tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/early-years-2299/articlesEarly years – The Conversation2024-03-15T13:32:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236062024-03-15T13:32:02Z2024-03-15T13:32:02ZChild health is in crisis in the UK – here’s what needs to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581689/original/file-20240313-18-eed233.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3489%2C2331&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hungry-child-big-clear-eyes-eating-210938179">Slava Samusevich/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://acmedsci.ac.uk/more/news/urgent-action-needed-on-failing-child-health">new report</a> from the Academy of Medical Sciences highlights the “appalling decline” in child health and a need for “urgent action”. In recent years, child vaccination rates have fallen well below World Health Organization target levels, creating a resurgence of outbreaks of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00265-8">serious disease</a> such as measles. </p>
<p>In England, more than one in five children are <a href="https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/rcpch-responds-latest-childhood-obesity-figures-england-202223">overweight or obese</a> by age five and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oral-health-survey-of-5-year-old-children-2019">one in four</a> children have tooth decay. Demand for child mental health services <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/07/childrens-emergency-mental-health-referrals-in-england-soar-by-53">has surged</a>. Perhaps most worryingly, the rise in infant mortality means that UK is now <a href="https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/infant-mortality-rates.htm">ranked 30 out of 49</a> OECD countries – well behind other European countries except Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia.</p>
<p>One of the most important drivers of this crisis is the number of children in the UK living in extreme poverty, which <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/poverty-children-dwp-energy-bills-food-b2434506.html">tripled</a> between 2019-2022. </p>
<p>The early years, the period from pregnancy to the first five years of life, have historically been overlooked in research and policy. More recently, the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/605c5e61d3bf7f2f0d94183a/The_best_start_for_life_a_vision_for_the_1_001_critical_days.pdf">first 1,001 days</a> from conception to age two has been recognised as a critical period in which the building blocks for lifelong emotional and physical health are laid down.</p>
<p>Investing in the early years is one of the most important things we can do as a society to build a better future and promote the nation’s health, wellbeing and prosperity. There is clear evidence that such investment will be cost-effective in enabling future adults to live long and productive lives. </p>
<p>For example, data from the Royal Foundation and the London School of Economics has shown that the <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/qwnplnakca8g/2iLCWZESD2RLu24m443HUf/1c802df74c44ac6bc94d4338ff7ac53d/RFCEC_BCCS_Report_and_Appendices.pdf">cost to society</a> of addressing issues that might have been avoided through action in early childhood is more than £16 billion each year – <a href="https://centreforearlychildhood.org/report/#:%7E:text=This%20sum%20of%20%C2%A316.13,specialist%20perinatal%20mental%20health%20support.">nearly five times</a> the total annual spend in England on early education and childcare entitlements. </p>
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<h2>How to reverse the decline</h2>
<p>So what can be done to reverse these worrying trends? </p>
<p>The Academy of Medical Sciences’ report outlines several recommendations to improve the health and wellbeing of children in the UK and the adults they will become. </p>
<p>The first recommendation is to implement effective early years interventions. One example of such an intervention is the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP), an intensive early home visiting programme for first time teenage mothers. The FNP aims to improve birth outcomes, child health and development, and promote economic self-sufficiency among young mothers. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I recently <a href="https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000514">evaluated outcomes of 26,000 mothers</a> in England participating in the FNP from 2010-2019. We found some evidence to suggest that children born to mothers enrolled in FNP were more likely to achieve a good level of development at school entry (age five), supporting findings from a <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/2/e049960">previous trial</a>. Mothers were engaged in the programme, with the majority meeting fidelity targets (Figure 1). </p>
<p>However, in local areas where the FNP was offered, <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/76/12/991">only one in four mothers</a> are enrolled due to insufficient places on the programme. In areas with high numbers of teenage mothers, enrolment rates are even lower. More needs to be done to ensure that when interventions are implemented, they are offered to all those who could benefit from support. </p>
<p>A further recommendation is to address the decline in the child and family health workforce. Health visitors are trained nurses who are <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/960708/Commissioning_guide_2.pdf">uniquely placed</a> to influence and work with the whole family in the interests of children on social, psychological and health choices. Years of austerity, cuts and a depleted workforce have meant that since 2015, the health visiting workforce has <a href="https://ihv.org.uk/news-and-views/news/health-visitor-workforce-numbers-in-england-reach-an-all-time-low/">decreased by 37%</a> (from 11,193 to 7,030 in 2022). </p>
<p>The real term value of the public health grant from which health visiting is commissioned <a href="https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/charts-and-infographics/public-health-grant-what-it-is-and-why-greater-investment-is-needed">has fallen by 27%</a>. In the context of this disinvestment, there is huge variation in how local areas are delivering their services. For example, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35193912/">our research</a> has shown that the number of children receiving their (mandated) 2 to 2½-year review ranges between 33%-97% depending on in which area they live (Figure 2).</p>
<p>Investment in targeted interventions and universal services in the early years is key to supporting the health and development of children and the wellbeing of their families in the critical period before school. </p>
<h2>Children need joined-up thinking</h2>
<p>However, such interventions and policies should be underpinned by high-quality research and evaluation. We need to consider the wider determinants of health and wellbeing across the lifecourse, such as education, social care income, criminal justice and the environment, to support a more joined up and cross-government approach to improving outcomes. </p>
<p>Historically, linking cross-sectoral data in this way has been challenging. However, there is promising progress in this area. One example of this is <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/child-health/echild">Echild</a>, a national resource linking together data from hospitals, schools and social care for 20 million children in England and their mothers (Figure 3). </p>
<p>This unique data set represents a significant step towards a more holistic approach to understanding the <a href="https://www.adruk.org/news-publications/news-blogs/how-administrative-data-can-uncover-the-relationship-between-childrens-health-and-education/">many factors influencing child wellbeing</a>, including maternal mental health, childhood chronic conditions and school absences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie Harron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children are bearing the brunt of austerity. From obesity to infant mortality, child health is affected by sustained under-investment. What can be done to reverse the decline?Katie Harron, Professor of Statistics and Health Data Science, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219012024-02-01T12:42:39Z2024-02-01T12:42:39ZSupervised toothbrushing in schools and nurseries is a good idea – it’s proven to reduce tooth decay<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572161/original/file-20240130-23-ilrc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5734%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-beautiful-african-girl-brushing-teeth-379214593">didesign021/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly a quarter of five-year-old children in England have tooth decay. In deprived areas of the country the proportion is even higher. And it isn’t just one problematic tooth – children with decay have, on average, three or four <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oral-health-survey-of-5-year-old-children-2022">affected teeth</a>. It’s the <a href="https://www.bda.org/news-and-opinion/news/child-hospital-admissions-caused-by-decay-going-unchallenged/">most common reason</a> why young children aged from five to ten years are admitted to hospital. </p>
<p>When Labour leader Keir Starmer announced the party’s intention to expand <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/10/keir-starmer-announces-plan-for-supervised-toothbrushing-in-schools">toothbrushing programmes</a> in nurseries and schools, he <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/keir-starmer-schools-toothbrush-dentists-b2476479.html">faced criticism</a> for planning to take away responsibility from parents and place further burden on schools. </p>
<p>But supervised toothbrushing for young children already takes place. It has been rolled out <a href="https://www.childsmile.nhs.scot/professionals/childsmile-toothbrushing/">in Scotland</a> and for <a href="https://www.gov.wales/designed-smile-improving-childrens-dental-health">deprived areas in Wales</a> and takes place in some areas in England. It is effective in reducing tooth decay, especially for children in deprived areas. It is not meant to replace brushing teeth at home, but strengthens good oral health practices.</p>
<p>As experts in dental health, we know all too well the impact poor oral health has on the lives of children and families. We are <a href="https://www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/">leading a project</a> to improve toothbrushing programmes in nurseries and schools in England, and have recently developed an <a href="https://www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/">online toolkit</a> to help schools, nurseries and parents as well as the NHS and local government.</p>
<h2>Painful – and preventable</h2>
<p>Tooth decay causes pain and suffering. It affects children’s daily lives, including what they eat, their speech and their self-esteem. It stops them from doing things they enjoy and can cause disrupted sleep. And tooth decay has an impact on school readiness and attendance. Children have to take time off school due to toothache and to attend <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-child-dental-health/health-matters-child-dental-health">dental appointments</a>. </p>
<p>While going to hospital for dental extractions under general anaesthetic reduces the impact of decay on children’s lives, the event itself can be worrying for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2014.331">children and their parents</a>. And poor oral health in childhood has lifelong consequences. Children with decay in their primary teeth are four times more likely to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28571506">develop decay</a> in their adult teeth. </p>
<p>In England, treatment of decay in children and teenagers <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2022/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2022">cost the NHS</a> over £50 million in the financial year 2021-22. </p>
<p>Toothbrushing at school and nursery with a <a href="https://www.cochrane.org/CD007868/ORAL_fluoride-toothpastes-different-strengths-preventing-tooth-decay">fluoride toothpaste</a> for young children is a way to tackle this issue. </p>
<h2>On the curriculum</h2>
<p>Supervised toothbrushing involves children brushing their own teeth as a group during the day, overseen by nursery and preschool staff or teaching assistants. It typically takes between five and ten minutes. </p>
<p>In Scotland, the <a href="https://www.childsmile.nhs.scot/professionals/childsmile-toothbrushing/">Childsmile Toothbrushing Programme</a> is offered to all children aged three and four at nursery and to some younger nursery children as well to some older school children. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022034512470690">Research analysing the programme</a> has found it to be effective in reducing tooth decay, especially in children at greatest risk, such as those living in areas of <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/10/11/e038116.full.pdf">social deprivation</a>. In England, though, uptake of toothbrushing programmes is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-023-6182-1">currently fragmented</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Girl brushes giant model teeth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Learning about brushing teeth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoe Marshman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>What’s more, oral health is already part of children’s learning at nurseries and schools in England. The topic is included in <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62cea352e90e071e789ea9bf/Relationships_Education_RSE_and_Health_Education.pdf">statutory guidance</a> for primary and secondary schools. Similarly, promoting oral health is included in the <a href="https://www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/_files/ugd/b03681_311d9c3dcf6c43de9dbc05336733f105.pdf">statutory framework</a> for early years settings such as nurseries. </p>
<p>Running a supervised toothbrushing scheme is one way early years settings can demonstrate they have met the requirement about oral health. </p>
<p>Supervised toothbrushing in nurseries and schools does not replace toothbrushing at home. It serves to complement home toothbrushing to help young children learn and practice good oral hygiene.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Marshman, via the BRUSH project receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborations South West Peninsula and Yorkshire and Humber through the Children’s Health and Maternity National Priority Programme, supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR ARC YH) NIHR200166 <a href="https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk">https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk</a>
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kara Gray-Burrows, via the BRUSH project receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborations South West Peninsula and Yorkshire and Humber through the Children’s Health and Maternity National Priority Programme, supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR ARC YH) NIHR200166 <a href="https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk">https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk</a> The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Day, via the BRUSH project receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborations South West Peninsula and Yorkshire and Humber through the Children’s Health and Maternity National Priority Programme, supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR ARC YH) NIHR200166 <a href="https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk">https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk</a> The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care.</span></em></p>Tooth decay is the most common reason why young children aged from five to ten are admitted to hospital.Zoe Marshman, Professor/Honorary Consultant of Dental Public Health, University of SheffieldKara Gray-Burrows, Lecturer in Behavioural Sciences & Complex Intervention Methodology, University of LeedsPeter Day, Professor of Children's Oral Health and Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050822023-05-18T16:36:02Z2023-05-18T16:36:02ZShould your summer-born child start school later? Here’s what the research says<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526544/original/file-20230516-23718-kxz9ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4985%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/parent-take-child-school-pupil-primary-1131281738">Sharomka/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have a child born in the summer, the prospect of starting school can pose a conundrum. In <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission/summer-born-children-starting-school-advice-for-parents">England</a>, for example, children typically start school in the September after they turn four, which for some can mean just a few months, weeks or even days later.</p>
<p>But if your child was born between April and August, you have the option to delay entry until year one, in line with compulsory school starting age of five. However, this means that they would miss the first formal year of education (reception). </p>
<p>You can also apply to your local authority for your child to enter school a year after their peer group – meaning your child will enter reception class the September after they turn five, and will be taught out of their <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission/summer-born-children-starting-school-advice-for-parents">peer group</a>. A government survey of 62 local authorities found that 88% of requests to delay from 2018 to 2019 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904411/Delayed_school_admissions_for_summer_born_pupils_Research_report_September_2019.pdf">were granted</a>.</p>
<p>So how do you know whether your child should start school at four, or delay entry? One thing to consider is what research tells us about the experience of summer-born children. For example, much evidence points to the advantages of summer-born children starting reception when they are five. </p>
