing stories, turn taking games, time for 1:1 with key persons & small groups (Parten, 1932; Bronfenbrenner 1979)
  • Communication Friendly Spaces (Jarman, 2013)
  • Value all children, listen, give time to express/ respond
  • Short, small meaningful circle times
  • Learn the names of others through songs and rhymes
Self-confidence, self-awareness & independence
  • Provide opportunities for children to have small responsibilities (Bandura, 1995)
  • Provide spaces for quiet reflection e.g. dens
  • Use every day routines to promote independence e.g. mealtimes, dressing (Casey & Robertson 2016; DfE, 2017)
  • Time to self-initiate play and exploration with open ended materials that have many possibilities (no right or wrong) e.g. loose parts.
  • Psychological safety & psychological freedom
  • Use specific praise, share achievements, WOW moments
  • Encourage children to support others (scaffold) (Bruner 1978; Rogers, 1961)
  • Positive comments/ expressions need to significantly outweigh negatives
  • Take a genuine interest in children, listen to them
  • Allow children to take decisions, express preferences & make choices
  • Creating & Thinking Critically (DfE, 2017)
  • Risk and challenge (Gill, 2006)

 

Communication, language and speech

Element Experiences/ Strategies/ Knowledge
Background/Theory
  • The most fundamental life skill for children is the ability to communicate. It directly impacts on their ability to learn, to develop friendships and on their life chances (ICAN & RCSLT, 2018).

  • Communication is one of the most empowering ways to improve the lives of children and their families (Kolucki & Lemish, 2011)

  • The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child includes a variety of communication rights: the right to be heard and to be taken seriously; to free speech and to information; to maintain privacy; to develop cultural identity; and to be proud of one’s heritage and beliefs. Yet, whether girls and boys live in deprived and resource-poor societies, or in overwhelmingly commercialized and profit-driven ones, their voices need to be heard and taken seriously; the possibility for expressing their needs and opinions and their access to important information should be expanded (Kolucki & Lemish, 2011).

  • Social and emotional development is inter-connected with communication and language so when skills in communication and language (C&L) are lacking social and emotional (S&E) well-being is commonly deficient (Bercow, 2008).

Non-verbal communication
  • Using Makaton - a language programme using signs and symbols designed to support spoken language by use of signs alongside signs and symbols (Mistry, & Barnes, 2013; Gross, 2013)

  • Facial expressions are significant, they provide social referencing for children e.g. still face paradigm (Tronik, 2007) and visual cliff experiment (Sorce et al., 1985)

  • Use gestures with language e.g. waving goodbye, hand washing

  • Action songs and rhymes

Language Rich Environments:

Spaces & places to communicate

  • The role of the environment in supporting language by providing safe, secure places where children feel relaxed. Creating spaces inside and outside for children to talk e.g. dens, boxes, screened areas (Jarman, 2013).

  • Create quieter areas, free from bustle & distraction (DCSF, 2008)

Language Rich Environments:

Creating opportunities and reasons for talk and conversation

  • Provide time - General listening, valuing input and responding with great interest

  • Sustained shared thinking – positive, skilled interaction where individuals work together thinking critically and creatively that enables natural conversation (Brodie, 2014; Early Education, 2012; Siraj-Blachford, 2009)

  • Offer provocation  – exciting play opportunities and objects that naturally excite children to be curious & engage in talk (DfE, 2017; Ephgrave, 2018)

  • The EYFS characteristics of effective learning – Playing & Exploring; Active Learning, Creating & Thinking Critically (DfE, 2017)

  • Display pictures and/ or make simple books e.g. children’s families, shared experiences between children and adults that hold meaning, local environment. Making these available can create talking points & support children in initiating conversation

  • Provide the opportunity for meaningful imaginative role play with others (Gussin-Paley, 1991)

  • Share stories

  • Helicopter stories/ story scribing – where children dictate their stories which are written down verbatim by the adult (Gussin-Paley, 2004; Lee, 2015; Ephgrave, 2018)

  • Engage in songs and rhymes

  • Possibility pockets & chatter baskets – contents created to enable varied possibilities for ‘chatter’ and can be developed to meet interests (DCSF, 2009)

  • Tune into environmental sounds e.g. go on a listening walk

  • Use musical instruments to distinguish and identify different sounds

  • Use familiar routines e.g. meal times to encourage socialising and conversation

Adult role

Clearly the role of the adult is key in all the above but here are some top tips:

  • Value talk

  • Tune in to children – get to know the children so you can manage this effectively

  • Wait, watch & wonder – children will often initiate conversation if given the time, pondering e.g. I wonder statements are less threatening than direct questions. Children are more relaxed and more likely to respond (Fisher, 2016).

  • Thinking time – young children need time (up to 11 seconds) to process before responding (DCSF, 2009)

  • Foster positive relationships based on trust and mutual respect. If children feel safe and comfortable and know you care about them they are likely to want to communicate with you

  • Share your experiences

  • Avoid asking too many questions – Instead hold a conversation. When you do ask questions make these open and purposeful.

  • Allow children to lead play and follow their interests – engaged excited learners will want to tell you about their play and exploration

  • Use a sing song voice (Motherese) with babies – easier for babies to distinguish sounds/ tune in (Abbott & Burkitt, 2015)

  • Use commentary – model language through describing what children are doing (Early Education, 2012)

  • Use Gestures – in conjunction with spoken language

  • Repeat children’s language – using correct pronunciation and extending vocabulary/ sentences as appropriate

  • Be a play partner – share the experience

Be a positive role model – using correct spoken language & listen actively to others

 

Physical development

Element Knowledge/ Experiences/ Strategies/ (Evidence)
Background/ theory
  • Sensori-motor stage (0-2 years) Babies use physical motor skills and senses to explore objects and the world around them and develop cognition (Piaget, 1936).

  • Schemas: Through movement children begin to make sense of themselves, properties of objects, shape and space OR Linking thought through action. (Piaget, 1936; Athey, 2007).

  • Margaret & Rachel MacMillan (1911) - early years pioneers who believed that a healthy body leads to healthy mind; good nutrition was vital for positive cognitive and physical growth; open air nurseries were key to supporting deprived families; school meals were necessary and health and learning went hand in hand.

  • Physical Development is not a discrete area of learning it permeates everything the child does.

  • Two processes determine physical development – cephalocaudal (movement from head to toe) and proximodistal (from inner to outer).

  • In the UK EYFS framework Physical Development has 2 aspects – moving and handling and health and self-care (DfE, 2017; Early Education, 2012).

Being physically active
  • Use the outside environment and community space for learning and going for walks “Children of pre-school age who are capable of walking unaided should be physically active daily for at least 180 minutes” (BHF, 2015)

  • Obstacle courses to raise body awareness

  • Tree and climbing

  • Tunnel crawling

  • Parachute games

  • Engaging in sports e.g. running races, egg and spoon race

  • Engaging in hand eye/ foot eye coordination activity e.g. football, throwing, catching, hitting a ball, object in a bucket

  • Balancing opportunities e.g. logs, benches, tree stumps, on a chalk line

  • Dancing

  • Body percussion

  • Music and movement sessions

  • Body movement action songs e.g. head and shoulders, jelly on a plate, row the boat

  • Floor based play time for babies to use different muscles and movements

  • Outdoor imaginative play

  • Opportunities to make up their own active play

  • Provide a variety of climbing equipment and play spaces

  • Ribbon waving and movements – ribbons on sticks and dancing scarves

  • Reduce time children spend on sedentary activities e.g. sitting (DoH, 2011)

  • Adults to be active role models with positive attitudes to physical activity

  • See Bridgend (2008#0 document for further ideas that could be adapted

Developing fine motor skills
  • All the above as children need to engage in sufficient gross motor activity before fine motor skills can fully develop (O’Connor, 2016)

  • Opportunities during floor time for young babies to reach out and grasp out of reach objects

  • Handle a variety of tools, objects and materials in different contexts inside and outside

  • Woodwork

  • Construction play e.g. den building

  • Threading and weaving activities

  • Provide drawing and writing media

  • Cooking

  • Small loose parts play for manipulating (Casey & Robertson, 2016)

  • Dancing finger songs e.g. two little dickie birds

  • Routines e.g. dressing (buttons, zips)

Health and self-care
  • Provide time and opportunity for children to manage their own toileting and dressing needs

  • Allow children to be involved in the preparation of meals and snacks where appropriate

  • Be a positive role model – early eating and active habits are reflected in later childhood and adulthood (DoH, 2011)

  • Children need a ‘balanced rhythm to the day’ with time to make choices, be physically active, reflect, relax, sleep

  • Provide risk and challenge in a safe environment so that children learn how to keep themselves safe and make well considered decisions

 

Literacy

Element Experiences/ Strategies/ Knowledge
Background/ Theory
  • Globally, the youth literacy rate increased from 83 per cent to 91 per cent over two decades, while the number of illiterate youth declined from 170 million to 115 million (In the 101/159 countries with data) (UNESCO, 2017a).

  • Regional and gender disparities persist. Literacy is lowest in least developed countries and higher among males than females. In the most recent years young women accounted for 59 per cent of the total illiterate youth population (using available data) (UNESCO, 2017a).

  • The 2030 agenda for sustainable development aspires to a world with Universal literacy. Sustainable development goal 4 relates to inclusive and equitable education for all and includes the statement ‘ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy’ (United Nations, 2015).

  • ‘Abundant research evidence indicates a strong association between parents’ education levels and their children’s literacy acquisition. Several studies stress the importance of involving families in literacy programmes by using intergenerational approaches to learning (Brooks et al., 2008; Carpentieri et al., 2011)’ (Hanemann et al., 2017).

  • Play lays the foundation for literacy. Through play children learn to make and practise new sounds. They try out new vocabulary, on their own or with friends, and exercise their imagination through storytelling (NLT, 2017).

  • Hall (1991) recognised links between play and literacy from a number of play studies and summarised these as:

  • Play as a fundamental cognitive activity is preparation for more complex cognitive activities such as literacy.

  • Symbolic behaviour in play is related to the understanding of a representational system like written language.

  • Language behaviour in play is related to literate language.

  • When children are offered play experience with literacy-related resources, they act in literate ways.

Family Learning

This section is taken from Hanemann, 2017.

  • Family learning programmes are designed to encourage family members from different generations to learn together.

  • Successful programmes provide sessions for adults, sessions for children and joint sessions.

  • Adult sessions should include topics that are relevant to them as adults, the development of literacy, numeracy and language practices and information on how to support their children’s learning.

  • In the sessions for children facilitators develop skills through play and structured activities. Activities focus on preparation for school and specific issues in the family and the wider community.

