Early years education is woefully misunderstood.

[Invasionofthegutsnatchers]

I'm an infant school teacher. (Year R, 1 and 2 = age 4-7). The more time goes on the more I'm realising that a huge proportion of the general population don't understand the importance of learning in the first few years of life.

Childcare as a concept is highly valued because it allows parents to go to work, this is a necessity for most. But the actual stuff children do at Childcare settings is often dismissed as 'just playing'. This play is crucial for development.

Children need to be able to listen to others, take turns, understand that others have needs and wants. They have to share once they start school.

They need daily exposure to nursery rhymes and stories. Strengthening activities to allow their fine and gross motor skills to develop. Imaginative play to help them be empathetic and create stories. And so much more.

I feel like the pandemic has highlighted so many reasons we need this learning and as a result a lot of children who missed out on childcare have huge gaps in their development. Very poor core strength for example so they aren't ready to write. No knowledge of rhyme as they haven't been singing songs. So many other examples. Social skills is a massive one. We need to value this education so much more and the adults who work really hard in these settings.

In my eyes that isnt education, thats just bringing a child up and generally should be done in a family setting, which is unfortunatelly not working in this so called modern world.

I don't think they "need" it (as we've done without formal education for tiny children for millennia) but of course children will benefit from lots of socialising and individual attention, love and care.

I am curious what the impact of the pandemic will be long-term socially, if we'll have a generation marked by the pandemic in their formative years or if they'll adapt and catch up.

The more time goes on the more I'm realising that a huge proportion of the general population don't understand the importance of learning in the first few years of life.

I completely agree with what you’re saying but I don’t think we can blame people for not understanding this fully. Unless you work in education, I can see how many people wouldn’t. I’m sure there’s many basic things plumbers wished the average person would just know but of course we are not all experts in fields we don’t work in.

@raspberryjamchicken

I'm a KS1 teacher. I was musing with a colleague the other day about why British kids (and adults) handwriting seems to be much less neat than those in some European countries ,(I only have experience of French/German so a generalisation I know). We came to the conclusion that it is because formal education starts much later and they have time in the early years to focus on muscle strength and fine motor skills which as you say are so crucial. I think our whole early years/KS1 curriculum needs a redesign.

I noticed that too. I am from a post-communist country where school starts at the age of 6/7.

I’m a nursery teacher who works in an outstanding setting and I’m lucky enough to earn a decent wage
People underestimate how important the early years are.
One of my key children has a university lecturer as a parent, he is super at using the interactive white board and is a whizz at maths. He hasn’t got a clue about interacting with his peers though, so is really going to struggle at school.
I’m sure mum thinks she is doing a great job with his education but he needs so much more support than any other child in my class.

I agree it's misunderstood and undervalued completely. I don't know why that is except maybe that adults don't remember their own experiences of early years very well, so they place more importance on later education?

My youngest is at preschool and the difference in his development is astonishing. He missed out on so much when he was a toddler due to covid; no play groups, no activities, not even any playgrounds outdoors for a significant period of time. I did what I could but was doing home learning with my other very young child who was Yr R with a whole load of conditions from school, such as no younger siblings to be in the room when the primary dc was doing home learning online, and we were the lucky ones who even had online learning! It is a worry that so many children will have missed out so much and I'm eternally grateful that he is now in a fantastic preschool. The staff are incredible and should be paid a lot better.

You are spot on OP, but it is getting 'society' to understand this and pay decent salaries to those working with pre-school children to attract more higher calibre staff into the workforce.
There are so many superb staff working in EYs, who are hugely undervalued, but it is also the area so many non-academic Yr 11s are persuaded to go to as it is still perceived as "just playing".

In my eyes that isnt education, thats just bringing a child up and generally should be done in a family setting
but you are making the same naive mistake that many do - you think that all people who are capable of having children are capable of good parenting. Sadly that is a long way from the truth.

Also, it strikes me that most EY professionals are women. And so undervalued as a matter of course.