<p>However, it’s also important to remember that every child and their family have different circumstances, and later entry may not be the most suitable approach for your child’s experiences and potential.</p>
<p><a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/when-you-are-born-matters-evidence-england">We know</a> that summer-born children are less likely to do well academically, socially and emotionally, especially in the first few years of school. </p>
<p>There are also issues related to the fact that curriculum for the early years of primary school in England has seen an increased “schoolification” in recent years. This means that there is a greater emphasis on formal styles of teaching and assessment. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1476041/1/baseline-assessment--final-10404.pdf">reception baseline assessment</a>, made statutory in 2021, is an example of this: children are tested in maths and English during the first six weeks of reception class. Due to this timing, summer-born children are very young when they are assessed and so could be put at a disadvantage for reasons we’ll explain.</p>
<h2>Time to mature</h2>
<p>Putting back your child’s entry into school so they enter reception at five may have several advantages. This could mean children have more time to mature and develop to the same level as older peers. This in turn could result in a better transition into reception, a more positive learning experience during reception, and more successful developmental and assessment outcomes in the first year of school. </p>
<p>Research has shown that summer-born children who enter school shortly after they turn four often have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277724901_Younger_children_experience_lower_levels_of_language_competence_and_academic_progress_in_the_first_year_of_school_Evidence_from_a_population_study">lower levels</a> of language and behavioural development. These lower levels may then be mismatched with the curriculum and social demands of the classroom. </p>
<p><a href="https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/berj.3771">Research has found</a> that in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1109972/Early_Years_Foundation_Stage_profile_2023_handbook.pdf">early years foundation stage profile</a> (an assessment of children’s development carried out by teachers at the end of the reception year), August-born children were on average 30% less likely to be attributed a “good level of development” compared to children born in September.</p>
<p>Because summer-born children are held to the same academic expectations as their classmates, teachers may compare them with older, more developed peers. This could lead to summer-born children’s <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322640437_A_small-scale_exploratory_study_of_educator%27s_perceptions_and_expectations_of_summer-born_children_in_the_reception_classes_of_three_English_primary_academies_and_the_strategies_used_to_support_them">ability being underestimated</a>, which may also influence the assessment outcomes they receive during the reception year. </p>
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<img alt="Children in uniform walking away from camera" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Summer-born children may be at a disadvantage when compared to older children in the same year group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-diverse-kindergarten-students-walking-together-659275150">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>However, there are also a number of drawbacks to putting back entry into reception by a year. Childcare is often one of the most important factors here. Although summer-born children are entitled to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare">30 hours of free childcare</a> until they turn five, you will still need to organise and often pay for childcare arrangements for the time they are <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904411/Delayed_school_admissions_for_summer_born_pupils_Research_report_September_2019.pdf">not in school</a>.</p>
<p>There is also evidence to suggest that younger children who enter reception at four, may benefit from learning in a <a href="https://lubotsky.people.uic.edu/uploads/2/3/1/7/23178366/elder_lubotsky.pdf">classroom setting</a> and learn quicker in a formal setting than children who had been held back in pre-school.</p>
<h2>Ready for school?</h2>
<p>Decisions to delay school entry are often based on a child being “school ready”. This concept is rooted in the idea that there is a threshold of cognitive and social development milestones that a child must reach before they can learn effectively in school. Teaching professionals, early years settings, and parents aim to prepare children to engage and access <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355427250_%27What_works%27_and_for_whom_Bold_Beginnings_and_the_construction_of_the_school_ready_child">formal education</a>. </p>
<p>The access to and the quality of child’s pre-school education, as well as the nature of their home environment, play a major role in a child’s school readiness and <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10005308/1/EPPE12Sylva2004Effective.pdf">their educational attainment</a>. However, high quality learning experiences in both early years settings and home environment may not be accessible to all families and <a href="https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18189/2/SSU-SF-2004-01.pdf">children</a>. </p>
<p>An important way to support your child’s school readiness is to give them the opportunity to engage in independent, child-centred, and open-ended <a href="https://www.importanceofplay.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Dr-David-Whitebread-The-importance-of-play-final.pdf">play-based</a> early learning experiences. For example, unstructured outdoor play, where children can choose what resources or games to play without direction from an adult. </p>
<p>These experiences allow children to develop the appropriate social, emotional, and language skills to <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/455670/RB455_Effective_pre-school_primary_and_secondary_education_project.pdf.pdf">thrive in school</a>. These skills are the building blocks for a child’s successful transition to formal learning, their ability to self-regulate behaviour in the classroom, and their engagement with the curriculum. </p>
<p>Every child has a unique set of early learning experiences and different levels of cognitive and social development by the time they enter school. They will therefore have a different level of perceived school readiness. </p>
<p>As their parent, you know your child best. A decision to put a summer-born child’s entry to reception back by a year should be based on when you believe your child is school ready, alongside considerations of whether school may be a better environment and a more practical alternative. </p>
<p><em>This article has been amended to avoid confusion with the practice of starting reception later in the school year than September, often known in England as “deferred entry”. It has also been amended to clarify that the figure of 88% of granted requests to start reception at age five refers to requests to the 62 local authorities who took part in a government survey.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxime Perrott studies and works for University of Bristol. She receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ioanna Bakopoulou receives funding from ESRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Washbrook is an academic at the University of Bristol. Her research has been funded by a variety of non-governmental associations interested in social equity, such as the ESRC, Save the Children and the Resolution Foundation. </span></em></p>The advantages and disadvantages of summer-born children entering school outside their peer group.Maxime Perrott, PhD Researcher and Graduate Teacher in Education, University of BristolIoanna Bakopoulou, Senior Lecturer in Psychology in Education, University of BristolLiz Washbrook, Associate Professor in Quantitative Methods, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1513362021-05-31T20:08:00Z2021-05-31T20:08:00ZNew Alberta curriculum would overload young learners when what they need is balance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402171/original/file-20210521-17-171ptyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C52%2C8648%2C5722&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Literacy is much like learning to ride a bike: young kids can only advance to “tricks” when they learn how to balance a number of other complex and inter-related activities</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alberta’s Ministry of Education under the leadership of Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party recently released a <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/curriculum.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=sem&utm_campaign=K6curriculum&utm_term=curriculum&utm_content=v1">draft of new kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum it proposes beginning to pilot in the 2021 school year</a>. </p>
<p>Responses to the <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/opposition-to-k-6-curriculum-draft-grows-as-11723-parents-sign-petition">curriculum’s content and how it was developed have been both swift and harsh</a> from the Alberta Teachers’ Association, some parent groups, researchers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjklBEsgG6Q">and the NDP opposition</a>. Some major school boards <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/opposition-to-k-6-curriculum-draft-grows-as-11723-parents-sign-petition">across the province have said they won’t pilot it</a>.</p>
<p>In the kindergarten to Grade 3 years, major concern <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/alberta-teachers-demanding-full-rewrite-of-draft-k-6-curriculum">relates to the age appropriateness and the heavy load of complex factual information</a>. </p>
<p>There is a new <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/not-fit-for-students-teachers-demand-halt-on-albertas-k-6-curriculum-draft">push to introduce</a> <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/curriculum-social-studies.aspx">what the province describes as “knowledge-rich</a>” sections of social studies curriculum related to “history, geography, civics, financial literacy and economics, telling the story of Alberta, Canada and world history at age-appropriate levels.”</p>
<p>Accessing knowledge-rich content assumes language and literacy competencies. As a researcher who has studied developmental patterns of <a href="https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29435">language and literacy learning</a> in the kindergarten to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2018.1499160">Grade 4 years</a> among <a href="http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/article/view/413">English language learners and learners whose first language is English</a>, I find that how the new curriculum envisions children’s <a href="https://curriculum.learnalberta.ca/curriculum/en/f/litk">literacy progressions</a> is particularly concerning. Other than phonics understandings in kindergarten, language and literacy development do not receive adequate instructional focus in grades 1 to 3. </p>
<p>The human species is not hard-wired for literacy. It must be learned, and this takes time, good teaching and practice that a well-designed curriculum provides.</p>
<p>Early reading and writing depend on analogous underlying understandings involved in mapping sound to print (phonics) and letter recognition. It requires that children can automatically recognize words and achieve spelling accuracy. They need to gain <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cursive-handwriting-needs-to-make-a-school-comeback-121645">the ability to produce legible and increasingly fluent handwriting</a> and to move well <a href="https://theconversation.com/7-read-aloud-tips-for-parents-to-help-prevent-childrens-covid-19-pandemic-learning-loss-154343">beyond high-frequency vocabulary</a>. </p>
<h2>Importance of fine motor skills</h2>
<p>To develop in language, literacy and numeracy knowledge, children need repeated opportunities to reconstruct internal mental representations of the external material world. Children do this <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/guided-physical-play-kindergarten">through an enormous amount of fine motor manipulative and fine motor literacy play</a> in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2011.636729">service of letter recognition, spelling patterns and numeracy concepts</a>. </p>
<p>Playing with blocks, loose parts, fasteners of all kinds, puzzle pieces, pencils, crayons, chalk, paper and scissors, tweezers and chopsticks, for example, teaches the brain <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/191866/the-hand-by-frank-r-wilson">the hand-brain-tool connection</a> and makes for nimble fingers. Indeed, researchers <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20822219">suggest that</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723714535768">measures of fine motor control are good predictors of children’s early language, literacy and numeracy</a>. Playful <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwGXyln-7_w">involvement in nursery rhymes</a> teaches phonemic awareness, rhythm and vocabulary development through actions. All the while, children are repurposing understandings of patterns, sequences, shape, size, structures and hierarchies, cycles and categories. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/summer-play-that-enriches-kids-reading-skills-8-fine-motor-activities-for-little-fingers-118673">Summer play that enriches kids' reading skills — 8 fine motor activities for little fingers</a>
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<p>Through these activities, children engage the neurocircuity needed to support future literacy and numeracy learning. </p>
<p>Early understandings need to be contextualized within the child’s immediate and familiar world of experience expanding from their family, neighbourhood and community. Just like eating a diet of exclusively rich food, an overload of knowledge-rich curriculum could result <a href="https://havelockprimaryschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/cognitive-load-theory-VR_AA3.pdf">in kids who are over-stuffed with facts they cannot make sense of</a>, and under-nourished with foundational learning. </p>
<p>Just right teaching involves recognizing individual children’s readiness to engage with increasingly challenging skills, concepts and competencies. Despite individual differences in the developmental profiles of children, broadly recognized and accepted patterns and benchmarks signal whether children are on track. In Alberta <a href="https://ecdcoalitions.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/EDI_CALGARY-CITYWIDE.pdf">31 per cent of children entering kindergarten are considered “at risk”</a> in their communication and general knowledge. </p>
<h2>Like learning to ride a bike</h2>
<p>Literacy is much like learning to ride a bike: young kids can only advance to jumping the curb, showing off their other tricks and safely monitoring the traffic around them if they offload the basics of pedalling and controlling the brakes and handlebars. The brain only has so much capacity to juggle competing demands of complex tasks, including reading, writing and solving math problems. Childhood cannot be rushed by providing more, earlier or more difficult academic information, sooner. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy holding a pencil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402381/original/file-20210524-15-oytenc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402381/original/file-20210524-15-oytenc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402381/original/file-20210524-15-oytenc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402381/original/file-20210524-15-oytenc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402381/original/file-20210524-15-oytenc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402381/original/file-20210524-15-oytenc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402381/original/file-20210524-15-oytenc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children revel in the sense of agency and delight they find when learning how to communicate through writing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Cognitive overload happens when children are <a href="https://havelockprimaryschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/cognitive-load-theory-VR_AA3.pdf">asked to deal with complex information that is beyond their current ability to understand and process</a>, and for which they lack prior knowledge. Such information is soon forgotten or discarded.</p>
<p>Children revel in the joy, sense of agency and sheer delight of conveying their thoughts, opinions and understandings through the magic of literacy. Their writing, as early as Grade 2, demonstrates risk taking with words that are beyond their literate knowledge, but also that they are <a href="http://learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/642/642">keen to try using their “best guess spelling</a>.” </p>
<p>Adults too often underestimate the complex demands of the kindergarten to Grade 3 years: childhood and early years’ learning take time. </p>
<h2>Hit pause</h2>
<p>Besides the contentious nature of the draft curriculum that begs for some rethinking, we need to remind ourselves that a year of COVID-19 has had serious negative consequences in the early learning outcomes, especially among our youngest students. </p>
<p>Data from Alberta schools indicate the most vulnerable children in kindergarten to Grade 3 years have fallen behind the most in reading achievement: <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/elise-stolte-alberta-must-keep-elementary-schools-open-online-learning-was-a-disaster-for-struggling-kids">approximately one month for every month of school missed</a>. This comes on top of the fact that schools have already been seeing <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2722666">an existing shortfall in kindergarten children’s school readiness</a>.