  • Sessions where adults and children learn together are informal and include follow up to activities which took place in separate groups. Rather than leading the activities, the facilitator supports interaction between generations and models positive learning activities.

A love of books and reading
  • Create a space for the sharing of stories

  • Talk about characters and their feelings about stories

  • Encourage discussion and comparison with people from their own experience

  • Encourage children to predict outcomes, to think of alternative endings and to compare story lines to their own experience

  • Model, scaffold and encourage children to use a range of reading strategies

  • Model oral blending and segmenting of sounds

  • Provide story sacks and props

  • Act out stories through role play and provide related print for imaginative play as available e.g. recipe books, maps, signs and labels

  • Display children’s ‘work’ about books

  • Text that allow for following instructions e.g. recipes

  • Story scribing (Gussin-Paley, 1991; Lee, 2015; Ephgrave, 2018)

  • Introduce systematic, synthetic phonics through play and active learning strategies (DfES, 2007)

Rhyme
  • Listen to language by sharing and enjoying a whole range of rhymes, music, songs, poetry

  • Link language with physical movement in action songs and rhymes e.g. clapping, marching, act out, musical instruments

  • Rhyme games e.g. nonsense words

  • Word matching games

  • Introduce systematic, synthetic phonics through play and active learning strategies

Environmental print
  • Create an environment rich in print and provide experiences, opportunities and resources that will enable children to interact with environmental print outside and inside e.g. signs and labels

  • Letter shapes in the environment

  • Word walks inside and outside – searching for print and discussing meaning

Name exploration
  • Children’s names visible in the environment

  • Use familiar children’s names in songs, in stories and use familiar letters in letter hunts, mark making

  • Explore the initial sound of names e.g. matching, finding in texts

  • Make books about the children e.g. our Favourite Foods

  • Compare names e.g. common and different letters, number of letters in names

  • Use names in physical activity e.g. adult holds up a child’s name and they hop/jump

Desire to write
  • Provide opportunities for mark making

  • Model writing for different purposes

  • Alphabet and key words and names are visible to observe and refer to

  • Story scribing (Gussin-Paley, 1991; Lee, 2015; Ephgrave, 2018)

  • Act as a non-specific scribe i.e. writing down what children want to say

  • Use writing in meaningful contexts e.g. naming/labelling work, writing to others

  • Encourage imaginative play that encourage a real purpose for mark making/writing

  • Encourage shared writing opportunities

  • Read children’s writing aloud so that they understand that writing is an important way of communicating

  • Value children’s writing – process is more important than final product

Phonics for reading and writing
  • Introduce systematic, synthetic phonics

  • Provide multisensory synthetic phonics sessions

General sound discrimination activities:

  • listening walks – identifying everyday sounds indoors/outdoors

  • listening to everyday sounds heard behind a screen

  • identifying musical instruments from sound

  • body percussion: singing songs using body sounds (claps, knee pats, foot stamps, etc). Children identify part of body making the sound

  • Rhythm: singing nursery rhymes. Children move in appropriate ways, for example, marching

Use stories to demonstrate phonics as the prime approach to decode words and develop children’s understanding and knowledge about:

  • story settings, events and main characters

  • language patterns of stories

  • simple grammatical structures

  • Rhyming

  • Alliteration

  • using intonation, rhythm and phrasing to make meaning clear to others

  • how to use reading strategies, for example, illustration/contextual clues/phonemes

  • appropriate vocabulary – cover, page

  • the concept of a word

  • linking sounds to letters

Speech sound discrimination activities:

  • Games involving children using voices in different ways and exploring a variety of sounds, for example, using voice, children make happy, sad, high or low sounds

  • songs and rhymes involving different voices and sounds, for example, ‘The Wheels on the Bus’

  • songs involving children identifying children from their voice

  • using voice as a sound accompaniment, for example, adult tells a story and children provide the sound response e.g. sound of the rain, going down a slide, etc

 

Mathematics and numeracy

An overview of research and advice about developing mathematical learning 0-5 years is provided in this online guidance from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. http://www.wordworks.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/More-than-Counting_web.pdf

Their definition of mathematics may be helpful. The booklet is freely available, very readable and packed with ideas for activities.

“What do we mean by mathematics?

Most people associate mathematics primarily with arithmetic – numbers and calculations.

The terms ‘numeracy’ and ‘mathematics’ are often used interchangeably but the term mathematics should be used to describe the broad subject area of mathematics concepts, skills and applications. Numeracy refers to the everyday uses of mathematics, and includes the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts, such as addition and subtraction. A person with adequate numeracy skills can manage and respond to the everyday mathematical demands of life; in other words, numeracy is an essential life skill in the same way that reading and writing are.

Babies start to make sense of the world in mathematical ways from birth, recognising the difference between small numbers of objects and identifying familiar shapes and patterns in the environment around them. Toddlers and young children continue to develop early mathematics concepts in the early years, through for instance, ordering, matching and classifying objects, and developing and using ideas about shape, space, time and measurement. Although these concepts might not seem mathematical they are important emerging mathematical insights for the growing child. In addition, mathematics provides a powerful means for organising insights and ideas about the world in systematic ways that include describing and representing quantities, collecting information and problem solving.

Mathematics becomes most real and comprehensible for young learners when it develops out of everyday situations and experiences. Mathematical learning can be found and conveyed through many home and classroom activities, and facilitated by teachers, parents and carers in simple ways. In all early years settings, including the home, children can be helped to learn about mathematics through play (for instance, with blocks, sand and water), shared storybook reading, pretend or make-believe games, as well as through their participation in everyday routines and situations, such as going shopping or sharing sweets. Children can also make connections between mathematics and musical experiences, like rhythm and keeping time, and art, when they explore visual patterns or symmetry.

Structured mathematics learning for young children should therefore extend far beyond counting and number concepts, and also include introducing children to the concept areas (such as number, patterns, space, shape, measurement and data handling) and specialised language, which they will require for successful mathematics learning from Grade R onwards.” Page 5., Kuhne et al Much more than counting: supporting mathematics development from birth to 5 years University of Cape Town Schools Development Unit email: cally.kuhne@uct.ac.za

Element Knowledge/ Experiences/ Strategies/ (Evidence)
Background/ Theory
  • The 2030 agenda for sustainable development aspires to a world with Universal numeracy. Sustainable development goal 4 relates to inclusive and equitable education for all and includes the statement ‘ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy’ (United Nations, 2015).

  • At the most fundamental level, literacy and numeracy constitute a foundation for developing higher-order cognitive skills, such as analytic reasoning, and are essential for gaining access to and understanding specific domains of knowledge (OECD, 2016).

  • Too many adults lack the skills needed to face the challenges of globalisation. More than 200 million adults across OECD countries (about one in four) have low literacy or numeracy skills and 60% of them lack both types of skills (OECD, 2017).

  • The EYFS recognises that creativity and critical thinking are important in all areas of learning and are as integral to mathematics as they are to painting or dance (DCSF, 2009a).

  • The EYFS states that ‘mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures’ (DfE, 2017, p.8).

  • It is important in early years to combat the common perception that Maths is hard. Delvin (2000) explains that whilst we naturally use mathematical concepts in everyday situations e.g. cooking, crossing the road, to adapt and use these for abstract reasoning and provide logic for this is challenging.

  • Maths is everywhere! (Skinner, 2011). Maths should not be constrained by an area of the environment moreover practitioners need to understand how maths permeates all spaces, indoors and outdoors, and use these accordingly.

  • The Williams review (2008) recognised the importance of play-based learning of a mathematical nature in promoting mathematical development.

Numbers
  • Use number stories and number action rhymes to develop understanding of number and counting forwards and backwards

  • Encourage children to match their fingers to the number

  • Activity - put hands behind backs and count together, one, two, three, four, five. Bring out hands with five fingers standing – i.e. one whole hand

  • Count group of objects in different layouts to develop concepts of sets and similar amounts

  • Observing and identifying numbers in the environment e.g. buses, road signs, on food containers

  • Explore money when shopping and in role play

  • Use birthdays to understand simple numbers and share dates

  • Use the language of counting and ordering in everyday situations e.g. climbing stairs, building blocks, getting dressed

  • Play practical games that enable counting, adding and taking away, estimating

  • Encourage children to ‘keep score’ when playing

  • Use the sharing of food to discuss how many pieces

  • Encourage mark making in number writing and representations

  • Provide small world play from familiar stories, giving reasons for counting and encourages number talk

  • Display numerals in purposeful contexts

  • Provide number labels and number lines for children to use and refer to in their play

  • Encourage number writing for a purpose in play e.g. football numbers, car registrations, taking the register

  • Outdoor number hunt

Shape, space and measure
  • Pound (2009) analyses this aspect of development and suggests it includes four key categories, actions e.g. responding, sorting noticing changes, comparing; thinking processes e.g. logic, understanding variations, recognising similarities and differences, investigating things that challenge expectations; talking e.g. using relevant language and vocabulary and describing solutions; dispositions for learning e.g. enjoyment, curiosity

  • Positional language games e.g. where is it?, where am I/ you?

  • Provide a wide range of natural objects and materials that motivate children to match, sort and categorise

  • Provide and encourage the use of standard and non-standard measures

  • Heuristic play with containers and objects

  • Opportunities to observe and explore patterns

  • Cooking activities

  • Opportunities to explore space with their bodies e.g. crawling in spaces

  • Discuss times of the day e.g. morning, before snack time, 5 minutes time

  • Shape hunts inside and outside

Mathematical creativity

(Tucker, 2014, p.4)

  • Using open ended questions and sustained shared thinking techniques

  • Provide open ended resources (loose parts link)

  • Ensure time and space for children to explore and extend their enquiry

  • Allow children to leave out any play resources so they can re-visit them the following day and develop their thinking further

  • Ensure that children have the opportunity to review their work and talk about their thinking using appropriate language

  • Encourage children to make links between maths and other experiences

  • Discover pattern in 2 and 3D art activities, playing musical instruments, using loose parts

  • Imaginative role play and small world play

Problem solving

DCSF, 2009a

  • Use everyday activities and routines e.g. how many places do we need to set for lunch today, registration - how many more, less children are here today

  • Counting lunch preferences and the most and least popular.

  • Encourage children to create their own graphical representations of these figures  (Williams, 2011)

  • Allow children to be challenged in their thinking and scaffold as appropriate (Vygotsky, Bruner)

  • Discuss problem solving strategies children have used and provide time for reflection

  • Den building

  • Provide a culture of enquiry where children’s own ideas are at the heart of planning

  • Share and discuss children’s ideas of calculation strategies with them

  • Make regular times for small-group discussions about children’s own personal mathematical problem solving

 

Expressive Arts and Design including music, rhythm, song

Element Experiences/ Strategies/ Knowledge
Background/ Theory
  • Expressive Arts and Design is one of the four specific areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (DfE, 2017). The specific areas include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas and provide important contexts for learning.