We have one male teacher at DS preschool and he's fantastic; I'm not being a 'man hater' before anyone starts.

Just remembered another parent describing a Reception class she'd visited. She said approvingly that it had no Home Corner. She felt the time for play in the classroom would be over once her son moved from Nursery School to Reception class. At 4 years old.

I saw a post here a few days ago where a parent was questioning if she should take her dc out of reception for a one day event. Although I thought that she should, I was dismayed to see the number of posters saying things like ‘what will she miss? A day of finger painting and play dough?’ It showed me that so many parents seem to think that’s all that happens in early years, it’s just playing.

@katepilar
Agree wholeheartedly.

I also see academic targets being pushed and pushed when children are so far from being ready. Yes, some of the children are ready to write in sentences when they are in the R year, but many won’t hold pencil correctly and there is no time to fix that because if this race to the top. They will always lag behind, and it will destroy their confidence. Many children are so behind in social emotional development, it’s scary.
Unfortunately my children have already moved to the KS2. And even though they are “thriving” and achieving as expected and more, I’m grieving the fact they were forced to adjust to such a dramatic change between the year R and Y1.

But it's not just pre-school, it's from birth. Sooo many parents I see don't talk to their babies. Yes, they're looked after in terms of fed, clean nappy etc, but it's all done silently. I'm sure it's no coincidence mine all spoke early because I chattered to mine, giving gaps for them to reply and 'chat' back, I gave a total running commentary of what I was doing and why and what child expectations would be.

Same with the dog (not a lockdown project) to be fair, she knows what's going on, and even what time everyone will be home (goes sit on the mat 10 mins before)

@Ariela

But it's not just pre-school, it's from birth. Sooo many parents I see don't talk to their babies. Yes, they're looked after in terms of fed, clean nappy etc, but it's all done silently. I'm sure it's no coincidence mine all spoke early because I chattered to mine, giving gaps for them to reply and 'chat' back, I gave a total running commentary of what I was doing and why and what child expectations would be. Same with the dog (not a lockdown project) to be fair, she knows what's going on, and even what time everyone will be home (goes sit on the mat 10 mins before)

Ask any EYFS teacher and they will tell you that speech and language is a huge problem. So many children aren’t spoken to. We have children joining nursery and reception who don’t know their name.

Agree that talking to babies is so important. Weirdly, it sort of helped that we had no family nearby, so when I was on mat leave I chatted away to mine. Only issue was, on a number of occasions, after dropping one off at childminders or nursery, I started chatting to the empty pushchair 🤣

Tbf, I've seen many mums doing the same thing in the supermarket. I don't often see the silent parenting, unless it's in a big group of mum friends when the mums chat amongst themselves, but I'm sure that's good for babies too.

@PriamFarrl
Why “just” playing? Playing is literally EVERYTHING in the yearly years. Play dough:

• mix ingredients to make DIY play dough = science
• explore the properties of play dough, enjoy the texture = science, sensory input
• different colours play dough = colour identification
• making characters out of play dough aids story telling, ignites imagination
• manipulating play dough = fine motor skills etc etc etc

Yet children have their time taken away to practice their joined up writing by the time they are 5. It’s heartbreaking.

Yes it is important. But children don't have to be in childcare to gain those skills. Parents can do it too.

I agree that young children need lots of different experiences but I disagree that this has to be done in a nursery/pre school setting. Neither of my children went to nursery or pre school yet they both settled in well when they started school. They had so many different experiences in their first 4 and a bit years. Lots of toddler groups, swimming, library visits, trips on the bus and train, holidays, playing, cooking, etc etc. I felt that this could be done by me and other family members. It didn’t have to be done in a formal/paid for setting. I personally think my children benefitted more by being at home until they started school. I know every child is different and everyone’s personal situation is different but I don’t think it’s an absolute necessity to go to pre school or nursery

Here, here!

I think 'old fashioned' activities are greatly under appreciated. People think of it as stopping children getting bored and disruptive, but it's so much more.