Now is not the time to pilot and then implement a new curriculum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151336/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hetty Roessingh receives funding from SSHRC, and the Alberta's Teachers' Association. </span></em></p>Accessing “knowledge-rich” content assumes language and literacy competencies that take time for children to develop. Childhood cannot be rushed.Hetty Roessingh, Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1570952021-03-29T16:10:38Z2021-03-29T16:10:38Z‘Generation C’: Why investing in early childhood is critical after COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391845/original/file-20210325-21-12hbffc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C121%2C6221%2C4007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">COVID-19 has led to global shut-downs which have rattled economies and families and will affect children for years to come. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Conversations are beginning <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/meet-gen-c-the-covid-19-generation-1.5343747">about Generation C, the COVID-19 kids</a>. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/11/us/covid-generation-gen-c/index.html">While exactly which ages should be included in this generational label</a> is under debate, what’s clear to researchers of child development is that COVID-19 has led to global shutdowns that have rattled economies, communities and families, and will affect children for years to come.</p>
<p>UNICEF reports the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of children and their families around the world, and <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/across-virtually-every-key-measure-childhood-progress-has-gone-backward-unicef-says">that across virtually every key measure of childhood, progress has gone backward</a>. The number of children who <a href="https://www.breakfastclubcanada.org/covid-impacts/">are hungry</a>, isolated, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7414689/child-abuse-concerns-higher-during-covid-19-pandemic/">abused</a>, anxious and <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/1165-supporting-families-and-children-beyond-covid-19-social-protection-in-high-income-countries.html">living in poverty</a> has increased. Children’s access to <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-strategies-to-support-vulnerable-students-when-schools-reopen-after-coronavirus-136201">learning environments, socialization</a>, essential services, health, nutrition and protection has decreased. </p>
<p>More and more, we will see <a href="https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development">the impact of social isolation, the loss social skill development</a> and trauma on young children. Some children will bear the scars of the pandemic for years to come. Addressing those scars, especially for our more vulnerable and at-risk children, is an urgent priority. Access to high-quality early childhood education and kindergarten is not the singular solution to these problems, but is a cornerstone.</p>
<h2>Invest now for lifelong gains</h2>
<p>When children receive quality <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-quality-early-childhood-education-reduces-need-for-later-special-ed-112275">early childhood education — quality learning from birth to about age five — this pre-emptively lessens the need for later special education</a> and lowers the intensity of support required. </p>
<p>Two years ago, colleagues and I demonstrated a correlation between the dominant benefits of early childhood education: boosted literacy/numeracy, language skills and social/behavioural regulation, especially for children with low socio-economic status. We published <a href="https://research.library.mun.ca/13571/">new research</a> that identified 60 per cent of students enrolled in special education are there due to lags in these aforementioned areas.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-school-closures-could-widen-inequities-for-our-youngest-students-136669">Coronavirus school closures could widen inequities for our youngest students</a>
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<p>This research inspired a special edition of <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/eei/issue/view/1054"><em>Exceptionality Education International</em></a>, which featured nine academic articles exploring the impact of early childhood education on special education. </p>
<p>The research was significant for ministries of education attempting to deal with growing special education budgets and abysmal outcomes for children enrolled in it. Today, in light of the pandemic, politicians, business leaders, educators and economists have a renewed interest and motivation to respond by advocating for and investing in the benefits of quality early childhood education. </p>
<h2>Canada: Child-care strategy</h2>
<p>In Canada, the impact of COVID-19 continues to reverberate. Mothers are <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00091-eng.htm">bearing a disproportionate burden</a> as the damage to their careers becomes a growing economic concern. <a href="https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/pandemic-threatens-decades-of-womens-labour-force-gains/">An RBC report found that the employment rate for mothers</a> has fallen to its lowest level in over three decades due to their loss of child care and the resultant need to become home teachers and child-care providers.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 economic crisis has exposed the fragility of the patchwork quilt of fractured child care. This month, Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister and finance minister, announced a <a href="https://deputypm.canada.ca/en/news/news-releases/2021/03/08/government-announces-members-new-task-force-women-economy">Task Force on Women in the Economy</a> to explore the impact of COVID-19 on women’s careers, including the need for a more stable child-care sector. The <a href="https://www.chatelaine.com/news/task-force-women-economy-canada/">task force begins</a> as the federal government’s <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories.html">Early Learning and Care Bilateral Agreements</a> are about to expire, and negotiations with the provinces and territories for their renewal resume. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-budget-coming-question-period-1.5960695">Canada’s upcoming federal budget</a> is an opportunity to direct needed investments to quality early child care and education. Collectively, we have a chance to balance capacity with quality and create an <a href="https://earlyyearsstudy.ca/eceforcanada/introduction/">informed national model of child care</a> that meets families’ needs. Research on renewed economic arguments for quality early childhood education can help direct this. </p>
<h2>Renewed economic arguments</h2>
<p>My 2019 report cited studies in the <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/eei/article/view/9385">United Kingdom identifying that quality early education can lower enrolment in special education between 40 to 55 per cent</a>. A similar study in Ontario found that <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/eei/article/view/9386">children without high-quality early education were three times more likely to require special supports</a> for behaviour, one and a half times more likely to require language supports and twice as likely to require reading supports. </p>
<p>While these rates will not lead to a parallel reduction in special education budgets, due to the higher costs of students with more complex needs, the potential for savings is significant. This research is now receiving the attention of top economists in Canada.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/child-care-after-the-coronavirus-pandemic-should-be-more-inclusive-of-children-with-disabilities-141172">Child care after the coronavirus pandemic should be more inclusive of children with disabilities</a>
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<img alt="Two toddlers playing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391852/original/file-20210325-13-1p8iu0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391852/original/file-20210325-13-1p8iu0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391852/original/file-20210325-13-1p8iu0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391852/original/file-20210325-13-1p8iu0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391852/original/file-20210325-13-1p8iu0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391852/original/file-20210325-13-1p8iu0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391852/original/file-20210325-13-1p8iu0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Canada has a chance to create quality national childcare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Importance of kindergarten</h2>
<p>A recent economic report on <a href="https://www.etfo.ca/AboutETFO/Publications/PositionPapers/PositionPapersDocuments/Ontario%27s%20Kindergarten%20Program%20a%20Success%20Story%20-%20Full%20Report,.pdf">Ontario’s two-year kindergarten program</a> published by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario discussed the impact of quality early childhood education on special education. Economists argued that early supports for child development through a strong two-year early learning program will save significant money by limiting special education enrolment and altering the trajectories of vulnerable and at-risk children.</p>
<p>A failure to alter the life trajectories of vulnerable and at-risk children is well researched in Canada. Research from The Conference Board of Canada presents a solid argument for the lost income, lower tax base and high draws on social programs across a life span <a href="https://www.conferenceboard.ca/temp/e2ba0188-fc22-40ff-8cd7-da92f93cf253/9231_Ready-for-Life_RPT.pdf">for vulnerable children who don’t attain optimal education levels</a>. </p>
<p>Reducing enrolment in special education means more students exit school with the marks, skills and confidence to pursue post-secondary education. I participated in research with economists with Deloitte who are expanding on this argument for investing in early childhood education with a particular look at the ability to lower special education costs. Deloitte explored significant budgets for special education in three provinces (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and British Columbia) and <a href="http://mwmccain.ca/reports/2021/03/26/early-learning-and-childcare-key-economic-infrastructure/">identified an opportunity to reclaim millions of dollars</a> that can be proactively reinvested in early child care and education.</p>
<h2>International evidence</h2>
<p>Internationally, evidence is mounting for this economic argument of reclaiming and redirecting special education budgets towards renewed investments in quality early childhood education. This doesn’t mean sudden cuts to special education, but rather investing in early years now to see improved outcomes for the most vulnerable children and eventual cost savings in special education.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scotlands-outdoor-play-initiative-has-some-lessons-for-the-rest-of-the-world-132429">Scotland’s outdoor play initiative has some lessons for the rest of the world</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.telethonkids.org.au/projects/HPER/how-aus-can-invest-in-children-and-return-more/">recent Australian study</a> argued that without quality early learning we are spending significant money on ineffective late-stage interventions. Researchers posit that this failure to intervene at an early stage allows these initial learning needs to disrupt development and escalate. </p>
<p>While Canada reels from the effects of COVID-19, discussions on the critical importance of the early years and the entire Generation C are growing. The year 2021 is indeed a call to action. That action has to be informed as much by the recent experience of families in Canada as by the mounting economic evidence for wise, proactive fiscal investments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157095/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Philpott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Particularly after the devastation of COVID-19, evidence is mounting for the economic argument of reinvesting in high-quality early childhood education.David Philpott, Professor, Special Education, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1464382020-11-16T20:04:21Z2020-11-16T20:04:21ZIf your child has reading, school or social struggles, it may be DLD: Developmental language disorder<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369705/original/file-20201117-17-p7trlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C35%2C3814%2C2622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Developmental language disorder may be missed as it often doesn’t appear foremost as a language impairment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common disorders affecting children but is relatively unknown. </p>
<p>Affecting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4006.1245">more than seven per cent of children</a>, DLD is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.1.49">20 times more common than autism</a>. Ninety per cent of people surveyed across European countries said they had heard of autism, <a href="https://research.ncl.ac.uk/echo/outputs/survey/Public%20Survey%20on%20Awareness%20of%20DLD%20Sofia%20meeting%20%202019.pdf">but only 60 per cent had heard of DLD</a>, according to an upcoming study in <em>Journal of Communication Disorders</em> by the European Co-operation in Science and Technology Action IS1406, an <a href="https://research.ncl.ac.uk/echo/outputs/">international collaboration on children’s language learning difficulties</a>. </p>
<p>DLD is most often identified in late preschool-age children but can be identified in school-age children or later. DLD identification is based on significantly low scores on formal tests targeting various aspects of language as well as observation of marked difficulty using language in various settings such as home and school. </p>
<p>There is an urgent need for greater public awareness and knowledge of developmental language disorder because it affects so many children, because it has significant and long-lasting effects and because these effects can be lessened significantly through appropriate intervention. </p>
<p>Efforts to <a href="https://radld.org">increase public awareness of DLD</a> are underway in many countries. As researchers in speech language pathology, we study the signs of DLD, how to recognize it at various ages, in various languages and in bilingual and multilingual children. We also study its effects in the short and long term, to what extent DLD can be remedied through intervention and what it feels like to a child to have DLD. </p>
<h2>High prevalence, low awareness</h2>
<p>Until the recent adoption of the term DLD, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158753">language impairment in children went by many names</a>, causing confusion. The fact that DLD can occur either as part of a broader condition such as Down syndrome, or as a disorder primarily affecting language can make the particular DLD effects hard to tease out and sometimes causes them to be overlooked. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two girls sitting at a table in a classroom doing school work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362248/original/file-20201007-14-14v22fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362248/original/file-20201007-14-14v22fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362248/original/file-20201007-14-14v22fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362248/original/file-20201007-14-14v22fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362248/original/file-20201007-14-14v22fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362248/original/file-20201007-14-14v22fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362248/original/file-20201007-14-14v22fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">DLD symptoms vary across children and within the same child over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Pragyan Bezbaruah)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the greatest reason may be that DLD often does not look like a language problem on the surface. Its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4205.1195">symptoms vary across children and within the same child over time</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2016.06.001">across languages</a>, even in the two languages of a bilingual child. </p>
<p>People tend to associate the idea of disorder with errors — faulty sentences and errors in forms like plurals or verb tenses. Much research has attempted to understand the nature of DLD by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3906.1239">analyzing error patterns</a>. However, with age, even children with DLD <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2004/061)">stop making grammatical errors</a>, and in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/049)">many languages</a>, making grammatical errors <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2016.06.001">isn’t a prominent feature</a> of this disorder. </p>
<p>Children with DLD have smaller vocabularies than children of the same age who do not have the disorder, smaller repertoires of grammatical structures, more difficulty understanding and using complex language, the subtleties and nuances and the social rules of language. If your child struggles in school, in social interactions or in reading, <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0025323">their underlying problem may well be DLD</a>.</p>
<h2>Immediate and long-term effects</h2>
