Watched 'b is for book' on the bbc last night, and it made me think about early years practice.
Out of interest, how many of you have children in a reception class where they sit down at desks with books daily for work tasks?
A few years ago a class I worked in introduced writing books for reception, a big thing then but enjoyed very much in small groups by a number. Some hated it though! The room had lots of play areas, a few table for putting bits on, tables used for regular small group work (phonics/ counting activities with an adult). Large areas were forts/ book corners with cushions/ lego areas.....free play basically reigned. We'd call 5/6 at a time on a rota for focused work while the rest played.
More and more I see, particularly in areas of 'deprivation', a model where all of reception sit down to formal learning together (rather than just carpet time phonics/ stories etc) at their tables. Some of the children in the programme were not ready, as were many (most?) I've taught. Frankly it looked like a miserable start to reading for many. I know my own little boy would be unlikely to have absorbed anything said to him as a just 4 yr old in reception, let alone actually learn in a class size group.
We used to provide opportunities for able/ advanced pupils to write and extend learning, but we certainly had more play. It does make me wonder how some of these children will be with creative writing later on when you look at the methodical approach to their learning early on and the sheer relentlessness of intervention for the more immature pupils.