  • By encouraging children to experiment and use learned skills to explore a wide range of media and materials we are promoting their ability to explore and understand their world and to make links between their experiences which will encompass all the areas of learning.

  • These experiences can also be expressed via music making, singing, dance, role-play and storytelling.

  • Clearly these two aspects overlap and feed into each other. Practitioners should provide first-hand experiences for children to explore with all of their senses. These should capture children’s imagination and excite them into action.

  • Being imaginative is a creative process. Play and creativity are intrinsically linked (Compton et al., 2010)

 
Exploring and using media and materials

Mark-making resources (DCSF, 2008)

 - a range of implements e.g. pencils, feathers, fingers

 - materials/ space to write e.g. paper, soil , sand

 - positive role models to be observed writing and drawing

Designing and making resources:

 - Available materials e.g. fabrics, reclaimed materials, boxes, tubes, cartons, bottle tops, card, paper

 - separating and joining tools e.g. scissors, string, glue

 - malleable materials e.g. sand, mud

 - Use these materials with and without tools in order for children to understand their properties, opportunities to construct and design using materials without tools e.g. by squeezing, pressing, pulling, rolling, pinching, poking, stretching, tearing, moulding, etc.

 - Allow children to observe and explore available tools so they  can make choices about what to use

  • Observing and drawing natural objects and materials e.g. feathers, shells, leaves, ice, mini-beasts, plants and seeds

  • As above with manufactured objects and materials e.g. scarves, fabric, plastics, metal

  • Give opportunities to experience real weather conditions

Being imaginative
  • Resources to stimulate spontaneous movement e.g. fabrics, scarves, feathers, ribbons

  • Clothes or costumes that suggest a character and specific movement response  

  • An appropriate space for movement

  • Provide the opportunity for meaningful imaginative role play with others (Gussin-Paley, 2004)

  • Resources and props to stimulate symbolic play e.g. boxes, blocks, fabrics

  • Small world play

  • Sand and/ or water play, to create imaginary landscapes e.g. making underwater scene and islands

  • Helicopter stories/ story scribing – where children dictate their stories which are written down verbatim by the adult (Gussin-Paley, 1991; Lee, 2015; Ephgrave, 2018

  • Adult-led stories and rhymes introduced in a range of ways, including traditional stories, told stories made up by the adults from the community

  • Listening to, creating and responding to a diversity of music

  • Experimenting with sounds e.g. using percussion instruments or home-made instruments, natural sounds, sounds for a purpose such as for stories

  • Lead opportunities for children to move in a variety of ways e.g. roll, slide, swing

  • Experience performance e.g. visiting dancers, puppet theatre, perform dances, puppet shows

  • Sing well-known songs, using children’s ideas to change the words and devise actions

  • Explore body sounds by clapping, stomping, clicking, rubbing

  • Use objects to make unusual sounds by tapping, scraping, shaking

  • Den play (Canning, 2013)

 

Art as Therapy - Clare Miles

There is a growing body of evidence which supports the arts and art therapy as a complementary method of improving and maintaining both mental and physical health and wellbeing (BAAT, 2018).  Participating in arts programs can be a way of enabling resilience for those facing difficult and traumatic situations, particularly when it is difficult for people to put their experience into words (Dieterich-Hartwell and Koch, 2017).  Engagement with the arts therapies and art for health may increase integration with others, as well as enable psychological change (Artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk)

Art therapy practice has been heavily influenced by attachment theory, the sensory nature of the arts process can itself facilitate connection encourage attunement and mirroring behavior BAAT (2018).  This can be particularly significant in building attachment between mother and child where the act of creating together enables the mother to mirror and attune to the needs and emotions of the child (Case and Dalley, 2014; Winnicott, 1965).  The facilitator and the art work itself can provide a way for feelings and experience to be contained or projected, enabling difficult thoughts and feelings to be communicated (Case and Dalley, 2014).

Attending regular art sessions may also provide a place to belong, to be heard and to integrate with others who may share experience, and within a new situation such as a refugee may experience and the facilitator is key in creating a safe and secure environment in which people can belong and feel safe to express themselves (Dieterich-Hartwell and Koch, 2017).  This can particularly be the case where people find themselves in a place of ‘limbo’ and being in a temporary situation and the act of making together. Producing something pleasing and personal to their own identity and situation, may enable the created object to become a transitional piece which can be held on to at a time of great upheaval and uncertainty (Dieterich-Hartwell and Koch, 2017).  According to a report on arts in health, culturally sensitive delivery of arts therapies, may be especially useful for women refugees following complex trauma when delivered in partnership with other services supporting their health care (Cayton 2007).

From:  Miles E C (2018) MA Art Therapy University of Derby, Unpublished.

References

Artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/what—is-arts-in-health.  Accessed 5/3/18; 10:00.

British Association of Art Therapists BAAT (2018) http://www.baat.org/About-Art-Therapy.

Case C and Dalley T (2014) The Handbook of Art Therapy.  3rd edition.  London: Routledge.

Cayton H (2007) Report of the Review of Arts and Health Working Group. London: Department of Health.

Dieterich-Hartwell R and Koch SC (2017) Creative Arts Therapies as a Temporary Home for Refugees: Insights from Literature and Practice.  Behavioral Sciences 7(69).

Winnicott D (1965) Child Analysis in the Latency Period In the Maturational Process and the Facilitating Environment.  London: Hogarth Press.

The child’s understanding of their world

The research indicating the importance of the different forms of play is referenced elsewhere in this guide (see Section 1). The advice which follows shows how a child can be helped to understand their world through play. Understanding the world is one of four specific areas of learning within the English Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. ‘Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment’ (DfE, 2017).

Element Knowledge/ Experiences/ Strategies/ (Evidence)
Background/ Theory
  • Humans are instinctively curious and use discovery through senses from birth to make sense of the world (Beeley, 2012).

  • Children make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about the environment, people and technology.

  • As with all EYFS areas, cross curricular learning occurs and as with all learning for young children, characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

  • exploring and experimenting - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’

  • active learning - young children need to handle real objects to learn about them. They have not yet developed the ability to learn in the abstract. Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements

  • creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

People and communities (Citizenship)
  • From songs, games and stories children learn local traditions and cultural practices and start to understand how to live in their community.

  • Songs, games and stories can help a child understand the past and present in their own lives and to understand the similarities and differences between themselves and others.

  • All ages will enjoy listening to stories and rhymes and songs from their own culture. Encourage parents and people from the community to provide a wealth of stories and songs to share with the children.

  • Children need a very strong sense of who they are, where they come from and what their culture is.

  • In times of crisis, providing as much of the normality they previously experienced helps them to cope with the changes in their lives.

  • Role play is a natural form of expression for children where they can act out and make sense of their world.

  • During crucial changes in a child’s life this activity will be very therapeutic in helping them to come to terms with and adapt to new circumstances. Provide plenty of time for this activity to flourish and, where appropriate, some props to facilitate play. See also emotional development.

  • Maintaining a strong cultural identity is important part of this.

  • Individuals to share knowledge, skills and experience – challenging stereotypes when possible, volunteers, positive role models

  • Parent/ carer/ grandparent volunteers to come in and cook, read, garden etc

  • Visitors with global experiences to share

  • Visits to the local community

  • Group times – sense of belonging and getting to know each other, similarities and differences

  • Drawings or photographs of children where possible displayed and/or made into simple books

  • Use of positive images in the environment that challenge stereotypes and promote aspiration

  • Use of stories to support the development of empathy

  • Role play should take into account inclusion and diversity of culture

  • Provide opportunities for children to learn about the characteristics of solids and liquids e.g. cooking

Time (History)
  • During group times talk about periods and times of the day, days of the week, dates and month

  • Visual timetables and/or discussions to show periods of the day e.g. arrival, play, lunch time, outside

Place (Geography)
  • Imaginative play with drawn maps and discussions about place

  • Visits to local community

  • Observe landscapes through first-hand experience and images

Technology
  • Observe the range of tools and technologies that are in use around them

  • Through play, and activities including role play, they learn to select and use tools and technology for particular purposes and work out which is the most effective

  • Discuss technology in the environment and recreate as appropriate in role play e.g. traffic lights

Exploration & Investigation (Science)

 

 

 

 

The headings used to categorise here are taken from (Brunton & Thornton, 2010). Some examples of ways to support learning and development are provided, there are many more.

Children benefit from opportunities to discover the natural world as well as the made world. Through exploration they can start to understand basic science and the environment. Handling natural materials, mud, clay, sticks, stones and leaves and coming to understand the properties of water, fire, air are ways their understanding of the world develops.

  • Follow children’s current interests and preoccupations to cultivate scientific exploration

Living things, Habitats and Sustainability, The Human Body and Healthy Living

  • Life cycle observation and exploration with plants and creatures

  • Planting seeds and growing plants

  • Create areas where creatures will habitat so children can carry out bug hunts

  • Use snack and meal times to promote and discuss healthy eating

  • Active physical exercise and a reflection of the impact on the body e.g. heart racing, red face, ‘puffed out’

Properties and classification of materials, forces, friction, air and water

  • open-ended materials, natural and reclaimed, to encourage children to investigate, developing their curiosity, imagination and creativity e.g. Loose Parts play

  • Musical washing line from kitchen utensils to explore sound

  • Create adjustable ramps using available materials and explore speed and friction using varied objects

Magnetism, electricity, sound, light, shadow, colour, reflection

  • Exploration of light and dark – dark rooms, dens, torches, light table

  • Sunlight and shadows – drawing around shadows at different times of the day, measuring shadows

  • Identify shiny materials in the environment for reflection exploration

The solar system, the earth structure, weather patterns and rock formation

  • Discuss the seasons and weather when playing outside and through songs e.g. it’s raining, it’s pouring, books

  • Create a daily weather chart

  • Stones, pebbles and rocks available for exploration

Through all these activities:

  • Offer provocations (Ephgrave, 2018). Additions that create thought e.g. a question, an object

  • Encourage conversation and ask open questions that encourage children to compare and contrast

  • Allow time for self-discovery

As well as the ideas presented elsewhere in this Guide, here are some for specifically developing and understanding of the natural world and local environment:

  • With the collections described here, you can promote children’s language, sense of touch and understanding of the materials in their world.