<p>In terms of the short- and long-term consequences of DLD, <a href="http://DOI.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198786825.013.3">language is central</a> to almost all human activity. It should come as no surprise that DLD has varied and far-reaching consequences. Apart from the immediate discomfort that it might bring to the child in their interactions with others, long-term consequences for the child and their family can be difficult to establish because this means <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1684">following children</a> from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-18-0061">early childhood through school</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00342.x">into adulthood</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A girl with a bow in her hair sits at a school desk looking at a map." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362266/original/file-20201007-14-5dufiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362266/original/file-20201007-14-5dufiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362266/original/file-20201007-14-5dufiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362266/original/file-20201007-14-5dufiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362266/original/file-20201007-14-5dufiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362266/original/file-20201007-14-5dufiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362266/original/file-20201007-14-5dufiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is a clear link between early DLD and performance on school tests and in interaction with peers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Ian Panelo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A number of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12338">studies have now done this</a>. This goes through primary school and is identifiable in secondary school, but perhaps more importantly there is also evidence that children with DLD at school entry are more likely to be at risk of reading and writing difficulties, of mental health difficulties and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0142)">even of unemployment in their thirties</a>. Of course, this does not mean that everyone with DLD will have these persistent difficulties but there is a significant risk that they will.</p>
<p>There are various ways treatment can improve the language skills of children and adolescents with DLD. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000493125">Interventions may focus on stimulating general language skills or on a targeted area of language</a>, such as vocabulary or syntax, depending on age and individual needs. Individual or group sessions with a speech-language pathologist are the most common approach, but interventions may also involve other trained participants, such as parents. The intensity (frequency and length of sessions) and duration of treatment is an important factor in achieving results and maintaining them over time. </p>
<h2>Children with DLD and their families</h2>
<p>Qualitative research gives further insights into the hidden nature of this disorder. In focus groups and interviews, parents tell stories of their struggles to have their child’s difficulties recognized, their own difficulties understanding the problem and <a href="https://www.basw.co.uk/system/files/resources/basw_102721-9_0.pdf">their concerns</a> about their child’s <a href="https://www.bercow10yearson.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Bercow-Ten-Years-On-Summary-Report-.pdf">future social isolation</a>. Children with DLD tell of how people shout at them when they don’t understand or get them to repeat things over and over. </p>
<p>While a child’s odd ways of communicating may be the first thing that strikes a listener, children prefer to view and present themselves as competent and likeable; they do not like it when their differences are remarked upon or are the source of teasing. In interviews, children in grades 5 and 6 were asked to tell us about their family and friends, their school and leisure activities. They reported <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2016.1221455">difficulties with friendships and the isolation</a> that comes from their communication challenges. One 11-year old girl with a language disorder commented: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I don’t really have much friends. I get alone lots of time.… Well I don’t really have much to talk too much people to talk with.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This underscores the need for greater awareness and adequate support for children with developmental language disorder and their families — interventions and environments that allow children with DLD to succeed and participate and let their parents know where to turn for support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146438/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elin Thordardottir has received funding from SSHRC, NSERC, CLLRNet, and RANNIS (Iceland) to conduct scientific studies on DLD</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Law is a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in the UK. He has received funding from The EU Cost Action Programme, DET Melbourne Australia, Growing up in Scotland, Horizon 2020, Education Endowment Foundation, Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal, Nuffield Foundation, The Communication Trust, Early Intervention Foundation, Newcastle Bid Preparation Fund, Home Start UK, New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Co-operation in Europe (NORFACE), National Institute of Health Research and Public Health England.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Roulstone has received funding from the National Institute for Heath Research, Public Health England, Depertment for Children Schools and Families, the Underwood Tust and The BUPA Foundation.. </span></em></p>Developmental language disorder affects more than seven per cent of children, yet is not well known. If your child struggles in school, social interactions or reading, the underlying issue may be DLD.Elin Thordardottir, Professor, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, McGill UniversityJames Law, Professor of Speech & Language Sciences, Newcastle UniversitySusan Roulstone, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, University of the West of EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1405332020-07-12T11:25:33Z2020-07-12T11:25:33ZThe long-term biological effects of COVID-19 stress on kids’ future health and development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344455/original/file-20200629-155316-a4avzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=229%2C6%2C4264%2C2970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stressors put on children and adolescents as a result of the pandemic response may have long-lasting effects on their health and well-being.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One fortunate aspect of COVID-19 is that children have been less directly affected by the disease. But despite the relatively low incidence of severe illness in children, the response to the pandemic may have long-term adverse effects on the health and well-being of children and adolescents.</p>
<p>As researchers in psychology, genetics and developmental biology in the <a href="https://socialexposome.ubc.ca/">Social Exposome Research Cluster</a> at <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> and the <a href="https://www.cifar.ca/research/program/child-brain-development">Child and Brain Development Program of CIFAR</a>, we investigate the biological mechanisms by which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2019_114">social factors get “under the skin</a>” to influence child health and development. We are concerned because some of the unintended consequences of the public health response to the pandemic are <a href="https://www.unicef.ca/en/press-release/impact-covid-19-children-canada-short-medium-and-long-term-mitigation-strategies">increased stressors for children and adolescents</a>. </p>
<p>These stressors — reduced family income, food insecurity, parental stress and child abuse — can become biologically embedded and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.017">negatively impact children’s developing brains, immune systems and ability to thrive</a>. While some effects will be immediate, many will surface decades from now.</p>
<h2>Stressors can leave lasting imprint on health</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344456/original/file-20200629-155330-8gob9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344456/original/file-20200629-155330-8gob9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344456/original/file-20200629-155330-8gob9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344456/original/file-20200629-155330-8gob9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344456/original/file-20200629-155330-8gob9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344456/original/file-20200629-155330-8gob9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344456/original/file-20200629-155330-8gob9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stressors from the pandemic may become biologically imprinted in children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the more than <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200224/t002a-eng.htm">500,000 Canadian children under the age of 18 living in poverty</a> (and one in four children in single-parent households) prior to the pandemic, the shocks have been great. As of June, the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7029601/canada-may-unemployment-rate/">unemployment rate</a> in Canada reached a record high of 13.7 per cent, with cumulative employment losses over three million since February. This is especially worrisome. One striking example shows that financial hardship in early life is related to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/psy.0000000000000455">higher risk of metabolic syndrome</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12021">physical health problems in adulthood</a>, often independent of adult income and resources. The concern now is the extent to which these massive shocks will impact children’s lifelong health and well-being.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-dna-test-that-reveals-a-childs-true-age-has-promise-but-ethical-pitfalls-126676">New DNA test that reveals a child’s true age has promise, but ethical pitfalls</a>
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</em>
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<p>Children and adolescents are facing these stressors without access to the stabilizing routines and activities that typically support their development. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/we-mapped-out-when-schools-across-canada-will-reopen">Most of Canada’s schools are closed or only open part-time</a>. With the summer ahead, cancellations and restrictions of <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/youth-sports-in-canada-feeling-economic-mental-health-impact-of-covid-19-1.4917026">young people’s sports</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kids-children-camps-cancelled-restricted-covid-19-1.5579264">summer camps</a> means further loss of opportunities for learning, social interaction and play. For adolescents, who need peer interaction to support development, social deprivation and reduced opportunities for social learning are likely to have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30186-3">far-reaching consequences</a> on their development and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-020-00329-3">mental health</a>.</p>
<h2>Biological pathways</h2>
<p>Stressors stemming from the pandemic may become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01641.x">biologically imprinted in children</a> and leave a lasting mark on child and adult health and well-being. There are several biological pathways that can be modulated by early life experiences, but epigenetics — a process that turns genes “on” or “off” — is particularly well-studied. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1121249109">Epigenetic changes</a> associated with early experiences can last into adulthood and may be linked to stress, inflammation and chronic heath conditions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344132/original/file-20200625-33519-iw1bku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic and interventions we can take to look after the health and well-being of children and adolescents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author provided)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While scientists continue to map the exact mechanisms by which early experiences impact adult health, what is clear is that children who experience adversity early in life are at heightened risk for later mental, social and physical health problems. Additional protections for children and families are needed to prevent the negative effects of COVID-19 from following children, especially those already at greatest risk, into adulthood.</p>
<p>Canada is not alone in failing to prioritize the basic needs of children and adolescents in reopening plans. In the United Kingdom, an <a href="https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-06/open_letter_re_schools_reopening_2020-06-17.pdf">open letter</a> to the prime minister was signed by 1,500 pediatricians on June 17 citing the risks of “scarring the life chances of a generation of youth” due to the prolonged closure of schools. This letter urged the government to prioritize the opening of schools to prevent widening inequalities, disruption of learning and the inability to deliver essential supports for children, including mental health supports, therapies, school meals and early years services. </p>
<p>Creative and safe plans are required for reopening schools and allowing safe social interactions. These measures will benefit all young people, but a specific focus is needed to support young people most affected by <a href="https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/statement-inequality-amplified-covid-19-crisis">the amplification of social inequalities</a>. In particular, as we emerge from this crisis, more support is required for those who may have experienced <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-increase-in-child-abuse-a-big-concern-during-covid-19-pandemic/">child abuse</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.13247">domestic violence</a>.</p>
<h2>Helping children and adolescents thrive</h2>
<p>It’s not too late to prevent children and adolescents growing up in the pandemic from becoming unintended casualties. We are facing the possibility of seismic shifts in population health and well-being if we do not act. The good news is that there are specific and evidence-based actions we can take.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344457/original/file-20200629-155322-sk8zvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344457/original/file-20200629-155322-sk8zvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344457/original/file-20200629-155322-sk8zvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344457/original/file-20200629-155322-sk8zvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344457/original/file-20200629-155322-sk8zvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344457/original/file-20200629-155322-sk8zvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344457/original/file-20200629-155322-sk8zvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The presence of warm and supportive adults can protect children from stressful life events.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Ketut Subiyanto)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The presence of warm and supportive adults can protect children from stressful life events. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fmp.2010.53">Close bonds between parents and children are protective against the harmful, long-term effects of financial insecurity on the immune system — extending into adulthood</a>. Grandparents, teachers, coaches, other important adults and close-knit communities in the lives of children are offering inspiring examples of how to creatively connect and support children digitally and in physically, but not socially, distanced ways.</p>
<p>Creating opportunities for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31445-8">children and adolescents to be involved in the rebuilding plan</a> can empower young people as leaders. A diverse <a href="https://childrenfirstcanada.org/our-team#youth-advisory-council">youth advisory council</a>, such as the <a href="https://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/sites/default/files/2016-07/Youth_Strategy_Eng_2016.pdf">Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Youth Council</a>, can advocate by incorporating the wisdom and vision of young people’s lived experiences.</p>
<p>We urge policy-makers to seek scientific evidence and consult with experts focused on child development, including pediatricians, psychologists and researchers in the biology of early life experiences. To start, policy-makers should invest in solutions to minimize the evidence-based <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5669d2da9cadb69fb2f8d32e/t/5d68527b9b5867000180d47e/1567117949279/Raising+Canada+-+Election+2019+-+Call+to+Action.pdf">Top 10 Threats</a> outlined by <a href="https://childrenfirstcanada.org/">Children First Canada</a>. These include depression, anxiety and child abuse — all of which are amplified by the pandemic. Finally, we urge the creation of diverse federal and provincial pandemic recovery <a href="http://www.basicsforhealthsociety.ca/advocacy">task forces</a> to create an evidenced-based strategy for supporting children and adolescents.</p>
<p>Institutions, educators and leading scientists also have a role to play in advocating for young people who do not vote, and as a result often do not have a voice in policy discussions. The late Dr. Clyde Hertzman, founding director of the <a href="http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/">Human Early Learning Partnership</a>, was a tireless advocate for increasing investments in child health and education to prevent <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1093%2Fpch%2F18.3.127">adversity in childhood</a> from evolving into disease. His life motto of “it doesn’t have to be this way” has never been more relevant. </p>
