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.

Don't have time to read the full thread.

But I do feel nursery teachers are woefully underpaid. Their job is as difficult if not more so than a teacher and they sometimes earn less than half. From friends who do this job they are also looked down upon by the so called teaching staff. One was even heard to comment I couldn't do your job it doesn't pay enough. I'll remember that next time I hear a teacher saying they are underpaid 😂

Also re. screen time my DC probably have too much but I do feel IT is such a huge part of life now that I want them to be familiar. They don't watch any TV. However, screen time is far less social than TV as it's very much solo so I probably should restrict it.

Screen time here and there is fine but when a child only has screen time (sometimes inappropriate, violent, sexual, scary content) to the detriment of play, imaginative activities, enjoying books, talking with adults, going to meaningful places (doesn't have to be expensive- developing gross motor skills at the park, social skills at a birthday party, counting shells on the beach) then this does impact their development and learning. Parents need to take responsibility for this. Routine and boundaries are crucial. If you never say no to your child how will they cope when a teacher says no?

@Silentbobbi

Also re. screen time my DC probably have too much but I do feel IT is such a huge part of life now that I want them to be familiar. They don't watch any TV. However, screen time is far less social than TV as it's very much solo so I probably should restrict it.

What do they do on their screens then? I didn't grow up with "IT" and I cope fine. It doesn't take very long to become familiar with it. Unless your talking about Computer Science GCSE or similar.

@Silentbobbi

Also re. screen time my DC probably have too much but I do feel IT is such a huge part of life now that I want them to be familiar. They don't watch any TV. However, screen time is far less social than TV as it's very much solo so I probably should restrict it.

Also, it's only "a huge part of life " because people let it be!

They did have about an hour of watching their favourite cartoons on the tablet tonight, mainly so we could watch some TV. Prior to that we had been out all day, been to the park had a long walk, picnic etc and then in the garden for a bit before dinner, so I don't think it was excessive tbh. Also like any children they go through phases, sometimes they aren't even interested in using them.

I do think plenty of people value it. I love our nursery and even if I was a sahm I would prioritise some nursery time. I have to admit with my first I was hankering after a bit more academics in her pre/school but I get how important the social development is now my eldest is in school. I took for granted that her level of social skills were normal for her age but was quite shocked when she hit reception and realised she was advanced in terms of her ability to build relationships, negotiate, find compromises with her peers etc.

I’m always surprised when people say reception is just play. The fundamentals of reading and writing are so important and my daughter made so much progress in that year.

I agree Early years education is so important but I also think that parents, grandparents and families can also provide a good early years education for their child too.
I chose not to use nursery or pre school but mine settled quickly and easily into school with all the skills they needed to be successful learners.
I now provide two day's childcare for dgs 2.5 who also attends pre school two days a week. He loves pre school but equally he loves the 1 to 1 attention he gets at Granny's. I like to think he's getting the best of both worlds and it is such a privilege to be able to read the books, play the games, have the adventures that I once had with his mama.

It wasn't cool in 2020 to mention all the everyday development opportunities that pre-schoolers were being deprived of, and things like toddler groups were made a very low priority for return. Low cost groups run by volunteers in risk averse community settings have deprived those who have the fewest development opportunites and statistically the lowest base to build sucess compared to those who can afford profit-making businesses. Lonely mums voicing their concerns were shouted down and told that only Covid mattered, and how could they care about trivia when people were dying. "Children are resiliant, they'll catch up"
But the inevitable social cost has emerged. Health and social provision is drowning in the backlog of 2020 and the additional load of problems caused and exacerbated by the social isolation of young children. The same in education settings which already were stretched in budget, staffing and unrealistic political targets, it's difficult to meet that additional need on finite resources.

In the bigger picture, pre-school education is very important. For parents to match those opportunities themselves takes sound education, money, time, space and social networks.
Comparing to the 1950s is not like for like. The education standard at the end of schooling to get a basic job is far higher, basic literacy and numeracy are not enough. Families live remotely from each other. Communities are fragmented. It's hard to make friends with people of children the same age when many of them work. Even with older children, because life is more formalised, you find that there aren't children avaliable to play football on the green, you have to pay for them to do a day of coaching.

Free nursery provision is a great leveller as were the children's centres.
Also being the parent of a child with SENs, going to nursery added weight to our referrals for diagnosis and his nursery were far better equipped to deliver his SALT plan. I did all the usual talking to in a parent facing pushchair, building sentences, talking through experiences in a broad range of environments, but nursery could provide qualified staff, consistent peers for group work and targeted activities to work on specific areas of grammar development that he had no interest in at home.

Through my children's lives, I've worked FT/ PT and SAHM, they've always had a mix of formal and domestic based opportunties, but statistically they were born onto a winner with a well educated mother and resources. Other children are born into catch-up and need that education to close the gap.

" risk averse community settings" so true.
It was understandable initially but our library had never resumed their preschool drop in group.

Has never..

I got to page 3, has it moved on from slagging off poor parents yet?

I'm slagging our council.
I do love a good moan!

I got to page 3, has it moved on from slagging off poor parents yet?