  • Notice the ways in which individual children select and handle the items in the collections – how they select and discard objects, how they explore them using their senses, how they move them about, or how they look closely at how things work all the time learning about what the items or materials will do.

Here are examples of collections:

  • Everyday item collection which the children explore and investigate using all their senses e.g. kitchen utensils, balls, brushes, shiny things, or different fabrics for the children to handle independently.

  • A scented collection e.g. lemons or oranges, herbs

  • A natural collection – shells, large pebbles or polished stones, leaves of different shapes and sizes, large seed pods and pieces of tree bark.

  • A materials collection – interesting objects made from natural materials.

Specific age related ideas for

2 - 3 year-olds

Children of this age are very eager to explore the world around them by being curious about what they see, hear, and touch, and by asking questions. Your answers help them develop their language as well as understanding.

  • Encourage children to explore the world using all of their senses – have fun guessing what covered up objects are by touching them, listening to them or smelling them.

  • Provide a small bag or container to collect different pebbles, stones

  • Where there is access to nature, show children buds and new shoots and talk to them about growing things, show them how to touch them gently, as well as smelling flowers and blossom and listening to the birds.

  • Some children enjoy drawing and mark making.

  • On a sunny day, try a shadow hunt with the children – look at the shapes, sizes and positions of the shadows. Try to catch your shadow.

Specific age related ideas for

4 - 5 year-olds

By the time a child is four or five he will have developed interests and fascinations which you could support to encourage his learning across all areas of learning and development.

  • Listen carefully to what each child has to say when they discover something of interest; try challenging them  to explain their ideas to you as this will help them to develop their thinking skills.

  • Activities might include watching and talking about any insect life or wildlife eg  birds, snails, spiders, insects. The child can then discover how a variety of things live and behave.

  • Water provides the opportunity to look at reflections and to talk about where water comes from and where it goes.

 

Development delay assessment

Children develop at different rates and providing detailed advice about development delays is beyond the scope of this Guide. However five specific resources are referenced below for those who want to explore these particular areas in more depth -

- Deafness and hearing impairment

Croydon SENCO Tool Kit (for school co-ordinators of Special Educational Needs provision)

Sensory Processing Disorder: Sharon Salmon

- Dyslexia and Dyscalculia 

Croydon SENCO Tool Kit

(See https://www.croydon.gov.uk/education/special-educational-needs/sen-education/croydon-senco-portal/croydon-senco-toolkit-0/identifying-pupils-with-send))

The guidance includes:

Resource 1: Flowchart to map process for identifying pupils who require SEN support in schools.

Resource 2: Talking with Pupils (Pupil voice) - Information and resources to support engagement with pupils to identify strengths and barriers to learning.

Resource 3: Talking with Parents (Parents views and wishes) – Information and resources to support positive engagement and shared understanding of strengths and difficulties.

Resource 4: Inclusion Checklist – Descriptors of high quality inclusive practice to audit inclusive practice in daily teaching. This checklist can be used to support lesson observations and discussions with class and subject teachers.

Resource 5: What other circumstances can affect pupil progress and achievement?

Resource 6: Directory of useful checklists and diagnostic tools to support further assessment or pupils across the four broad categories of need.

Sensory Processing Disorder: Sharon Salmon

We all have different sensory needs which help us to relax, interact with our surroundings or focus successfully. Some people need music to help them concentrate, others concentrate best in total silence. Doodling helps some of us focus while others like to chew on something (their nails, ends of pencils or gum). What helps you to relax? Do you exercise or lay in a bath? What comforts you? A hug, solitude, music? We tend not to pay much attention to our sensory needs because we are usually able to meet those needs without even thinking about it. However, some people have a sensory processing disorder where the information gathered through their senses is not interpreted properly and they find functioning in a sensory world quite challenging. The young people in our classes who have a sensory processing disorder often present as being ‘out-of-sync’ and it can be difficult to identify what we can do to support them to access learning effectively.

Sensory Processing Disorder is thought to affect between 5% and 20% of children. They often present with behaviour which is not exactly what you would expect - they may be oversensitive to one kind of stimulation or under sensitive to another kind.

We receive information about our surroundings from our senses. We use this information to organize our behaviour and interact in the world. Our senses include sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.  There are also other sensations that are just as important to us. Our nervous systems detect changes in movement and gravity; these sensory systems include our vestibular sense which is about balance and movement and proprioception which is about muscle and joint sense. Our brains organize the information we gather through our senses so that we can function in everyday situations. If one or more of a child’s senses are not being interpreted properly then the child has vague or hazy feedback about these senses. A child with sensory processing disorder experiences a world which is not reliable and safe and therefore does not enjoy it as much as other children.

Sensory Differences

Visual – sight

Olfactory – smell

Gustatory –taste

Vestibular – balance

Auditory –hearing

Tactile – touch

Proprioception – body awareness

Sensory Problem                        

Signs or behaviour

Overly sensitive to touch, movements, sights or sounds                                               

Behaviour issues, distractible.

Fearful reaction to ordinary                                                                   movement activities.

Under-reactive to sensory stimulation

Needs intense sensory experiences such as spinning, falling, crashing into things.

Unusually high/low activity level

Constantly on the move or may be slow to get going then tires easily.

Coordination problems

Could have poor balance; have difficulty learning a new task that needs motor coordination; may appear clumsy.

Delays academic achievement or activities of daily living

May have difficulties in academic areas despite normal or above cognitive ability. Could have problems with handwriting, using scissors, tying laces etc.

Poor organisation of behaviour

May be impulsive or distractible, shows lack of planning.

Poor self-concept

May appear lazy, bored, stubborn.

What can we do to support pupils in our class with Sensory Processing Disorder?

Simply being aware that the child may have this disorder and is not choosing to be difficult is a good start and may help us to understand their difficulties.

A referral to an Occupational Therapist with training in sensory integration would provide therapeutic activities to support the child to develop neural organisation and inner direction.

However, if the child’s needs are less extreme this is usually not deemed necessary. Completing a specific checklist about the child’s behaviour and responses to different stimuli would provide insight into their difficulties and suggestions on how best to meet their needs. Useful checklists can be found in,

‘Answers to Questions Teachers ask about Sensory Integration’ by Jane Koomar, Carol Kranowitz and Stacey Szklut. ISBN 9781932565461

Using Sensory Input to Improve Communication and Behaviour

Dr Albert Mehrabian, in his book ‘Silent Messages’ states that actual words account for 7% of verbal communication. (55% is body language, 38% tone of voice.) However, the spoken word is still often confused with communication. We are familiar with hearing impaired children and adults using sign language to communicate and visually impaired people using Braille to read. Many of us experience clear memories when we smell a certain aroma; freshly cut grass or freshly baked bread. Using all of our senses to communicate with children can be highly effective. When a child understands what is about to happen or is able to communicate their needs effectively they exhibit far less challenging behaviour. Behaviour is a form of communicating, if we are able to support children to communicate in other ways then we see fewer episodes of challenging behaviour.

It is our role to interpret the communicative function of challenging behaviour and provide an appropriate and alternative means of achieving the communicative function. The difficult behaviour is not the problem, it is the solution to a problem for the child. The issue is not preventing the behaviour from happening, but in finding a better solution for the child.

There are many aspects of supporting children to better manage their behaviour.  They need to be in a comfortable physical state – not hungry, too hot, thirsty, tired, in pain etc. They need to feel emotionally safe with some level on control (given choices) and they need to understand expectations. Their physical environment needs to be supportive, this can include:

  • Physical structure – careful organisation of learning environment so it is comfortable for the child

  • Daily schedules – use of objects, photos, symbols

  • Work systems – signals for start, expectations, finish

  • Reducing verbal input – give processing time

  • Routines – work then play; this place for snack

  • Multi-sensory support – use of visual, auditory, sensory cues

Multi-Sensory Support

Aromas – using smells to prepare children for activities. Different smells can be used to signify different days. Children smell different smells on arrival at school for each day of the week. This helps children learn that there is a routine to the days of the week. The five different smells are repeated in the same order; a smell may prompt a child to know what activities are expected on that day. Or smells can be used to identify the next activity e.g. a specific smell before playtime of lunchtime.

Sounds – music can be used to identify the next activity during the day.  A piece of music which signifies the end of an activity can be used to provide a given length of time to tidy up and be ready for the next session. Similarly, the ‘ting’ of a triangle can be used to get the attention of the class.

Touch – touch cues can be used to communicate what is about to happen to a child who does not understand verbal instructions. A series of actions can be used for the child to know that the adult is about to leave; or a loud noise is about to happen; or an activity is about to end.

Visual – objects, photos or symbols can be used to communicate what is about to happen. A piece of towel/ photo of swimming pool/ symbol of swimming pool can be shown to the child to communicate that they are about to go swimming. A range of objects, photos and symbols can be used depending on the child’s level of understanding to create a timetable using objects etc. The use of coloured table cloths can be used to signify the change of use of a table – different colours for ‘work’, ‘play’ ‘snack’. Objects, photos or symbols can be used to give children choices. A ‘choice board’ can have photos of activities for a child to choose between or options for lunch.

Improving communication with children gives them a means of understanding their environment, expressing themselves and a way of developing their self-esteem and independence. Even children who can understand verbal communication can find a multi-sensory approach supportive when they are stressed or anxious.

Hygiene and illness

Due to germs (bacteria, viruses and fungi) being invisible to the naked eye, it is hard for early years and primary age children to build links between microorganisms, poor hygiene practices and disease.

Microorganisms are microscopic organisms that can take the form of a bacteria, virus or fungi, they are found everywhere and can be useful in cheese, bread, insulin and vaccine production. However, it is the pathogenic bacteria (human solid waste faecal coliforms such as Escherichia coli ) that cause stomach aches, and viruses (Rhinoviruses and Influenza) that cause coughs and colds, should be the focus of early years children’s learning. Hence children need to be taught preventative measures, such as hand washing and covering their mouths and nose when they cough and sneeze.

Prevention of disease?

Hand washing has been shown to be the most effective measure in infection control to prevent cross contamination of disease in a number of research studies (Hugonnet & Pitte, 2000). With a 3rd of infections being preventable with good hand hygiene (Judah et al. 2009), however, young children often do not have the appropriate etiquette and knowledge in order to readily implement hand washing routines, therefore educational resources and interventions are often required in order for them to do so (Randle et al. 2013)

It has been shown that children learning why and how to wash their hands is perceived as important by teachers and knowledge about the spread of germs was important to pupils when implementing hygiene practices in a randomised controlled study in primary schools on factors influencing hand washing (Chittleborough et al. 2012).