<p>Now is the time to work quickly and collectively to ensure that this pandemic does not leave its imprint deep in the biology of the next generation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael S. Kobor receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Genome Canada, National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS), Canadian Institute For Advanced Research (CIFAR), Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE), and the R. Howard Webster Foundation. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding organizations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Candice L. Odgers receives funding from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Jacobs Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding organizations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim Schmidt and Ruanne Lai do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The pandemic response has put the long-term health and well-being of children and adolescents at risk, with the possibility of seismic shifts in population health if we do not act.Michael S. Kobor, Canada Research Chair in Social Epigenetics and Professor, UBC Department of Medical Genetics, University of British ColumbiaCandice Odgers, Professor of Psychological Science, University of California, IrvineKim Schmidt, Research Manager, Healthy Starts Theme, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute; Steering Committee Member, Social Exposome Research Cluster, University of British ColumbiaRuanne Lai, Research Manager, Social Exposome Research Cluster, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1324772020-07-09T19:18:41Z2020-07-09T19:18:41ZKids’ physical activity before age 5 matters so much because of the developing brain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345586/original/file-20200703-33939-1ge0j58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C217%2C4997%2C3212&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Both when planning family activities and choosing a child care provider, parents should be mindful of how much physical activity their children are getting.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/parenting-during-covid-19.html">current pandemic</a> many parents of young children are finding themselves spending more time in the role of caregiver than usual. Keeping young children physically active and miminizing screen time while parents manage work schedules may be a serious challenge.</p>
<p>But even before families became more confined to home due to closures and social distancing, children were not getting enough physical activity. The <a href="https://www.participaction.com/en-ca/resources/children-and-youth-report-card">2020 ParticipACTION report card</a> report card gives children and youth’s physical activity in Canada a D+. The report says less than one in five children and youth in Canada meet guidelines for sedentary behaviours, physical activity and sleep.</p>
<p>Our research investigates young children’s physical literacy, in their “early years,” <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd">from birth to age six</a>. </p>
<p>The International Physical Literacy Association defines <a href="http://physicalliteracy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Consensus-Handout-EN-WEB_1.pdf">physical literacy</a> as “the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life.” </p>
<p>Both when children are at home and when they are in care, parents are encouraged to consider how adults are supporting children’s physical development. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adults who positively model physical activity set a sound foundation for children’s motivation and confidence to value and enjoy being physically active.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Neural pathways</h2>
<p>The importance of early childhood physical literacy development should not be overlooked. The <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/">brain connections and neural pathways</a> that are formed before the age of five set the foundations for how the brain will develop throughout life.</p>
<p>This not only applies to the social, emotional and cognitive areas of development (or “<a href="https://edi.offordcentre.com/researchers/domains-and-subdomains/">domains</a>”) but also the physical. There is strong <a href="https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full/10.1139/H07-112#.XpJ2g3J7lPY">support for physical activity in the early years</a>, and researchers have reported that time spent in this critical developmental period focusing on physical development through physical activity and active play has <a href="https://activeforlife.com/the-brain-building-benefits-of-physical-literacy/">many benefits</a>. </p>
<p>Physically, this includes improved co-ordination and higher levels of fitness. Socially, this means improved co-operation and sharing with others. Emotionally, this means better management of emotions and overall behaviour. </p>
<p>Young children who are regularly engaged in physical activities also demonstrate cognitive benefits, including improved attention, problem-solving and persistence in tasks.</p>
<p>Research has shown that providing physical activity and active play in the early years <a href="http://thesportjournal.org/article/preschool-childrens-level-of-proficiency-in-motor-skills-and-the-level-of-their-physical-fitness-as-adolescents/">positively relates with motor skill ability, fitness levels and physical activity in adolescence</a> and beyond. All these have positive relationships to overall health and wellness.</p>
<h2>Unprecedented screen time</h2>
<p>Young children in Canada are growing up with unprecedented access to digital media and technology, which has led to <a href="https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/screen-time-and-young-children">some concerns among health professionals</a>. </p>
<p>From a young age, children are enticed with bright and colourful screens and sometimes are just as likely to play games on a phone as they are to play with a ball on the floor, test their balance or ride a tricycle. Consequently, in comparison to previous generations, more children today are <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2229567/The-children-held-school-lazy-lifestyles-mean-t-stand-leg.html">entering school lacking basic physical skills</a>. In the province of Manitoba, more than a quarter (26.7 per cent) of children in kindergarten in 2018-19 <a href="https://www.gov.mb.ca/healthychild/edi/index.html">did not meet motor skill expectations for their age</a>. </p>
<p>It’s now more important than ever before that those caring for young children consider opportunities for physical development. </p>
<h2>Adults play critical role</h2>
<p>Each person’s physical literacy journey will take its own path, but adults play a crucial role in this journey by providing a range of opportunities and modelling an active lifestyle. </p>
<p>Being active as a family is the primary way children will build positive habits for physical activity, particularly before <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0223928">time spent with peers</a> becomes an important factor.</p>
<p>Our previous research measured physical activity levels <a href="https://www.scapps.org/jems/index.php/1/article/view/1428">in children and found, on average, kids walked 3,604 fewer steps on a typical weekend day compared to school days</a>.
Because parents have a role in children’s physical activity and children typically spend weekends with parents, finding ways to increase family weekend physical activity is important.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being active as a family shapes how children develop habits and confidence in physical activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early childhood education</h2>
<p>Some children may also not find <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-in-childcare-are-not-getting-enough-moderate-to-vigorous-intensity-physical-activity-125866">adequate physical activity in child care</a>. </p>
<p>One study of a sample of about 400 early learning and child care practitioners found that they saw their key responsibilities as <a href="https://carleton.ca/cmi/when-and-how-do-we-introduce-number-concepts-in-child-care/">promoting social, emotional, and cognitive development — especially numeracy and literacy</a>. This could suggest that children’s physical development and learning may not always take equal priority for practitioners, although <a href="https://lawson.ca/wp-content/uploads/OutdoorPlayInfoGraphic.pdf">regulatory issues and environments</a> can also influence what happens in early learning and care programs.</p>
<p>Providing early childhood caregivers with physical literacy knowledge is one way to influence <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743516301025">more physical literacy development opportunities for children</a>. </p>
<p>One strategy to begin addressing this issue is through education resources such as the <a href="https://www.york.ca/wps/wcm/connect/yorkpublic/681484dd-21a5-49ef-899e-f844d970b4f9/Physical+Literacy+Handbook+for+ECE.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=mLV.M0M">Physical Literacy Handbook for Early Childhood Educators</a>. Programs for early childhood caregivers and parents can also help underscore how physical learning, development and engagement is related to other key developmental outcomes. </p>
<h2>Movement for Life program</h2>
<p>We partnered with the City of Winnipeg Community Services department to create the <a href="https://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/wcm-docs/docs/WCSP/movement_for_life_-_overview_letter.pdf">Movement for Life! program</a> focused on physical literacy development in the early years.</p>
<p>The program, aimed at early childhood caregivers including parents, combines a three-hour educational workshop, a participant handbook and practical sessions facilitated by <a href="https://fitkidshealthykids.ca/">Fit Kids Healthy Kids</a>. </p>
<p>During these sessions, children participate in activities related to physical literacy, while caregivers observe and learn strategies to facilitate these. The goal of the program is that participants will gain confidence, understanding and competence in providing opportunities in physical literacy for very young children.</p>
<p>Our research, to date, on the <a href="https://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/wcm-docs/docs/WCSP/iplc_2019_poster-_movement_for_life_-_gregg_hall_toulman__may_6_.pdf">Movement for Life!</a> program shows that early childhood caregivers who participate in the program are more confident in their ability to offer physical activities that develop children’s motivation, confidence, competence, knowledge and understanding related to engagement in physical activities. </p>
<h2>Don’t need to be Olympians</h2>
<p>Parents don’t need to be Olympians to get kids active. <a href="https://activeforlife.com/activities/">Simple games</a> and making the most of opportunities to be active are perfect ways to get young kids and families moving together.</p>
<p>The early years are critical for establishing a strong foundation for human growth in all developmental domains. </p>
<p>Sharing knowledge and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282817457_Physical_Literacy_in_Early_Childhood_Exploring_Possibilities_and_Increasing_Opportunities">strategies</a>, as well as providing enhanced training to those who can most influence physical literacy in young children, is a great place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Hall receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Gregg receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>When young children are active, their brains and bodies develop the ABCs of “physical literacy,” a key developmental foundation. A new program from University of Winnipeg can help.Nathan Hall, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology, Brock UniversityMelanie Gregg, Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology, University of WinnipegLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1282822020-03-08T12:52:54Z2020-03-08T12:52:54ZMathematical thinking begins in the early years with dialogue and real-world exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315557/original/file-20200214-11040-19h3m27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C110%2C5613%2C3595&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The extent to which parents and educators encourage children to think mathematically in the years before they enter grade one are critically important for math foundations. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s natural to think that mathematics is primarily about numbers. In school, we first learn how to recite numbers and then spend considerable time writing them down and manipulating them on paper. Of course, numerals (the written notation for numbers), along with other symbols, are critical for communicating ideas about quantities and expressing how they relate to each other. </p>
<p>But what appears to be lost in conversations about school mathematics, however, is that mathematics is <a href="https://fieldsmathed.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40928-018-0011-4">primarily about thinking</a>. </p>
<p>Rather than debating whether “<a href="https://tapintoteenminds.com/memorization-automaticity/">discovery learning</a>” or “<a href="https://theconversation.com/ontario-math-has-always-covered-the-basics-115445">the basics</a>” are most important for children, more attention is needed to support the development of children’s thinking about quantities and space. </p>
<p>A considerable amount of research now shows that children’s success in school depends on the extent to which parents and educators encourage them to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2379-3988.2008.tb00054.x">think mathematically in the years before they enter Grade 1</a>. </p>
<p>It is possible — necessary, even — to focus on children’s thinking about numeracy in the early years so they begin their formal education on the right foot.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More attention is needed to support the development of children’s thinking about quantities and space.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Talking about math</h2>
<p>Imagine you are having a conversation with a group of kindergarteners. You read them a story about two children at grandma’s house who are sharing four cookies equally. You engage them in a conversation about how many cookies each child gets. Some of the children take out play cookies and act it out. Others draw pictures to think about the problem. </p>
<p>Then you ask what would happen if two more children came to the table. Would each child get more, fewer or the same number of cookies? How do you know? </p>
<p>In such a situation, children engage in a lively discussion about equivalence, partitioning and distributing and comparing quantities.</p>
<p>There are numerous benefits to these types of conversations. Clearly, there are cognitive and social advantages to children of articulating and justifying their thinking. The point here, however, is <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-12895-1">that children are engaging with concepts that are foundational to the elementary curriculum</a>: concepts such as the meaning of division, the importance of equal partitions and what happens to each share when the divisor (the number of sharers) gets bigger. </p>
<p>Also important to note is that the children are grappling with important mathematical ideas without writing down formal representations, such as numerals or the signs for division (÷) or equals (=). </p>
<p><a href="https://dreme.stanford.edu/news/make-statement-math-how-get-kids-and-you-talking-about-math">Reflecting on concepts and thinking about what they mean is at the heart of mathematics</a>; such activity is not only possible in the early years, it’s essential. It needs to be present throughout all the years of a child’s mathematical development, in school and out.</p>
<h2>Children’s mathematical ideas</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.concordia.ca/faculty/helena-osana.html">students and collaborators in our research lab</a> at Concordia University are finding that children are capable <a href="https://mfr.ca-1.osf.io/render?url=https://osf.io/9tqe5/?direct%26mode=render%26action=download%26mode=render">of engaging with many big ideas</a> that span the mathematics curriculum: multiplication, division, estimation, equivalence, place value, fractions and even algebraic reasoning. </p>
<p>This is not to suggest that their ideas are fully mature or that they are proficient in expressing their ideas formally. Indeed, these ideas emerge from explorations with objects and actions in real-world contexts. </p>
<p>Extending and refining children’s intuitive, yet deeply mathematical ideas, and giving them the symbols to more efficiently represent these ideas thus become the primary objective of mathematics teaching in school. </p>
<p>For example, a kindergartener can understand that if she has five spoons and her friend also has five spoons, they have the same number of objects. A Grade 1 teacher can then show this student the symbol for expressing numerical equivalence with the use of the equal sign symbol (5 = 5). A five-year-old child can show how three people can share one chocolate bar equally by partitioning a rectangle into three equal parts. Or, a Grade 1 teacher can show this child how to express the quantity each person receives, both in words, “one-third,” and numerically as “1/3.” </p>
<p>Such symbols, and the generalizations they represent, can in turn be used to build more complex ideas, thus revealing the cumulative and iterative nature of mathematics learning. </p>
