Pre-school children need to understand where germs come from and how they can be passed on to other children and friends/relatives and cause illness to them.

Faecal – oral route: this is the when faeces particles containing bacteria such as E. coli are introduced to the mouth, this is common in early years children due to inadequate toilet training, difficulties cleaning themselves, coupled with lack of hand washing and then putting their hands into their mouths or biting nails.

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 (faecal coliforms such as Escherichia coli) that cause stomach aches, and viruses (Rhinoviruses and Influenza) that cause coughs and colds, that should be the focus of early years children's learning.

Due to germs (bacteria, viruses and fungi) being invisible to the naked eye, it is hard for primary age children to build links between microorganisms, poor hygiene practices and disease. Establishing the fundamental learning principles of behaviourism whereby children learn the sequence of ABC – antecedents, behaviour and consequences (Skinner 1953), the outlined knowledge can be instilled in children’s daily hygiene practices and understanding of disease.

Questions to help you identify themes in your literature review

The following questions are very useful to help you identify key themes that you might want to explore in your literature review:

A to Z list of guides

A

• Acoustics - listening and learning
• Assessment: Formative and classroom-based
• Assessment in Primary Science
• Attainment - black and minority ethnic groups (UK)
• Autism and Deafness

C

 Holland, D. (2016) Developing heightened listening: a creative tool for introducing primary school children to sound-based music. PhD E-thesis. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/2086/13304

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning experience as a source of learning and development, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Kratus, J. (2017) ‘Music Listening Is Creative’, Music Educators Journal, 103 (3), pp. 46-51.

 Kratus (2017) states that listening to musical properties is unnatural listening, however, this will enhance the appreciation (Wolf 2013).

Successful learning is achieved following these stages:
Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualisation and Active Experimentation (Kolb 1984, 30). These steps are often also described with “feeling” (Concrete Experience), “watching” (Reflective Observation), “thinking” (Abstract Conceptualisation) and “doing” (Active Experimentation).

Problem: How can we help pupils to listen to sounds and music?

Follow these steps:

1. Sit still and listen

2. Think about the sound/music

3. Link to musical terms

4. Respond (talk, draw, imitate, perform, compose…)

 As music educators we regularly expect our pupils to listen to music or sounds. However, often pupils find it difficult to relate to what they listen and do struggle with the listening process. Listening has been described as a creative process (Kratus 2017) and part of a composition process (Holland 2016). Yet, this view has neither been researched much, nor been adopted by many practitioners.

Here is a suggestion of how to scaffold the listening process better, see best pracice.