Extracted and adapted from:  Laird, K. and Younie, S. (2017) Germs: Health Education/Science for Early Years MESHGuide. De Montfort University, UK http://www.meshguides.org/category/meshguides-published/science/early-years-3/

Zayas G, Chiang MC, Wong E, et al. Effectiveness of cough etiquette maneuvers in disrupting the chain of transmission of infectious respiratory diseases. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:811. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-811.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3846148/

Assessment

Detailed advice about what can be expected of children at different ages and stages is given in the following three documents.

The first, from UNICEF indicates different development stages of children in different regions.

Unicef’s Early Childhood Development Resource (2003, Module 3, doc. 3.9d: Assessing Development in Early Childhood) provides an overview of standards to assess young children’s development in different countries and regions. The areas of development included are language and literacy; social and emotional development; gross and fine motor skills; logic and reasoning; and approaches to learning.

https://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_42890.html

The second and third from England both have detailed tables showing expected development every few months for the preschool child.

Guidance on children’s learning and development for parents (4Children, 2015)  https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2015/09/4Children_ParentsGuide_Sept_2015v4WEB1.pdf

EYFS Early Years Outcomes (DfE, 2013)– Guide for practitioners - https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2012/03/Early_Years_Outcomes.pdf

Supporting children exposed to Trauma

With thanks to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (https://www.nctsn.org)

This advice has been developed for children in the United States but is very similar to the advice from Syrian Refugees in the UK (Section 3.0). It is provided here as part of the support materials for people working with traumatised children.

Introduction taken from NCTSN, 2010, pp. 2-3

Early childhood trauma generally refers to the traumatic experiences that occur to children aged 0–6. Because infants’ and young children’s reactions may be different from older children’s, and because they may not be able to verbalize their reactions to threatening or dangerous events, many people assume that young age protects children from the impact of traumatic experiences…A growing body of research has established that young children—even infants―may be affected by events that threaten their safety or the safety of their parents/caregivers, and their symptoms have been well documented…

Traumatic events have a profound sensory impact on young children. Their sense of safety may be shattered by frightening visual stimuli, loud noises, violent movements, and other sensations associated with an unpredictable frightening event…As with older children, young children experience both behavioural and physiological symptoms associated with trauma. Unlike older children, young children cannot express in words whether they feel afraid, overwhelmed, or helpless. However, their behaviours provide us with important clues about how they are affected…

Young children who experience trauma are at particular risk because their rapidly developing brains are very vulnerable. Early childhood trauma has been associated with reduced size of the brain cortex. This area is responsible for many complex functions including memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thinking, language, and consciousness. These changes may affect IQ and the ability to regulate emotions, and the child may become more fearful and may not feel as safe or as protected.

Signs of traumatic exposure in children

What you might observe in Preschool children (NCTSN, 2008, p.8)

Remember, young children do not always have the words to tell you what has happened to them or how they feel. Behaviour is a better gauge and sudden changes in behaviour can be a sign of trauma exposure.

  • Separation anxiety or clinginess towards teachers or primary caregivers
  • Regression in previously mastered stages of development (e.g., baby talk or bedwetting/toileting accidents)
  • Lack of developmental progress (e.g. not progressing at same level as peers)
  • Re-creating the traumatic event (e.g. repeatedly talking about, “playing” out, or drawing the event)
  • Difficulty at nap-time or bedtime (e.g. avoiding sleep, waking up, or nightmares)
  • Increased somatic complaints (e.g. headaches, stomach aches, overreacting to minor bumps and bruises)
  • Changes in behaviour (e.g. appetite, unexplained absences, angry outbursts, decreased attention, withdrawal)
  • Over- or under-reacting to physical contact, bright lighting, sudden movements, or loud sounds (e.g.bells, slamming doors, or sirens)
  • Increased distress (unusually whiny, irritable, moody)
  • Anxiety, fear, and worry about safety of self and others
  • Worry about recurrence of the traumatic event
  • New fears (e.g. fear of the dark, animals, or monsters)
  • Statements and questions about death and dying

Suggestions for Educators (NCTSN, 2008, p.5)

  • Maintain usual routines. A return to “normalcy” will communicate the message that the child is safe and life will go on.
  • Give children choices. Often traumatic events involve loss of control and/or chaos, so you can help children feel safe by providing them with some choices or control when appropriate.
  • Increase the level of support and encouragement given to the traumatized child. Designate an adult who can provide additional support if needed.
  • Set clear, firm limits for inappropriate behaviour and develop logical - rather than punitive - consequences.
  • Recognize that behavioural problems may be transient and related to trauma. Remember that even the most disruptive behaviours can be driven by trauma-related anxiety.
  • Provide a safe place for the child to talk about what happened. Set aside a designated time and place for sharing to help the child know it is okay to talk about what happened.
  • Give simple and realistic answers to the child’s questions about traumatic events. Clarify distortions and misconceptions. If it isn’t an appropriate time, be sure to give the child a time and place to talk and ask questions.
  • Be sensitive to the cues in the environment that may cause a reaction in the traumatized child. For example, victims of natural storm-related disasters might react very badly to threatening weather or storm warnings.
  • Anticipate difficult times and provide additional support. Many kinds of situations may be reminders. If you are able to identify reminders, you can help by preparing the child for the situation. For instance, for the child who doesn’t like being alone, provide a partner to accompany him or her to the restroom.
  • Warn children if you will be doing something out of the ordinary, such as turning off the lights or making a sudden loud noise.
  • Be aware of other children’s reactions to the traumatized child and to the information they share.
  • Understand that children cope by re-enacting trauma through play or through their interactions with others.

Provision (Debra Laxton)

  • For children who have been exposed to trauma the creation of an enabling environment that is both emotionally and physically safe and secure is vital.
  • Adults need to foster and maintain positive relationships based on mutual trust and respect.
  • Expectations for behaviour need to be agreed, consistent and clearly explained.
  • Spaces for quiet, personal reflection.
  • Provide safe spaces and time for children to talk.
  • Engage with parents, they know their children best and if you build positive relationships with them they are likely to discuss their child’s concerns and interests etc. with you.
  • Resilience is key. Promote the child’s sense of self in a positive light wherever possible e.g. valuing their input, listening, sharing stories that show how others overcome similar situations, play experiences that have no right or wrong outcome.
  • Provide consistent routines that can quickly become familiar.
  • Time to relax and ‘be’.

References

NCTSN. (2008). Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators. [online] Available from https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources//child_trauma_toolkit_educators.pdf

Zero to six collaborative group, NCTSN. (2010). Early Childhood Trauma. [online] Available from https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources//early_childhood_trauma.pdf

School Readiness - Debra Laxton

Earlier definitions of school readiness focused on a set of cognitive skills that a child should possess to be ready to start grade 1. This traditional construct of school readiness was criticized for its narrow focus (Ramey & Ramey, 1999). While misconceptions in plenty of places continue to distort ideas about school readiness, understanding of what “school readiness” means has increased greatly in recent years.

There is consensus, based upon a wealth of research, that a child’s readiness for school depends on his/her levels across five distinct but connected domains

  • Physical well-being and motor development

  • Social and emotional development

  • Approaches to learning

  • Language development

  • Cognition and general knowledge

Most teachers agree. They want children to be healthy, confident, active and attentive, able to communicate their needs, feelings and thoughts, enthusiastic and curious when approaching new activities. They also place importance on skills such as the ability to follow directions, not being disruptive in class, and being sensitive to others (Getting Ready).  As Young (2003) says, “The child who is ready for school has a combination of positive characteristics.” However, educators and parents often have different definitions of school readiness. Teachers put more emphasis on the social domain whereas many parents emphasise academic readiness. Interestingly this often changes as parents experience the benefits of ECD programmes.  Examples abound from programmes serving low-income rural families in different parts of Asia (Pakistan, Nepal, Laos, Myanmar) in which parents who had clearly demanded “school learning” in the beginning are in reality most appreciative of their children’s social development. They delight in their children’s cleverness but talk most about the fact that they are polite, respectful, obedient and friendly and, at the same time, confident, curious and comfortable even with new people. They appear to combine traits that have traditionally been emphasized for children within the culture with those that are critical for coping with a changing world.

Arnold, C., Bartlett, K., Gowani, S., & Merali, R. (2006). Is Everybody Ready? Readiness, Transition and Continuity: Lessons, Reflections and Moving Forward. Background Paper for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007. [online] Available from http://www.akdn.org/sites/akdn/files/media/documents/various_pdf_documents/2006_akf_edu_-_ecd_-_is_everybody_ready.pdf

Play Types

With thanks to Debra Laxton, University of Chichester.

a.          Play to Promote the Building and Maintaining of Relationships

Example One hour session plan 0-3/4 years

With thanks to Bea Waterford and Donna Twyford, Baby College.

The Trainers booklet (Section 3.2) has an example from the Baby College organisation which provides one hour sessions for early years children across the UK. The sessions are based on the principles for early years education outlined elsewhere in this Guide. The Table here was developed for the UK context.

Table 3.2 One hour session plan 0-3 years : an example 

Hellos, Welcome and Introduction (10 min) – Music is playing as everyone arrives to set the right atmosphere. Welcome everyone to the class, ice breakers if a new class, getting to know everyone’s names. Welcome the class with a familiar hello song that is repeated every week and ideally uses all the children’s names and a hello wave (or sign). Introduce the topic or theme of the week and also set any expectations in the first few weeks for how the adults (and children) are expected to participate.

A Dance Together (5 min) – Social, fun and with some physical movements like bouncing, twirling, swings, into the middle and out. Good to have a simple dance routine that becomes familiar. Run this at the beginning of the class for little ones but later in the session for older ones (where is it good to stay calm and focussed near the beginning). Babies are carried around for dancing until they can walk confidently.

Cognitive & Concentration (10 min) – Three or four short cognitive, language-based games.  Picture cards, signing or phoneme play. Other possibilities are a “treasure basket” or theme based craft activities for older ones. Encourage rich use of language and plenty of eye-contact and focus from parents. Round off this section with concentration practice like listening to a story or listening to music.

Physical & Music (10 min) – Songs with associated movements including rocking, swaying, bouncing, finger and toe songs or clapping songs, parts of the body songs, theme of the week songs. Songs should be repeated for several weeks for repetition and familiarity. Traditional nursery rhymes introduce the rhythm of language and are part of our cultural identity. Action songs and copy cats for toddlers and juniors. Songs with simple instruments like bells, drums, shakers for toddlers and juniors. Include “Tummy Time” every week for babies.

Specific Vestibular Movements for Infants & Toddlers or Theme Game for Toddler and Juniors (10 min) – vestibular work for Infants: spinning, upside down, swinging. For Toddlers and Juniors a game to reinforce a theme including colours, shapes, numbers, sensory (some props needed for this).