<p>Without a focus on meaning at all levels of teaching, children who spend time in school manipulating numbers on a piece of paper, for example, are unlikely to develop their mathematical understanding.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children’s mathematical ideas are ideally nurtured well before they become proficient in writing down formal representations such as numbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The early years</h2>
<p>We now know that if children are not exposed to important mathematical ideas through activity and conversation in the early years, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0031721715614831">they will lack important foundations for Grade 1</a> and, most importantly, it will become increasingly difficult for them to catch up to their more equipped peers in school. </p>
<p>This effect is prominent for many <a href="https://doi.org/10.17226/12519">children living in poverty who are particularly at risk for early numeracy difficulties</a>. Children often lack key foundational competencies when they enter kindergarten having had little exposure to “math talk” in the home.</p>
<p>Although it is never too late to help a child who is struggling in mathematics, the opportunities to close the gap become fewer and fewer as children progress through the school system. </p>
<p>Preparing young children for learning mathematics in school means having conversations with them about mathematical ideas, but it does not mean, for instance, adapting a Grade 1 curriculum in early childhood settings. </p>
<p>Rather, it means laying groundwork by engaging children in ideas that will allow for the development of mathematical proficiency throughout their schooling. In this way, there is no qualitative difference between numeracy in early childhood settings and mathematics in elementary school. </p>
<p>A first step in engaging young children in foundational numeracy concepts is recognizing the continuity in children’s development, which will provide a clearer view on how to help them at any age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128282/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helena Osana receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Math is not primarily about numbers, but about thinking. It all begins with parent-child conversations about mathematical ideas.Helena Osana, Professor, Concordia University Research Chair in Mathematical Cognition and Instruction, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1137092019-03-26T22:34:28Z2019-03-26T22:34:28ZKindergarten classes are too big for teachers to effectively assess students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265634/original/file-20190325-36267-1lddt9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Helping children think self-reflexively about their choices when they play is part of assessment in kindergarten. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent educational reforms have led to two fundamental changes in kindergarten classrooms. </p>
<p>Firstly, there has been a surge of play-based learning. Play, now shown to be <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rev3.3097">beneficial both for academic skills and for socio-personal development</a>, has been repositioned in many kindergarten policies as the dominant approach for teaching and learning.</p>
<p>Play-based learning is rooted in a history across
traditions of early primary education such as <a href="http://www.ccma.ca/what-is-montessori">Montessori</a>, <a href="https://www.reggioalliance.org/">Reggio Emilia</a>, <a href="https://www.early-education.org.uk/about-froebel">Froebel</a> and the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42643342?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">British Infant School tradition</a>. </p>
<p>Play is further supported as a basic right of all children by the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. With Canada’s adoption of this in 1991, Canadian educators had empirical, historical and philosophical grounds for play as a basis for classroom learning.</p>
<p>At the same time, the accountability movement has made its way into kindergarten. This movement results in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-010-0429-6">dramatic increase in academic standards expected of kindergarten students</a>, and the coupled need for teachers to assess and report achievement of curriculum standards.</p>
<p>Both play-based learning and the value of assessment are independently supported by research arguing their value. Yet little research has explored what happens when schools implement these changes simultaneously. </p>
<p>In our three-year study, we found that many teachers <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220671.2015.1118005">report assessment as one of the primary challenges within the current context of play-based kindergarten education</a>.</p>
<h2>Asking probing questions</h2>
<p>Today, Ontario kindergarten teachers are mandated to use multiple forms of assessment. Overall, these practices have two purposes: firstly, to report on student learning of curriculum expectations through graded report cards; and secondly, to provide feedback to help students <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969595980050102?src=recsys">become independent learners, which is a fundamental goal for kindergarteners</a>. </p>
<p>Providing feedback happens when teachers engage with children through teacher-led instruction or play-based learning. </p>
<p>For example: a teacher intentionally lingers near children at play. Two children can’t agree on an imaginary scenario, such as whether they are firefighters at a fire or adventurers riding horses to save a runaway train. The teacher asks probing questions to help children solve their own conflicts and imagine a story line. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers stressed that assessing children while they played was essential.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the same time the teacher is intentionally assessing children’s collaboration and their ability to use existing story structure knowledge. </p>
<p>Thus we can see how assessment — asking probing questions in this case — supports child development. Children are learning to compromise and come to a mutually agreeable consensus. They are also developing the ability to reflect critically on their own thinking.</p>
<p>When assessment is recorded and shared, parents and teachers can identify for students where they are and where they need to go with their learning. Educators and parents can then help provide children with strategies for this. </p>
<p>All assessment practices are meant to <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growsuccess.pdf">continuously monitor student development and learning towards provincial standards, both academic and socio-personal</a>. </p>
<h2>Teacher challenges</h2>
<p>In our three-year study in Ontario play-based kindergarten classrooms, through a series of initial and follow-up interviews and classroom observations, we explored teachers’ perspectives and intentions about how they fulfil their mandates to assess children. </p>
<p>Teachers overwhelmingly described their intentions to practise child-centred assessment. Further, they stressed that play opportunities were purposefully designed to address curriculum expectations and that assessment in these contexts was essential. But our observations revealed that teachers were not always systematically doing this. </p>
<p>Instead, teachers used a traditional approach of creating multiple centres to engage the majority of children in play-based learning activities — for instance, at a sand table or an imaginary play setting like a restaurant. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers lacked time to systematically assess children while they played.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teachers then assessed the literacy or math skills of individual children, or small groups. An overwhelming majority of teachers in our study (95 per cent) indicated that they used such teacher-led stations because they lacked sufficient time to systematically assess children in all areas of the curriculum while they played.</p>
<p>This challenge was primarily due to large class sizes with up to 30 children. It was compounded by perceived pressure to cover and report on curriculum expectations in order to prepare children for Grade 1.</p>
<p>Over half the teachers (55 per cent) felt pressured to capture the multitude of learning moments occurring simultaneously among children in a busy classroom environment.</p>
<p>Teachers also recognized that a significant portion of their time was spent on <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growingsuccessaddendum.html">pedagogical documentation — the practice of systematically collecting evidence on individual student learning throughout play and learning periods</a>. </p>
<p>This practice is part of Ontario’s play-based kindergarten policy, and involves ongoing gathering and interpretation of various evidence of student thinking, learning and performance including photographs, videos, work samples, conversations and observations.</p>
<p>The addition of pedagogical documentation has not fundamentally changed how assessment operates in play-based kindergarten classrooms. Rather, as teachers work to navigate the assessments required by academic curriculum expectations and the learning potential within play-based contexts, teachers perceive more assessment work.</p>
<h2>Class size impacts teachers’ assessment capacity</h2>
<p>Assessing children one-on-one or in small groups served to resolve an additional challenge that 75 per cent of the teachers identified: a large proportion of children did not have the self-regulation to play for extended periods of time without adult support and supervision. They had issues with sharing their emotions, controlling their bodies and playing in socially appropriate ways with friends and resources. </p>
<p>While teachers’ strategies of creating the assessment stations appeared to be an effective and necessary approach, it meant that assessment was not fully integrated or responsive to play-based learning. </p>
<p>This observation led us to highlight an irony: despite many children entering kindergarten not having the necessary self-regulation to play independently for long periods of time, due to class size, teachers are unable to fully leverage <a href="https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/assessment-as-learning/book238890">the power of both play and assessment to develop children’s self-regulation</a>.</p>
<p>Teachers in our study described the need to assess a diversity of academic and learning skills in multiple spaces for so many children as an impossible juggling act. </p>
<p>And, many acknowledged they did not have time to collect, let alone engage in, in-depth analysis of much of the assessment information collected. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest to us the need for administrators and teacher professional development programs to support teachers’ broader assessment literacy: in kindergarten, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09695940903319646">assessment is optimally not an add-on to teaching and learning, but part of everyday practices that combine both child-led and teacher-directed practices woven into play-based learning</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, our findings also suggest that teachers want to practice child-centred assessment, which effectively nurtures academic and socio-personal development, but report they cannot because of large class sizes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113709/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher DeLuca receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Pyle receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Student assessments help children develop self-regulation skills, but teachers don’t have the time when class sizes are large.Christopher DeLuca, Associate Professor in Classroom Assessment and Acting Associate Dean, Graduate Studies & Research, Faculty of Education, Queen's University, OntarioAngela Pyle, Assistant Professor, Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Study, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, OISE, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1055192018-10-30T06:06:53Z2018-10-30T06:06:53ZInequality of education in the UK among highest of rich nations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242320/original/file-20181025-71023-hjn5fq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people, across the political spectrum, see education as the key to solving all inequalities. If children have equal opportunities and access to quality education, then all will be well. But, as a new report shows, rich countries vary widely in how big <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-advice-for-damian-hinds-in-his-new-role-as-education-secretary-its-time-to-get-bold-on-inequality-89895">the gap is between the educational achievement</a> of rich and poor children. </p>
<p>Unicef’s report, <a href="http://www.unicef-irc.org/unfairstart">An Unfair Start</a>, looks at educational inequalities in 41 of the world’s richest countries, covering inequalities from access to early childhood education to expectations of post-secondary education.</p>
<p>The UK ranks 16th from the top in terms of educational inequality during the secondary school years, which doesn’t sound too terrible, but the UK come 23rd in inequalities during the primary school years. These are depressing scores for the world’s <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/the-worlds-biggest-economies-in-2018/">fifth largest economy</a>.</p>
<h2>Income inequality</h2>
<p>But this is not the first time the UK has ranked badly in supporting children in comparison to other countries. And research has shown that <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/135/Supplement_2/S39.long">child well-being is directly linked with income inequality</a>. So because the UK hasn’t done much to reduce high levels of income inequality over the past decade, there hasn’t been much change in how well British children are doing.</p>
<p>In 2007, Unicef published its <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/445-child-poverty-in-perspective-an-overview-of-child-well-being-in-rich-countries.html">first report on child well-being</a> in rich countries. The UK, shockingly, ranked at the very bottom – with worse child well-being than any other country. There was also shown to be a <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/335/7629/1080">strong and significant link</a> between a country’s level of income inequality – the gap between rich and poor – and how well children were doing. </p>
<p>Since then, Unicef has repeated the exercise of comparing rich countries – with reports in <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/683-child-well-being-in-rich-countries-a-comparative-overview.html">2013</a> and <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/830-fairness-for-children-a-league-table-of-inequality-in-child-well-being-in-rich-countries.html">2016</a>. Across many dimensions of child well-being, the UK does badly, often outranked by much poorer countries, such as Portgual and Eastern European nations.</p>
<h2>Low quality education</h2>
<p>Tackling educational inequalities does not have to mean sacrificing high standards. In fact, the new Unicef report shows that countries with higher average achievement have lower gaps in reading scores between the best and the worst readers. At primary school, the Netherlands does particularly well, with high average performance and a small gap. New Zealand does particularly badly, with a low average and a large gap in performance. </p>
<p>It is also clear that high income is no guarantee of high educational quality. Some of the poorer countries in the group –- Latvia, Estonia, Croatia –- do better than some of the wealthier counties, such as the UK, US or Sweden.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242322/original/file-20181025-71020-1q1p2hl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242322/original/file-20181025-71020-1q1p2hl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242322/original/file-20181025-71020-1q1p2hl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242322/original/file-20181025-71020-1q1p2hl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242322/original/file-20181025-71020-1q1p2hl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242322/original/file-20181025-71020-1q1p2hl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242322/original/file-20181025-71020-1q1p2hl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rich countries are failing their poorest children, Unicef found.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The report also shows that girls consistently do better than boys. And migrant children do less well than non-migrant children in most countries – although in Australia and Canada, second-generation immigrant children outperform non-migrant children. </p>
<p>Family backgrounds is also shown to be a key driver of attainment and inequalities. Children from lower social class backgrounds lag behind their peers from richer, higher social class backgrounds from preschool onwards. None of this is news, these facts are well-known by educational researchers and teachers alike.</p>
<h2>How to make it better</h2>