It started out as people don’t seem to understand the value of play in learning and what nursery staff really do - they have I guess an old fashioned view on early years education - true. OP is clearly very passionate about her job for good reasons and raises good points. This quickly turned into 99% of parents are useless, especially if not well off, they never think to talk to their kids and don’t want to brush their kids teeth 🤷‍♀️

I don't think anyone is saying most parents are shit.

It wasn't cool in 2020 to mention all the everyday development opportunities that pre-schoolers were being deprived of, and things like toddler groups were made a very low priority for return. Low cost groups run by volunteers in risk averse community settings have deprived those who have the fewest development opportunites and statistically the lowest base to build sucess compared to those who can afford profit-making businesses. Lonely mums voicing their concerns were shouted down and told that only Covid mattered, and how could they care about trivia when people were dying. "Children are resiliant, they'll catch up" But the inevitable social cost has emerged.

Completely agree with this. Having been told on MN that I was unbelievably self-centered for being worried about the impact on my 20 month old child of being stuck at home with two working parents, not even able to play in a playground in 2020 ('this isn't about your PFB, people are dying!'), and then being told that I obviously didn't care if my child's keyworker died when I chose to send him to nursery in 2021, it sticks in the craw a bit to be told in 2022 that any impact on him now is because I'm too ignorant to know about early years learning. The narrative in 2020 was that it would make no difference at all, that they just parallel play anyway so that can't matter (which is much like saying that it wouldn't matter if you kept a child strapped down all day until the age of 1 because they wouldn't be walking yet anyway), and if you disagreed with that it was absolute heresy.

@HardbackWriter

It wasn't cool in 2020 to mention all the everyday development opportunities that pre-schoolers were being deprived of, and things like toddler groups were made a very low priority for return. Low cost groups run by volunteers in risk averse community settings have deprived those who have the fewest development opportunites and statistically the lowest base to build sucess compared to those who can afford profit-making businesses. Lonely mums voicing their concerns were shouted down and told that only Covid mattered, and how could they care about trivia when people were dying. "Children are resiliant, they'll catch up" But the inevitable social cost has emerged.

Completely agree with this. Having been told on MN that I was unbelievably self-centered for being worried about the impact on my 20 month old child of being stuck at home with two working parents, not even able to play in a playground in 2020 ('this isn't about your PFB, people are dying!'), and then being told that I obviously didn't care if my child's keyworker died when I chose to send him to nursery in 2021, it sticks in the craw a bit to be told in 2022 that any impact on him now is because I'm too ignorant to know about early years learning. The narrative in 2020 was that it would make no difference at all, that they just parallel play anyway so that can't matter (which is much like saying that it wouldn't matter if you kept a child strapped down all day until the age of 1 because they wouldn't be walking yet anyway), and if you disagreed with that it was absolute heresy.

And this, 100%.

How many times were we told to go stomping about in puddle suits all day every day?

Early years education provides absolutely essential building blocks for the rest of a child’s education.

@BogRollBOGOF

It wasn't cool in 2020 to mention all the everyday development opportunities that pre-schoolers were being deprived of, and things like toddler groups were made a very low priority for return. Low cost groups run by volunteers in risk averse community settings have deprived those who have the fewest development opportunites and statistically the lowest base to build sucess compared to those who can afford profit-making businesses. Lonely mums voicing their concerns were shouted down and told that only Covid mattered, and how could they care about trivia when people were dying. "Children are resiliant, they'll catch up" But the inevitable social cost has emerged. Health and social provision is drowning in the backlog of 2020 and the additional load of problems caused and exacerbated by the social isolation of young children. The same in education settings which already were stretched in budget, staffing and unrealistic political targets, it's difficult to meet that additional need on finite resources.

In the bigger picture, pre-school education is very important. For parents to match those opportunities themselves takes sound education, money, time, space and social networks.
Comparing to the 1950s is not like for like. The education standard at the end of schooling to get a basic job is far higher, basic literacy and numeracy are not enough. Families live remotely from each other. Communities are fragmented. It's hard to make friends with people of children the same age when many of them work. Even with older children, because life is more formalised, you find that there aren't children avaliable to play football on the green, you have to pay for them to do a day of coaching.

Free nursery provision is a great leveller as were the children's centres.
Also being the parent of a child with SENs, going to nursery added weight to our referrals for diagnosis and his nursery were far better equipped to deliver his SALT plan. I did all the usual talking to in a parent facing pushchair, building sentences, talking through experiences in a broad range of environments, but nursery could provide qualified staff, consistent peers for group work and targeted activities to work on specific areas of grammar development that he had no interest in at home.

Through my children's lives, I've worked FT/ PT and SAHM, they've always had a mix of formal and domestic based opportunties, but statistically they were born onto a winner with a well educated mother and resources. Other children are born into catch-up and need that education to close the gap.

applauds extremely well said. Agree with every word.

I agree OP. I feel like early years is highly valued (even if it is for childcare!) because people understand young children need to play. It's KS1 that makes me feel so sad. So many people think 5 years olds should be sitting all day 'learning' because all that understanding of the value of play goes out the window.