Sensory Activities (5 min) – parachute play or scrunchy play:  fun songs, visual stimulation, sensory stimulation. The peak of the class, exciting (bear in mind tiring for little ones). Games that promote sensory integration so therefore include sounds, sights, movements & touch combined or all at once. Best example is a brightly coloured parachute – brings everyone together, very stimulating and fun and takes teamwork.

Goodbyes & Calming (10 min) – Calm music, cuddles, bubbles. It is good to spend a little time calming down before the end. A familiar goodbye song repeated each week with waving and repetition of their name. Set some “homework” or ideas for things to do between classes A reminder of what has been covered that session, the topic, the sound or signs of the week. A chance for adults to ask questions and to give out any handouts or for the older children a sticker. Calm music as they leave.

Class Delivery Notes

Our classes are split into three age groups which correspond roughly with the development and physical capabilities of the children at different ages.

Infants 0-9 months – Babies who are on the whole pre-crawling, in close contact with parent throughout the class. The class is mainly delivered direct to the parent who is encouraged to concentrate as much as possible on their baby and to follow the class leaders example (the class leader demonstrates with a doll). Getting the perfect balance of stimulation (not over-stimulating or under-stimulating) is the challenge with this age group. We have a carefully planned balance of quiet and more exciting activities and help parents recognise the cues from their babies of over-stimulation so they can help their baby stay calm and engaged. We allow parents to feed, change nappies or have a walk about whenever they need to.

Toddlers 9-18 months – This age group is suitable for babies who are starting to explore up until confident walking. Still very dependent on engagement from the parent. The class leader engages mainly with the parents who need to be encouraged to help their children stay engaged using positive encouragement and proactivity whilst still allowing them the freedom to explore and start to develop a little bit of independence and confidence.

Juniors 18 month + - Children are ideally walking confidently and starting to engage with the class leader directly (with support and encouragement of the parent). Shy children are gently encouraged and praised but participation is chosen and not coerced. This class works best if fun and play based with the learning along the way. We think more “children’s party” than “school”. Children are engaged and entertained so challenging behaviour in class is rare. We encourage parents to maintain their own focus in class, to join in everything themselves to set a good example and to try and pay attention to normal and desirable behaviour and to minimise attention for undesirable behaviour.

The Principles of the Programme for 0-3+ year olds

Each Child is Unique – recognised for their individuality, babies attending Baby College are from the very first moments addressed as individuals and this is reinforced with Hello and Goodbye songs. With positive encouragement by parent and teacher babies are allowed to go at their own pace and helped to explore their environment.

Forming Positive Relationships – Within the class environment independence is fostered within clear boundaries and parents are firmly positioned as their baby’s first and best teacher. Through positive parenting techniques shared in class parents become responsive and encouraging role models for their children.   

Providing an Enabling Environment – safe, friendly and well-structured fun classes encourage learning through play.

Children Learn at Different Rates - we play games to help babies to understand the world around them and these games are structured so that each child can go at their own pace and where the principle that “learning should be fun” is foremost.

Areas of Learning & Development covered by Baby College classes

Communication and Language – one of Baby College’s core themes. Language and communication skills are encouraged throughout the classes - specifically our Hello and Goodbye songs, Look & Learn cards, Signing, Nursery Rhymes, and Phonemes

Physical Development – the replacement of infant reflexes and development of essential balance skills are behind our whole programme.  Gentle physical exercises are used throughout the Infant (0-9m) and Toddler (9-18m) programmes: activities include dancing, tummy time, knee rides, spinning, encouraging crawling, hand eye coordination and foot-eye coordination games.  Our Junior (18m+) programme is a highly physical programme and movement is used extensively: dancing, movecube, copycats, hoop play are just some examples.

Personal, social and emotional development – our social and inclusive classes encourage strong bonding and attachment between parent and baby and positive interaction with other babies and their parents.  We encourage face to face interaction, responsive parenting, turn taking and tidy up skills.

Literacy – phonemes, nursery rhymes, signing, ‘talk to your baby’ and music activities promote literacy in all our classes.

Numeracy – number and shape theme games included in the Toddler and Junior classes are used alongside traditional nursery rhymes to help develop mathematical understanding.

Understanding the world – heuristic and sensory play are promoted throughout all three age groups and role play and imaginary games about the world the children live in are encouraged in the Junior classes.

Expressive Arts and Design – music, dancing and singing are an intrinsic part of the programme and craft and imaginative exercises are used within our Junior programme and homework is set each week to consolidate this at home.

 

Baby College Recommendations for Development Classes for 0-3+ Year Olds

Bea Waterfield & Donna Twyford, Baby College UK Directors

www.babycollege.co.uk

March 2018

Example one-hour session plan 3-5 years - Debra Laxton

With thanks to  - Debra Laxton

Exemplar Early Years Plan for a Loose Parts Play Experience for 3 – 5 year olds

Note: teachers follow a planning cycle of: plan, do, review so that they learn more about how to teach members of a class group effectively.

Session Context:

This lesson will focus on a ‘planned purposeful play’ activity enabling children to actively engage in leading their own learning through an exploratory activity. The focus relates to exploring natural materials and enhancing language and communication skills by engaging in ‘talk’.

After an introduction children will be able to explore without time constraint or disruption other than the end of the session when a short plenary will allow children to reflect on their processes, learning and achievements.

Loose Parts Play (Nicholson, 1971)

A selection of natural materials (see resources below) will be available in the outside environment for children to play and explore. They will be able to fetch other resources to add to their individual play agendas as they see fit.

Links to EYFS themes

A Unique child – children choose to play and follow their own play agenda

Positive Relationships – adults will act as play partners and children will be encouraged to play cooperatively and collaboratively

Enabling Environments – emotionally safe and physically stimulating

Learning and Development – See below

Links to EYFS Characteristics of Learning (Early Education, 2012)

Playing & Exploring – Be willing to have a go – initiating activities

Active Learning - Being involved and concentrating - maintaining focus on their activity

Creating and thinking critically – Having their own ideas – finding new ways to do things

Links to EYFS Areas of Learning (DfE, 2017)

Loose parts play offers children the opportunity to learn holistically. Even though the key focuses will be personal, social and emotional and mathematical development, children are likely to learn in other ways as well:

Personal, Social and Emotional – Making relationships - Explains own knowledge and understanding, and asks appropriate questions of others.

Mathematics – Space, shape and measure - Uses familiar objects and common shapes to create and recreate patterns and build models.

Communication and Language – Speaking - Uses talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events.

Understanding the World – The World - Looks closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change.

Physical – Moving and Handling - Handles tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with increasing control.

Literacy – Writing - Ascribes meanings to marks that they see in different places

Resources/Equipment:

·         Stones/ pebbles

·         Rocks

·         Shells

·         Sticks

·         Twigs

·         Tree stumps

·         Bark

·         Logs

·         Leaves

 

·         Feathers

·         Fabric

·         Fir cones

·         Bottle tops

·         Sand

·         Mud

·         Soil

·         Gravel

·         Water

 

Organisation: Whole class or small groups:

This activity is available to all children as part of free flow play. Children are therefore able to choose whether they will be involved and for how long they engage.

Adult Role

·         Create a calm atmosphere where children feel safe to participate, cooperate and be curious.

·         Model using the resources to construct structures and patterns

·         Model key language e.g. shapes

·         Provide specific praise for collaborative working

·         Value children’s processes

·         Extend children’s thought through open questioning, making suggestions, offering resources

·         Make boundaries clear when necessary so children feel safe

·         Be an active observer – show genuine interest

·         Be a play partner and co-learner

Session Content

Teaching Points (how to perform a skill, what you want your children to know, key points to remember)

Introduction

 

 

 

As a whole group, children will be introduced to the available natural materials by naming objects and talking about textures.

Children will be encouraged to reflect on their previous experience of ‘working’ with the materials to empower others to develop their creative thinking in relation to ways of using the materials.

Encourage children to plan how they might use the materials.

Children may choose to play alone or together.

Exploration and Construction

 

 

 

Be an active observer and participant.

Model using the resources in a purposeful way

Acknowledge and value children’s involvement and contributions so encouraging them to take active speaking and participatory roles.

Encourage all children to share ideas/ have a voice.

Provide provocation through pertinent, relevant additional resourcing and questioning in response to the children’s thoughts and ideas to promote creative and critical thinking.

Consider ways to help children develop their play experience and allow for sustained-shared thinking opportunities.

Make children aware of their actions and feelings sensitively and without taking control.

Model key language and use repetition of children’s speech to reaffirm.

Provide additional support as required.

Provide clear expectations of behaviour if required.

Plenary

 

Children to be given the opportunity to review their play experience.

Use observations made to value individual participation and highlight children’s learning.

Ask children to consider ‘what next’ for their play and learning.

Types of songs/rhymes to be locally sourced

Each community will have songs, rhymes  and games which are used to teach children about the community and the environment they are living in. New songs/rhymes may be needed to explain the world children find themselves in.

Resource list: free local resources

The first resources for early years children are the adults around them and the relationships they have with them: positive and supportive relationships creating trust support learning.

Traditional songs, rhymes, dances, games, conversations and group activities are all free resources.

Here are examples of activities/play which uses resources which may be freely available:

For sorting, counting, language/senses development and imaginative play the following can be useful to show different colours, shapes, sizes, and textures.

- stones, sticks, sand

- bottle tops

- hard/soft items materials of different textures and items capable of making different sounds when knocked together

- fabrics: a bag of fabrics of different textures and single colours e.g. scarves demonstrating strong individual colours, for use to create shapes in the air (wings, circles, storms, rabbit tails) in response to words in the songs and rhymes, for peekaboo games, for grouping children eg all children with the pink scarves doing one activity, those with a different colour doing another activity eg in a song.

- fabric bags: to hold items hidden for touching/feeling/guessing games or for a ‘story bag’ holding items associated with stories or songs perhaps retrieved one at a time to provide a focus for a verse of a song.

- fruit and vegetables which can be handled without damage eg guava, onions

-  cooking equipment  (with no sharp edges)

- large heavy duty food bags can be used to create charts including letters, images, actions

- bean bags eg for playing catch and throw

- where clay/or dough is available, use it for rolling sausages to develop fine motor skills (pinching, pulling, squeezing, building) when making models

- plastic bottles filled with sand can be used for exercises rolling the feet back and forth over them to develop muscles

- items for cutting and threading and  lacing.

Acknowledgements P.36 Davies

Many of these items can be used for games which develop ‘bilateral co-ordination’ ie co-ordination of legs, arms and eyes all working together, consciously working separately.