<p>There’s also the issue that affordability of preschool and childcare creates a barrier to access for many families. Research shows that in countries where there is more of a gap between rich and poor families who have children in early childhood education, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-poor-children-perform-more-poorly-than-rich-ones-39281">fewer children overall attend</a>. And in London, for example, even when there is some <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/early_years_in_london_mar18.pdf">free preschool provision</a>, children from more affluent areas are most likely to take up places. Educational inequalities are also worse when there is more segregation of rich and poor children in schools.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VLDMPg5op28?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Unicef are cautious in their proposals to reduce educational inequalities. They call for better data and more attention to equality rather than average attainment, more attention to gender stereotypes and the gender mix of the teaching profession, and a focus on basic skills. </p>
<p>They also call for high quality early education and care to be guaranteed for all children. But stop short of suggesting it should be free for all. In their boldest proposal they suggest that welfare and benefits for families and less socioeconomic segregation in schools will help to mitigate educational inequalities.</p>
<p>But we need to be more radical if we want to reduce educational inequalities: turn to solving the deep-seated root causes at their source. This can be done by creating economies where child well-being is a central and overarching aim – not something that’s only thought about every few years, when Unicef reveals how future generations are being failed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Pickett receives research funding from NIHR, MRC, ESRC, Big Lottery and the Global Food Security programme. She is a Trustee of The Equality Trust and an Ambassador for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. She served on the advisory board for Unicef`s Innocenti Report Card 15
</span></em></p>Kids in the UK grow up with some of the highest levels of educational inequality.Kate Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/947312018-05-23T19:58:14Z2018-05-23T19:58:14ZWhat outcomes parents should expect from early childhood education and care<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219685/original/file-20180521-42200-1vfncci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">By the time children are five, they should show preference for a particular hand and be able to work with others.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents often have different expectations for their three- to five-year-old children when they attend an early learning centre. Some parents expect their child to engage in academic learning activities or “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2304/ciec.2012.13.4.266">real learning</a>”. Academic activities are associated with formal school-based learning such as writing, reading and knowing their numbers. </p>
<p>Parents are <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2332858415616358">reported</a> to feel concerned if they visit their friend’s home and see their friend’s child brings home worksheets (for example dot-to-dot of their name, colouring in of Easter eggs, or other adult-directed products) from their early childhood centre. They may worry their child is being left behind because their child is “only playing” and not engaging in real learning. </p>
<p>Other parents focus on their child <a href="https://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1355&context=educ_pubs">being safe and secure in a stimulating environment</a> where children make choices about what they will play. <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=C7E1DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA452&dq=Children%E2%80%99s+rights+and+early+childhood+education+the+sage&ots=LcDzdrjVWE&sig=ucbimi41tauHM5TsW7xc0Qk4fvs#v=onepage&q=Children%E2%80%99s%20rights%20and%20early%20childhood%20education%20the%20sage&f=false">Such learning environments</a> are supported by educators who are responsive to the child, and socially construct the child’s play. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-still-lagging-on-some-aspects-of-early-childhood-education-79660">Australia is still lagging on some aspects of early childhood education</a>
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</em>
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<p>The tension lies between teacher-directed activities where children are perceived to be doing “real learning”, as opposed to children making choices to play according to their interests. </p>
<h2>So, what should three- to five-year-olds be learning?</h2>
<p>Developmental milestones provided by the Australian Children’s Early Childhood Quality Authority (<a href="https://www.acecqa.gov.au/">ACECQA</a>) state: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Children’s learning is ongoing and each child will progress towards the outcomes in different and equally meaningful ways. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This <a href="https://www.acecqa.gov.au/media/25681">milestones checklist</a> covers five domains of learning, which is linked to the curriculum and the National Quality Standards: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>physical </p></li>
<li><p>social </p></li>
<li><p>emotional </p></li>
<li><p>cognitive</p></li>
<li><p>language development.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The checklist indicates what a child should be able to do by a certain age, and this is linked to the <a href="http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf">early childhood education curriculum</a>.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219705/original/file-20180521-78990-1qfn4mr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219705/original/file-20180521-78990-1qfn4mr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219705/original/file-20180521-78990-1qfn4mr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219705/original/file-20180521-78990-1qfn4mr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219705/original/file-20180521-78990-1qfn4mr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1627&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219705/original/file-20180521-78990-1qfn4mr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1627&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219705/original/file-20180521-78990-1qfn4mr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1627&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Developmental milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://deyproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/readinginkindergarten_online-1.pdf">Research</a> demonstrates children’s learning achievements are greater from play-based programs, which include activities such as block building, compared to early childhood programs that have an academic focus. </p>
<p>The early childhood education curriculum emphasises the importance of play-based learning and <a href="https://deyproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/readinginkindergarten_online-1.pdf">research</a> demonstrates children’s learning achievements are greater from play-based programs compared to early childhood programs that have an academic focus. </p>
<h2>When to worry</h2>
<p>According to the developmental milestones, parents should seek advice from a professional if their three- to five-year-old child:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>is not understood by others</p></li>
<li><p>has speech fluency problems or stammering</p></li>
<li><p>is not playing with other children</p></li>
<li><p>is not able to have a conversation</p></li>
<li><p>is not able to go to the toilet or wash him/herself.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219687/original/file-20180521-42242-1ld6dcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219687/original/file-20180521-42242-1ld6dcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219687/original/file-20180521-42242-1ld6dcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219687/original/file-20180521-42242-1ld6dcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219687/original/file-20180521-42242-1ld6dcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219687/original/file-20180521-42242-1ld6dcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219687/original/file-20180521-42242-1ld6dcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children aged three to five should be able to build a tower with eight to ten blocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Parent-teacher relationships are important</h2>
<p>Educators need to be able to explain their approach to children’s learning to parents at the outset of the child/family’s admission to the centre and reinforce this as children learn and develop. </p>
<p>The curriculum and the National Quality Standards both focus on educators having “partnerships with families”. But if there is disagreement about what and how children should be learning, a partnership between the parents and teachers won’t develop and endure. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/play-based-learning-can-set-your-child-up-for-success-at-school-and-beyond-91393">Play-based learning can set your child up for success at school and beyond</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Parents need to be continuously informed about the learning program in the centre. There needs to be alignment between parents’ expectation of what their child will learn in an early childhood centre, with the learning program provided, and the play-based approach a good one for the children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children aged three to five don’t need to do formal academic assignments in early childhood education to hit their milestones.Wendy Boyd, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/947922018-04-16T10:38:18Z2018-04-16T10:38:18ZChildren’s centres are disappearing – here’s what it means for the under fives and their parents<p>Up to 1,000 children’s centres in England, designed to provide support to parents and young children, have been shut since 2009, according to recent <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/StopStart-FINAL.pdf">research</a> for the Sutton Trust charity. These closures have often been somewhat hidden, with centres merged, renamed or their focus shifted. Yet such changes represent a significant loss which will impact the lives of many parents and young children.</p>
<p>Sure Start centres <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Providing_a_Sure_Start.html?id=ZabHbrqiZZMC&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y">first appeared</a> in 1998 in England, as part of a flagship Labour policy to focus resources on children under five and their parents. The centres, which were initially only in certain deprived areas and were later rolled out nationally, provided support to parents and young children, including play sessions, parenting support, health, education, employment support and more. </p>
<p>They were designed to be in “pram-pushing distance”, and for many became a lifeline during the difficult and isolating early days of becoming a parent. My <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262908964_Enacting_parenting_policy_The_hybrid_spaces_of_Sure_Start_Children%27s_Centres">research</a> found that open access “drop in play” sessions were often particularly valued as key spaces for support and socialising for parents from a range of backgrounds, as well as a point of access to other services.</p>
<p>The centres became a victim of austerity cuts from 2010 onwards, as local authority budgets were squeezed and funding was no longer ring-fenced for the centres. These cuts have often involved reorganisations, the merging of centres and some closures. </p>
<p>In the meantime, messages from central government have been confused or absent. A government review of the centres was announced in 2016, but <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/sure-start-childrens-centres-england/">never took place</a>. OFSTED inspections <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1154850/childrens-centre-inspections-suspended-while-ofsted-grades-rise-slightly">ceased</a> in 2015, a clear signal of the withdrawal of resources around the centres. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214312/original/file-20180411-587-8cls4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What has happened to Sure Start centres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/StopStart-FINAL.pdf">The Sutton Trust</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rebranded centres</h2>
<p>However, in recent months, something different appears to be going on. The authors of the Sutton Trust <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/StopStart-FINAL.pdf">report</a> suggest that since autumn 2017, there is strong evidence pointing to “a rapid increase in the number of closures and reorganisations to children’s centres”. Not only have numerous local authorities made reductions to services, they have dismantled existing children’s centre provision entirely. Many local centres have been shut, while others have been rebranded. </p>
<p>New names are <a href="https://www.basw.co.uk/resource/?id=5550">being given to children’s centres</a> including hubs, super-hubs, satellite centres, well-being centres, family places, early help bases, or outreach centres. It’s often unclear what these new names mean for the people who use them.</p>
<p>Such service “transformations” have different emphases, but common features, such as the closure of the majority of existing local centres to be replaced with a smaller number of “hubs”. For example, Oxfordshire replaced 44 centres with 19 hubs in 2017 – despite <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-35532047">the intervention</a> of former prime minister David Cameron’s own family – and Buckinghamshire is <a href="https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/gallery/marlow-bourne-end-flackwell/128426/campaigners-welcome-plans-to-discuss-bucks-children-s-centre-closures.html">currently proposing</a> to replace 35 centres with nine hubs. </p>
<p>Within such new centres, early childhood services are being brought together with wider youth and family services, particularly social work and care. There has also been a move away from universal or open access to “targeted” services for those deemed most in need, while reduced outreach or “satellite” services – such as health visitor clinics – may be provided from other sites. Councils which appear to have restructured or are in the process of restructuring their services along these lines also include <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-43030833">Somerset</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-40692030">Birmingham</a>, <a href="https://www.kenilworthweeklynews.co.uk/news/children-s-centres-across-warwickshire-will-close-after-council-vote-1-8238340">Warwickshire</a>, <a href="http://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/news/15918332.sure-start-centres-could-be-closed-as-shropshire-council-seeks-further-cutbacks/">Shropshire</a>, and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-40867159">Medway in Kent</a>, with many other councils also considering such radical changes, according to the Sutton Trust. </p>
<p>Austerity cuts to local government budgets are clearly very difficult to manage. What’s striking, however, is that many councils <a href="https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=36037&nobdr=2">claim</a> that the new, reduced, rebranded centres will actually constitute a better service than the previous ones. Both the renaming and the surrounding claims about improving services partly stem from the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sure-start-childrens-centres">statutory duties on local authorities</a> to provide “sufficient children’s centres to meet local need”, and to protect vulnerable and disadvantaged families in particular. Statutory guidance also sets out what kind of services a children’s centre must provide in order to be named so. Take away that name and a centre can provide anything – or nothing.</p>
<p>Councils now appear to be walking a tightrope in relation to these obligations. The <a href="https://www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/public-site/children-and-family-centres">slippery language</a> of transformation and service improvement obscures local parents’ understanding of what the changes will mean for them and their children. Despite this, there has been vehement opposition to the closures in many local authorities, with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/NationalSOCC/">campaigns</a> led by parents. Because the bottom line is that the current changes, so clearly motivated by cost saving, are going to result in fewer services, for fewer parents, in fewer locations. </p>
<p>Services in the new hubs or centres will no longer be provided at “pram-pushing distance” and will mostly involve “referral” or “invitation” from other professionals such as social workers and doctors in order to access sessions. Although it may sound logical to focus reduced resources on those “in greatest need”, the <a href="http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7257">research evidence</a> shows that supporting families and intervening in parenting where necessary is actually quite a delicate balancing act. As my own <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262908964_Enacting_parenting_policy_The_hybrid_spaces_of_Sure_Start_Children%27s_Centres">research</a> has also shown, parents considering using services may not feel they want help, feel judged by professionals, and be concerned about the power of the state to remove children. In order to reach families most in need, it may be that universal services, that do not stigmatise parents, are actually most effective.</p>
<h2>Who defines need</h2>
<p>The stories I’ve heard in my current research about the importance of the centres for parents and young children raise important questions about how “needs” are defined in relation to parenting and early childhood. I’ve heard about mothers experiencing isolation, poor mental health, and oppressive or even violent home lives. The centres offer support, both from professionals and peers, in tackling these issues and have provided friendship, for both mothers and children. And while friendship, especially between mothers, is something that society is used to trivialising, for many of the parents I have interviewed, it was fundamental to their survival as parents. </p>