Singing finger rhymes, doing 'fishes in the water, fishes in the sea', action songs... so rich and educational!

Bring back an updated version of the puffin book of verse (?), and push it out to babies families.

Ditto playground games, threading, sorting etc.

So much vital learning, whether it's at home with family or in a more formal setting.

@PriamFarrl Thats depressing.
I remember when I was looking around schools with my eldest. One of the things she said is that children must be out of nappies. That completely took me back. I said she's been potty trained before 2 and looked at her like she had 2 heads. She said you'd be surprised how some children turn up! Absolutely insane. Children are just as capable as they were before, it seems there's some regressive evolution that means kids are soiling themselves, unable to talk, sing and even play as they did since the beginning of our time It's actually quite worrying. Something has changed, society has changed. It is a taboo subject but I'd love for there to be a discussion about how this has happened.

@PriamFarrl

I saw a post here a few days ago where a parent was questioning if she should take her dc out of reception for a one day event. Although I thought that she should, I was dismayed to see the number of posters saying things like ‘what will she miss? A day of finger painting and play dough?’ It showed me that so many parents seem to think that’s all that happens in early years, it’s just playing.

I definitely agree with this. I'm a TA in a reception class and while most children catch up perfectly well after missing the odd day of school, and there are perfectly valid reasons for taking the child out of school for a day, I find it slightly insulting for people to say we only do craft and play activities etc. This is the year group where children start learning to read and write and do proper maths (this week we did number sentences adding up to 10, some children stretch further). That one day your child misses could be the day a new phonics sound is introduced and a new discussion /reading topic is introduced. They could also miss out on fun activities designed to help develop their fine motor skills (needed for writing) or a play activity designed to deepen their understanding of the story we are reading. Yes, one missed day to attend a family wedding etc is not going to have a lasting detrimental effect on their education but there is a reason for everything we do (even in the 'unstructured' play time we will put out certain toys and activities to help with particular skills) and it really devalues our efforts when people dismiss Reception as just being glorified playtime.

P.s. we don't do nursery/ preschool.
All potty trained before 2. Talking in sentences by 2. Could sing, count, identify colours, know their animal sounds, play well, love getting filthy.
Early education is not the answer.

Its literally the building blocks for all future learning. In fact if they dont 'achieve' all those early learning goals in eyfs or ks1, they dont get revisited or get given the time to learn and practice them again.

[quote TrendingNowt]@PriamFarrl Thats depressing.
I remember when I was looking around schools with my eldest. One of the things she said is that children must be out of nappies. That completely took me back. I said she's been potty trained before 2 and looked at her like she had 2 heads. She said you'd be surprised how some children turn up! Absolutely insane. Children are just as capable as they were before, it seems there's some regressive evolution that means kids are soiling themselves, unable to talk, sing and even play as they did since the beginning of our time It's actually quite worrying. Something has changed, society has changed. It is a taboo subject but I'd love for there to be a discussion about how this has happened.[/quote]
This is so true. I’m 54 and work in early years. So many toddlers seem incapable of the basic skills that would have been taken for granted in toddlers 25 - 30 years ago. I am constantly astounded at the change.

I honestly think it’s to do with changes in parenting, linked to changes in society, plus technology.

[quote Whoamireally22]@PriamFarrl
Why “just” playing? Playing is literally EVERYTHING in the yearly years. Play dough:

• mix ingredients to make DIY play dough = science
• explore the properties of play dough, enjoy the texture = science, sensory input
• different colours play dough = colour identification
• making characters out of play dough aids story telling, ignites imagination
• manipulating play dough = fine motor skills etc etc etc

Yet children have their time taken away to practice their joined up writing by the time they are 5. It’s heartbreaking.[/quote] I know. I was an early years teacher for many years. What I was saying is that some parents don’t see any value in it at all.

@Bitofachinwag

Yes it is important. But children don't have to be in childcare to gain those skills. Parents can do it too.

Where I am we have to brush the children's teeth for them as the parents don’t do that. Parents can do it but many don’t.