Do take care about safety, for example, bottle tops would not be used with children who are still at the stage of putting everything in their mouths.

Tags:

Resource packs

Songs/rhymes/games in the home language are a major resource. New songs and rhymes may need to be developed in some languages to help children learn in their new environment.

VSO use, where possible, tablets and associated software and charging kits. These will hold:

- videos of songs, rhymes, games plus

- talking heads explaining why and what about EYS education for those who cannot read the accompanying written materials.

Other resources:

- writing and art materials e.g. slates/chalk white and coloured;

- pens for creating charts

- reading books - are there some which are culturally appropriate and available? Do these need to be created?

- abacus (suanpan (chinese)soroban (Japanese) - these are used throughout Asia and the teaching of maths in China and Japan using the abacus is said to be what gives their young people the proficiency in maths identified in the OECD’s PISA tests.

⁃ materials which may be available locally to develop musical instruments (to develop a wide range of cognitive processes) - stick and wooden block for banging instruments, stick with bottle tops nailed to it for shaking instruments, possibly bamboo flutes.

Musical instruments requiring each hand to operate independently (develops cognitive skills).

Cognitive development can be stimulated by physical activity using hands simultaneously for different activities, jumping jacks, running in a figure of 8.

The London Borough of Enfield 2018 EYFS PE and Creative series of four booklets are available by application under Creative Commons license which allows you to use the materials to benefit children but not to sell them for profit.
•    Unit 1 “ Drawing lines and circles using gross motor movements“
•    Unit 2 “Throw, Catch, Kick”
•    Unit 3 “Over, Under and Through”
•    Unit 4 “Creative Dance”

The London Borough of Enfield “Throw, Catch, Kick” booklet suggests the following resources for the development of gross and fine motor skills.

  • Wide range of balls (different textures, speeds and sizes): sponge balls, plastic inflatable balls, koosh balls (made of lots of filaments), bean bags

  • Skipping rope

  • Quoits

Voabulary is also developed through using the resources e.g. Jump Throw Roll Catch Kick Run Gallop Climb Receive Hop Turn Balance Shoot Leap.

Acknowledgements: Jan Hickman PE Adviser, London Borough of Enfield.

Other resources

Bridgend County Borough Council. (2008). Do and Discover: Fun activities to promote physical skills in the early years. [online] Available from http://learning.gov.wales/docs/learningwales/publications/130212do-and-discoveren.pdf

EYFS What to expect when - developmental guide across 7 areas of development https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2015/03/4Children_ParentsGuide_2015_WEB.pdf

LEARNING TOGETHER ACROSS GENERATIONS Guidelines for Family Literacy and Learning Programmes  http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002484/248446E.pdf

Loose parts play - https://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Loose-Parts-Play-web.pdf

Unicef’s Early Childhood development resource pack ‘is designed to help programme planners and managers understand the basic elements of the best start in life for children and how to most effectively work together to achieve those goals.  It combines advocacy arguments with experiences, exercises and information that can be used to develop skills and understand programming for young children in development and emergency situations’.

https://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_42890.html

Apps - recommended

With thanks to: Emma Goto, Lynne Berry, Alison Clark-Wilson, Cally Kuhne*

Overview from research

Early Childhood education should be rooted in play (Moyles, 2015; Bird and Edwards, 2015; Palaiologou, 2017) and support the development of communication (Whorrall  and Cabell, 2016), creativity and imagination (Eckhoff and Urbach, 2008). Practitioners should develop learning environments that develop and enhance children’s play (Palaiologou, 2017). Opportunities are required for early, open ended, exploratory play with technology, if children are to become more purposeful in their use of technology, developing communication and forms of representational play (Bird and Edwards, 2015). Educators should encourage playful interactions and exploration of technology (Yelland, 2011). The Technology and Play Report makes a number of recommendations for apps that promote play and creativity. Some types of apps that are likely to encourage playful and creative approaches include ‘Open-ended apps, which enable children to experiment for themselves and focus on the process rather than an end product…., Apps that embed problem solving, critical thinking and abstract reasoning activities ……Apps that stimulate children to ask questions and/or set challenges, ……Apps that foster co-production of content (with peers or adults)’ it is also useful to note here that they advise ‘Imaginative use of the tablet itself or the properties of the tablet may enable children to become more involved in the app e.g. through inserting their own photograph or voice’ (Marsh et al, 2015:37).

It is essential to remember that alongside the types of apps chosen, one must consider how they are used.

Whilst an app could have the potential to encourage communication and collaboration, if it is provided to the child in isolation, with no opportunities for interactions with others, that potential is not likely to be realised. As in other aspects of Early Childhood Education, educators have a significant role to play in supporting and enhancing children’s learning, in terms of open questioning to promote communication and the fostering of ‘shared sustained thinking’ (Siraj-Blatchford et al., 2009: 25).

Table 4.3 Examples of Apps in the English language recommended by educators
• Draw and Tell by Duck duck moose (best Early Years app in Emma Goto’s opinion)
• Teach Your Monster to Read
• Busy Things have got lots of apps (all of which are good)
• Poisson Rouge have lots of apps (paid for but not terribly expensive) the aquarium one and ten green bottles are particularly nice.
• Book creator for EYFS children as it gives them lots of opportunity to communicate by combining photographs and the spoken word.
• Mini Mash, Puppet Pals App, Tiny Tap app, Scratch Junior, Beebots, Code a pillar, pro bots. TTS have some great products.
• Chatterpix kids, Shadow puppets edu, Feltboard, Puppet Pals, Mash Cams App, Little Bird Tales, Make a Scene: Farmyard and Under the Sea.
• One billion apps - https://onebillion.org/ - reading app and maths apps -
 (Jamie Stuart <jamie@onebillion.org, Dochka Hristova dochi@onebillion.org)
• Toca Boca suite of aps  (we used some of these with children at the special school in Thailand): https://tocaboca.com/apps/
• Grasshopper.com‬‬. http://www.grasshopperapps.com/
• Collins Big Cat apps https://collins.co.uk/page/Collins+Big+Cat/Apps
• Kid in Story Book Maker: itunes.apple.com/us/app/kid-in-story-book-maker-create-share-personalized-photo/id594403164?mt=8
• Farm animals by Photo Touch https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/preschool-games-farm-animals-by-photo-to...

This app, http://aiminghigh.aimssec.ac.za is for older children but it demonstrates the kind of ap that has been developed for free use in South Africa. It could be adapted for other countries.

Much More Than Counting

Maths app for Grade R teachers (MathsUp, which you could find on the Google store - android only at the moment). Teachers have loved using it in our pilot groups and it would be great to hear whether you would find this a useful tool.

*Recommended by Dr Alison Clark-Wilson, UCL Institute of Education, London; member of the MESH Maths Editorial Board and Emma Goto, University of Winchester;  Lynne Berry, Liverpool Hope University and Helen Caldwell, University of Northampton. Emma, Lynne and Helen are members of the Association for IT in Teacher Education, one of the founders of MESH.

Bird, J. and Edwards, S. (2015) Children learning to use technologies through play: A Digital Play Framework. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46, (6), 1149–1160.

Eckhoff, A. and Urbach, J. (2008) Understanding Imaginative Thinking During Childhood: Sociocultural Conceptions of Creativity and Imaginative Thought. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36, (2), 179-185.

Marsh, J., Plowman, L., Yamada-Rice, D., Bishop, J.C., Lahmar, J., Scott, F., Davenport, A., Davis, S., French, K., Piras, M., Thornhill, S., Robinson, P. and Winter, P. (2015) Exploring Play and Creativity in Pre-Schoolers’ Use of Apps: Final Project Report. Available at: http://www.techandplay.org/reports/TAP_Final_Report.pdf [Accessed 9 January 2018]

Moyles, J. (2015) The Excellence of Play. 4th edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Palaiologou, I. (2017) Assessing children’s play: reality or illusion? The case of Early Years Foundation Stage in England, Early Child Development and Care, 187, (8), 1259-1272.

Siraj‐Blatchford, I., Taggart, B., Sylva, K., Sammons, P., and Melhuish, E. (2009) Towards the transformation of practice in early childhood education: the effective provision of pre‐school education (EPPE) project. Cambridge Journal of Education, 38, (1), 23-36.

Whorrall, J. and Cabell, S. (2016) Supporting Children’s Oral Language Development in the Preschool Classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 44, (4), 335-342.

Yelland, N. (2011) Reconceptualising play and learning in the lives of young children. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 36, (2), p.4-12.

Sub-Saharan Africa

There are many publications reporting on activities.  Further synthesis and sharing of summaries of what has been achieved would be advantageous for all with an interest in this area. Examples are provided here.

First ECCD impact evaluation in Africa shows significant gains for young children in Mozambique https://www.savethechildren.org/content/dam/global/reports/education-and-child-protection/eccd-advocacy-12.pdf

Research paper Early childhood care and education in emergency situations http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001474/147469e.pdf

Sub-Saharan Africa LEARNING TOGETHER ACROSS GENERATIONS Guidelines for Family Literacy and Learning Programmes  http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002484/248446E.pdf

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea: contribution by Fiona Kirby, VSO

Reference: https://edu.pngfacts.com > education-news

Papua New Guinea’s early childhood learning has a working standards document to measure a child’s development from kindergarten to Grade 2 (ages 3 to 8 years). The Early Childhood Standards have been designed to be a high quality set of benchmarks. To make the implementation of them achievable, it is important to keep in mind that this will not happen in a short space of time. Teachers and assistants will need to be trained to ensure they understand what is meant in each of the early learning areas. Whilst some useful resources can be purchased most can be made locally.

Within the Standards, Jolly Phonics has been identified as the most appropriate for the children. This programme of teaching phonics to young children is just one of a number of phonics programmes. It is the one that UOG has decided to use in the training of its teachers.

Children need the freedom to explore and play. Play also contributes to brain development. Evidence from research shows that the early years of a child’s development (from birth to age six) set the basis for learning, behaviour and health throughout life. The child’s neural pathways are in uenced in their development through the exploration, thinking, problem-solving and language expression which occur during play. Play nourishes every aspect of children’s development – it forms the foundation of intellectual, social, physical, and emotional skills necessary for success in school and in life. Play paves the way for learning

The Standards document was produced (in collaboration with Volunteers Services Overseas) and launched by The University of Goroka’s School of Education and includes a DVD to assist teachers to use the Standards.

The Standards work as a syllabus containing six key learning areas for children’s learning, designed by Papua New Guineans for Papua New Guineans. The six areas set the foundation for the early childhood curriculum, which needs to be developed. There is much work that needs to be done, but at least the foundations have been laid for early childhood education.

The documents support the teacher to deliver the type of education offered in larger privately run schools such as those under the International Education Association (IEA), allowing the larger population in the country access to quality education as well.

While there is an interest to move Early Childhood Education from the Welfare Department to the National Department of Education, the gap in standards has now been bridged through this document.

UOG’s School of Education has been collaborating with organizations such as Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO), World Vision, UNICEF, Book Bilong Pikinini, and Save the Children on its Early Childhood Education Programme.

Rwanda

See the National strategic plan - extract below (NATIONAL_EARLY_CHILDHOOD_POLICY_STRATEGIC_PLAN_2016-2021.PDF)

and other Early Years statements and publications http://www.migeprof.gov.rw/index.php?id=60, also www.migeprof.gov.rw

Rwanda case study

Malawi

For an example of an initiative set up to support teachers managing large class sizes, see VSO’s successful experiment with small group use of Ipads to provide personalised tuition at the child’s own level. Email enquiry@vsoint.org for further information.

New Zealand

The Education Hub is developing Early Years advice which can be found here: (https://www.theeducationhub.org.nz/research/). A number of these show how the culture of indigenous people can be integrated into early years teaching. There is also a range of other research guides written specifically to help teachers improve their practice - http://www.theeducationhub.org.nz

 

UK

The importance of pre-school child development is widely recognized and all families are entitled to some free pre-school provision often in school or private nurseries.

There are also some initiatives for 0-3 year olds providing local programmes of an hour or so a week based on research into child development. Examples are provided here. Some are funded by government and some are businesses run as franchises usually following successful development and testing in one local area. Typically a franchisee buys the right to run a programme developed by the parent company and in return for the exclusive right to run courses in an area. The franchisee benefits from advertising, training and materials from the parent company.

A Parent’s Guide to Promoting Early Learning and Development at Home (0 - 5 years): Supporting Families During the Coronavirus Pandemic

https://www.skipforeyeducators.co.uk/booklet/covid19_familybooklet.pdf

Playgroups

These exist in different forms in many countries. Some are informal get togethers for a few hours a week hosted by parents in turn, others are more formal. Parents stay with the children. They provide a means of socializing the children and enabling parents to get to know others in the area with similar age children. Children will often have access to a wider range of toys, puzzles and books than a family can provide. Some have paid staff and may also address parenting issues, share tips on cooking and caring for young children.

Family Learning Courses

Family Learning courses are run by a local council with trained staff to help with parenting. The example of the content from three sessions is from Central Bedfordshire:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/jobs/adult-learning/courses/family-learning.aspx

"Fun With Books and Fun With Numbers

These workshops, for family adults, will introduce you to the reading and maths methods used in school with children aged 4 to 11 so you can support your child’s learning more confidently and effectively.

Keeping up With the Children - English

On this course, for family adults, you will find out how English is taught in schools and build your own English skills so you are better able to support your child’s learning and skills development. The course covers methods used with children aged 4 to 11.

Keeping up With the Children - Maths

On this course, for family adults, you will find out how maths is taught in schools and build your own maths skills so you are better able to support your child’s learning.

Baby College http://babycollege.co.uk

This organisation provides a good example of how research is now being used to shape activities with children. They have developed a three year programme of physical, multi-sensory and cognitive games, exercises and activities including music, dancing, sign language all designed to cover every aspect of a child's development. The developers – mothers with babies - are working with neuroscientists and paediatricians as well as university research groups to strengthen and extend the programme. One focus is on developing strong neural pathways that are vital for early brain development and all subsequent learning. Parents are given age related materials on a weekly basis. Session leaders are trained and parents pay a fee to attend.

Baby College Recommendations for Development Classes for 0-3+ Year Olds
Bea Waterfield & Donna Twyford, Baby College UK Directors
www.babycollege.co.uk
March 2018

The Principles of our Programme for 0-3+ year olds
Each Child is Unique – recognised for their individuality, babies attending Baby College are from the very first moments addressed as individuals and this is reinforced with Hello and Goodbye songs. With positive encouragement by parent and teacher babies are allowed to go at their own pace and helped to explore their environment.
Forming Positive Relationships – Within the class environment independence is fostered within clear boundaries and parents are firmly positioned as their baby’s first and best teacher. Through positive parenting techniques shared in class parents become responsive and encouraging role models for their children.   
Providing an Enabling Environment – safe, friendly and well-structured fun classes encourage learning through play.
Children Learn at Different Rates - we play games to help babies to understand the world around them and these games are structured so that each child can go at their own pace and where the principle that “learning should be fun” is foremost.

Areas of Learning & Development covered by Baby College classes
Communication and Language – one of Baby College’s core themes. Language and communication skills are encouraged throughout the classes - specifically our Hello and Goodbye songs, Look & Learn cards, Signing, Nursery Rhymes and Phonemes.
Physical Development – the replacement of infant reflexes and development of essential balance skills are behind our whole programme.  Gentle physical exercises are used throughout the Infant (0-9m) and Toddler (9-18m) programmes: activities include dancing, tummy time, knee rides, spinning, encouraging crawling, hand eye coordination and foot eye coordination games.  Our Junior (18m+) programme is a highly physical programme and movement is used extensively: dancing, movecube, copycats, hoop play are just some examples.
Personal, social and emotional development – our social and inclusive classes encourage strong bonding and attachment between parent and baby and positive interaction with other babies and their parents.  We encourage face to face interaction, responsive parenting, turn taking and tidy up skills.
Literacy – phonemes, nursery rhymes, signing, ‘talk to your baby’ and music activities promote literacy in all our classes.
Numeracy – number and shape theme games included in the Toddler and Junior classes are used alongside traditional nursery rhymes to help develop mathematical understanding.
Understanding the world – heuristic and sensory play are promoted throughout all three age groups and role play and imaginary games about the world the children live in are encouraged in the Junior classes.
Expressive Arts and Design – music, dancing and singing are an intrinsic part of the programme and craft and imaginative exercises are used within our Junior programme and homework is set each week to consolidate this at home.

Suggested Structure for a One Hour Session
Hellos, Welcome and Introduction (10 min) – Music is playing as everyone arrives to set the right atmosphere. Welcome everyone to the class, ice breakers if a new class, getting to know everyone’s names. Welcome the class with a familiar hello song that is repeated every week and ideally uses all the children’s names and a hello wave (or sign). Introduce the topic or theme of the week and also set any expectations in the first few weeks for how the adults (and children) are expected to participate.

A Dance Together (5 min) – Social, fun and with some physical movements like bouncing, twirling, swings, into the middle and out. Good to have a simple dance routine that becomes familiar. Run this at the beginning of the class for little ones but later in the session for older ones (where is it good to stay calm and focussed near the beginning). Babies are carried around for dancing until they can walk confidently.

Cognitive & Concentration (10 min) – Three or four short cognitive, language-based games. Picture cards, signing, babbling or phoneme play. Other possibilities are a “treasure basket” or theme based craft activities for older ones. Encourage rich use of language and plenty of eye-contact and focus from parents. Round off this section with concentration practice like listening to a story or listening to music.

Physical & Music (10 min) – Songs with associated movements including rocking, swaying, bouncing, finger and toe songs or clapping songs, parts of the body songs, theme of the week songs. Songs should be repeated for several weeks for repetition and familiarity. Traditional nursery rhymes introduce the rhythm of language and are part of our cultural identity. Action songs and copy cats for toddlers and juniors. Songs with simple instruments like bells, drums, shakers for toddlers and juniors. Include “Tummy Time” every week for babies.

Specific Vestibular Movements for Infants & Toddlers or Theme Game for Toddler and Juniors (10 min) – vestibular work for Infants: spinning, upside down, swinging. For Toddlers and Juniors a game to reinforce a theme including colours, shapes, numbers, sensory (some props needed for this).

Sensory Activities (5 min) – parachute play or scrunchy play:  fun songs, visual stimulation, sensory stimulation. The peak of the class, exciting (bear in mind tiring for little ones). Games that promote sensory integration so therefore include sounds, sights, movements & touch combined or all at once. Best example is a brightly coloured parachute – brings everyone together, very stimulating and fun and takes teamwork.

Goodbyes & Calming (10 min) – Calm music, cuddles, bubbles. It is good to spend a little time calming down before the end. A familiar goodbye song repeated each week with waving and repetition of their name. Set some “homework” or ideas for things to do between classes A reminder of what has been covered that session, the topic, the sound or signs of the week. A chance for adults to ask questions and to give out any handouts or for the older children a sticker. Calm music as they leave.

Class Delivery Notes
Our classes are split into three age groups which correspond roughly with the development and physical capabilities of the children at different ages.

Infants 0-9 months – Babies who are on the whole pre-crawling, in close contact with parent throughout the class. The class is mainly delivered direct to the parent who is encouraged to concentrate as much as possible on their baby and to follow the class leaders example (the class leader demonstrates with a doll). Getting the perfect balance of stimulation (not over-stimulating or under-stimulating) is the challenge with this age group. We have a carefully planned balance of quiet and more exciting activities and help parents recognise the cues from their babies of over-stimulation so they can help their baby stay calm and engaged. We allow parents to feed, change nappies or have a walk about whenever they need to.
Toddlers 9-18 months – This age group is suitable for babies who are starting to explore up until confident walking. Still very dependent on engagement from the parent. The class leader engages mainly with the parents who need to be encouraged to help their children stay engaged using positive encouragement and proactivity whilst still allowing them the freedom to explore and start to develop a little bit of independence and confidence.
Juniors 18 month+ - Children are ideally walking confidently and starting to engage with the class leader directly (with support and encouragement of the parent). Shy children are gently encouraged and praised but participation is chosen and not coerced. This class works best if fun and play based with the learning along the way. We think more “children’s party” than “school”. Children are engaged and entertained so challenging behaviour in class is rare. We encourage parents to maintain their own focus in class, to join in everything themselves to set a good example and to try and pay attention to normal and desirable behaviour and to minimise attention for undesirable behaviour.

Peep Learning Together Programme https://www.peeple.org.uk

This organization also provides a good example of research-based early years programmes. Early years programmes are provided to families in different settings by trained educators. Established in the mid 1990s, the vision was “to transform a community by working with the students of the future by supporting their parents as first educators - and to do so from birth”.

Open Invitation; please submit case studies

The examples here indicate that there is widespread acceptance of the importance of early childhood education through play, song, rhyme, physical activities and dance. These examples are provided not for copying but in the spirit of sharing ideas for the benefit of all. Please submit examples you know of to editorialteam@meshguides.org.