<p>All this puts into question the extent to which the new, reduced, hubs will meet local need. Campaigners up and down the country have been asking for evidence to support the claims that the new services will be better. The reality is that no such evidence exists, unlike the Sure Start programme which was subject to a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/485346/DFE-RR495_Evaluation_of_children_s_centres_in_England__the_impact_of_children_s_centres.pdf">whole series</a> of robust national evaluations.</p>
<p>The other statutory duty on local authorities in relation to centres is that they must undertake a local consultation about changes to children’s centre services, and that they must listen to the views of local families in making changes. Families in areas undergoing changes should therefore use these consultation processes to ask the tough questions about what is being lost and who will lose out, and be wary of the claims of positive transformation surrounding cuts. Once the doors to local centres are shut, it is unlikely they will be reopened.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eleanor Jupp does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sure Start centres are shutting or becoming ‘hubs’, but will they still provide the services which local families value and need?Eleanor Jupp, Lecturer in Social Policy, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/920612018-02-20T13:55:00Z2018-02-20T13:55:00ZGrowing up in poverty weakens later health – even if you escape it<p>Poverty remains a widespread problem. In the UK, <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/child-poverty-facts-and-figures">30% of children</a> are growing up in poverty. More than half of these children are in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-poverty-60-per-cent-working-families-uk-jobs-employed-study-tax-credits-housing-university-a7751201.html">working households</a>, and poverty is on the rise even for children whose parents work in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/surge-in-poverty-rates-among-children-of-public-sector-worker-parents-a8211166.html">government-funded jobs</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ageing/afy003">new research</a> from the University of Geneva, these children may be at risk of poorer health in adulthood – even if they escape poverty later in life. This suggests that childhood adversity doesn’t just affect our choices, but also directly compromises the biological ability of our bodies to stay healthy. </p>
<p>Our childhood affects our health across the course of our lives. Stress, it seems, is a major contributor. While a life lived with financial, educational and social security and stability may not be free of worries, a disadvantaged childhood means <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8624.00469/full">more exposure to a number of difficult circumstances and events</a>. These may include social tensions, domestic abuse, neglect, food and fuel poverty, unsafe or poor quality housing, and separation from caregivers.</p>
<p>These life events understandably cause stress. Most of us will have personal experience of responding to pressure at work or a relationship breakdown with ice cream, cigarettes or alcohol, or giving the gym a miss. When facing financial troubles, the health benefits of vegetables can seem trivial to parents in the face of the time- and money-saving virtues of junk food. Feeling like you do not have enough food, money, time, or friends <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6107/682">occupies the mind</a> so that there is less space to focus on decisions with long-term pay-offs.</p>
<p>Experiencing these feelings over a long period of time (rather than the shorter-term stress experienced when applying for a job or studying for an exam) can make it increasingly difficult to make healthy choices. Over a lifetime, choices add up. But this latest research suggests that chronic stress impacts more than just our choices.</p>
<h2>What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker</h2>
<p>In the new study of over 24,000 people across 14 countries, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ageing/afy003">researchers</a> found that individuals, particularly women, of lower socioeconomic status in childhood had lower hand grip strength in older adulthood – a reliable health indicator, predicting the risk of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/32/6/650/13078">frailty</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03145.x/full">disability</a>, and death from <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/36/1/228/665601">cardiovascular disease and cancer</a> in older age.</p>
<p>While health-related behaviours such as exercise, nutrition, smoking and alcohol consumption were partially responsible for this link, adults from poorer backgrounds had weaker grip strength even if their socio-economic status improved later in life. This suggests that a tougher start in life has a direct, biological and lasting effect on an individual’s ability to stay healthy.</p>
<p>We already know that children suffering from long-term stress build up <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051107002013">higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol</a>, making the body’s response to threats from the outside world change. Chronic stress in childhood is related to <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/2/319">a host of diseases</a> through mechanisms such as poorer mental health, changes in the body’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159112001821">immune response</a> to infection and injury, and increased blood pressure. </p>
<p>Now, we have evidence that growing up in poverty has a cumulative wear-and-tear effect on the physiological systems that govern how our bodies respond to our environment, permanently disrupting the ability of affected individuals to maintain good health in old age.</p>
<p>While more work is still needed to understand how early adversity affects our immune system and other physiological systems in later life, one thing is already clear. To make our society less stressed, happier and healthier, we need to recognise just how crucial a role hardship in childhood plays in determining an individual’s long-term health.</p>
<p>The argument that poverty and poor health are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953696001918">down to laziness or lack of willpower</a> is itself lazy and too often thrown around. Poverty in early life affects not only how capable the mind is of making the right choices, but also how the body responds to adversity at a fundamental level. Far from being a resource drain, investing money in improving children’s quality of life could improve a <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/2/319">range of health outcomes</a>, and dramatically reduce the burden on a health-care budget stretched by the vast capital needed to care for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/01/ageing-britain-two-fifths-nhs-budget-spent-over-65s">older people</a>.</p>
<p>Rock star Marilyn Manson got it right with the lyrics for Leave A Scar. What doesn’t kill you, in many ways, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201008/what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-you-weaker">makes you weaker</a>. Those who thrive amid deprivation do so in spite of, rather than because of, the difficulties they experience. Many less fortunate people will struggle to stay fit and well despite making healthy choices. We could do with providing them with a little more support, and a little less judgement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Noortje Uphoff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Childhood adversity doesn’t just affect our choices – according to new research, it also weakens the body’s fundamental ability to stay healthy in old age.Noortje Uphoff, Researcher in Social Epidemiology, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/632212016-12-15T06:22:11Z2016-12-15T06:22:11ZReading with your children: proper books vs tablets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137740/original/image-20160914-4944-ipvcdj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1024%2C571&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thisaintfunny/5175165328/in/photolist-8Tj5mq-5T79cD-vZ4zD-756cPR-dktiYz-8LKSes-7k58GV-8QTTru-5ZbJBS-dbPwY1-96Y7T-91Akmo-bgjafV-56cNTD-5WXLPB-ogbWEp-8tRSwi-9XdiDp-9F8Vuf-iTe5nd-BH1wi3-nfcrP3-5G8PUr-6Z2BBQ-6Z2BA7-8wex8M-7QxiXV-7k93by-neCQK4-91xc6k-GD51s-3a85M-8iHRKm-4zcErN-91AiHj-63UcuJ-pbuvAh-qSUXoo-91Ajyy-dRjBDR-91xbBv-9rssnc-a6yC2s-6XC5mY-91Akfw-6XC5fY-6faUL6-91xbvF-9DSK2K-5YKbZh">Opal Eyes/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most of us have an opinion about whether we prefer reading on screen or paper: but what difference does it make for children? The truth is that technology is now encountered from babyhood. Anecdotes abound of toddlers swiping their fingers across paper rather than turning the page, while parents and teachers express their fear of screen addiction as tablets introduce new distractions as well as new attractions for young readers. </p>
<p>Ofcom figures tell us that children’s <a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/children-parents-nov-15/childrens_parents_nov2015.pdf">screen use rises sharply</a> towards the end of primary school (from age seven to 11) and in the same period, <a href="https://www.egmont.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Egmont-Reading-Street-ch2.pdf">book-reading drops</a>. Increasing screen use is a reality, but does it contribute to a loss of interest in reading, and does reading from a screen provide the same experience as the feel of reading on paper?</p>
<p>We looked at this in <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01951/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Psychology&id=233837">our research on shared reading</a>. This has been a neglected topic even though it is clearly a common context for children when they read at home. It might be their regular homework reading of a book from school, or a parent reading them a favourite bedtime story. </p>
<h2>Warming up</h2>
<p>We asked 24 mothers and their seven to nine-year-old children to take turns – mother reading or child reading – with popular fiction books on paper, and on a tablet. They read Barry Loser: I am not a Loser by Jim Smith and You’re a Bad Man, Mr Gum by Andy Stanton. We found that the children’s memory for the descriptions and narratives showed no difference between the two media. But that’s not the whole story.</p>
<p>The interactions of parent and child were found to be different in the independent ratings from video observation of the study. When they read from paper rather than a screen, there was a significant increase in the warmth of the parent/child interactions: more laughter, more smiling, more shows of affection. </p>
<p>It may be that this is largely down to the simple physical positioning of the parent and child when using the different media, as well as their cultural meaning. When children were reading from a screen, they tended to hold the tablet in a head-down position, typical of the way they would use the device for solo activities such as one-player games or web-browsing. </p>
<p>This meant that the parents had to “shoulder-surf” in order to share visual attention. In contrast, when parents read to their children on paper, they often held the book out to support shared visual engagement, tucking the child cosily under their arms. Some children just listened without trying to see the book, but instead curled themselves up comfortably on the sofa.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137912/original/image-20160915-30594-lmz50n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paper or pixels?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/megantrace/6201381800/in/photolist-arZGKS-4zJ9cj-bd1Lh4-6hFCmJ-79rPRT-a1MZPK-aSqJ9X-79rRBk-79vHN1-79rQ5n-6hFCqd-79rSqv-79vGMy-79vFGq-79E2mZ-79vHw5-79vHaQ-79s2XM-79vUbN-byKMHR-49o9ZP-keUF9H-4Jgj5r-8iXorF-63zzdW-qkRKBk-8iXph8-6hFChs-79rQnT-79vJou-jBfp5Q-97tdpj-79vG3E-79s2F8-dKxaxz-79vTTb-79s2Ce-79rRa2-79rQbK-6FUSBR-79rQTZ-8CYzwi-79rQgk-4JkFUy-dGiyJX-8FocV8-q4sJmP-79vH5b-79vGA3-79rRmi">Megan Trace/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Keep taking the tablets?</h2>
<p>Our research joins a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4253734/">growing list of studies</a> comparing paper and e-books, but the answer isn’t a simple one. Shared reading is different to reading alone, for a start. And we may be interested in whether screen or paper makes a difference in how children learn to read, to understand, and enjoy reading. In short there are multiple perspectives to consider – developmental, educational, literary and technological – if we are to decide which medium is preferable.</p>
<p>Most studies have compared children at the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4253734/">earliest stages of reading</a>, using paper books, e-books with audio and dictionary support to help less-skilled readers, and so-called “enhanced” e-books with multimedia, activities, hotspots and games.</p>
<p>Text with audio support helps children to decode text, and multimedia can keep a reluctant reader engaged for longer, so a good e-book can indeed be as good as an adult reading <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4253734/">a paper book with their child</a>. But we don’t yet have long-term studies to tell us whether constant provision of audio might prevent children developing ways of unpicking the code of written language themselves. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137732/original/image-20160914-4980-hkn2al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">They think I’m reading; I’m playing Candy Crush.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-439348279/stock-photo-cute-little-girl-in-headphones-is-using-a-tablet-and-smiling-in-the-background-her-parents-are-using-a-tablet-too-sitting-on-sofa-at-home.html?src=9nOG0KjuMpy5rFB3cvDgQQ-1-30">George Rudy/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Re-design for life</h2>
<p>There is also increasing evidence that adding multimedia and games can quickly get distracting: one study found that young children <a href="http://static.trogu.com/documents/articles/palgrave/references/de%20jong%20quality%20of%20book%20reading.pdf">spent almost half their time</a> playing games in enhanced e-books, and therefore they read, remembered and understood little of the story itself. But there is plenty of guidance for e-book developers on the what, where and how much of designing multimedia texts.</p>
<p>And that brings us back to perhaps the defining conclusion from our own study. Books versus screens is not a simple either/or – children don’t read books in a cultural vacuum and we can’t approach the topic just from a single academic field. Books are just books, with a single typical use, but screens have many uses, and currently most of these uses are designed round a single user, even if that user is interacting with others remotely.</p>
<p>We believe that designers could think more about how such technology can be designed for sharing, and this is especially true for reading, which starts, and ideally continues, as a shared activity in the context of close long-term family relationships. Book Trust figures <a href="http://fileserver.booktrust.org.uk/usr/resources/1434/time-to-read-press-release-080916.pdf%5D">report a drop</a> from 86% of parents reading with their five-year-olds to just 38% with 11-year olds. There is a possibility that the <a href="http://ecl.sagepub.com/content/3/2/147.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc">clever redesign of e-books</a> and tablets might just slow that trend.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63221/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola Yuill received payment from Egmont Publishing to conduct a pilot study into children's shared reading. Her study mentioned here was conducted independently.</span></em></p>Bedtime stories can be comforting, chilling and mysterious, but new research highlights how emotions change depending on how children are doing it.Nicola Yuill, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/661172016-09-29T03:22:26Z2016-09-29T03:22:26ZDo ‘kindy bootcamps’ get children ready for school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139533/original/image-20160928-727-em6t7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Kindy bootcamps' tend to be run by untrained teachers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent surge in private companies offering “skill and drill” school-readiness programs has been likened to “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/prekindy-bootcamp-the-threeyearolds-with-homework-20160923-grmv0c.html">kindy bootcamps</a>” by the media. </p>
<p>These programs typically run for one hour a week (with fees in the range of A$40 an hour) for small groups of around five children aged between two and five.</p>
<p>The programs are often housed within companies that also offer tutoring to school-age children. They are not regulated or accredited, as child care, preschool and kindergarten full-time programs are. </p>
<p>Parents with disposable incomes seem to be seeking out these add-on programs to ease their anxieties about their child’s future academic achievement and competitive entry into elite schools.</p>
<h2>Flaws in these programs</h2>
<p>These school-readiness programs generally have four main flaws. </p>
<h3>1. Run by untrained teachers</h3>
<p>Commercial school-readiness programs are largely run by people without early childhood teaching qualifications. Because they are not regulated, there are no qualification requirements. </p>
<p>There is no guarantee that the program will be delivered by someone who is a qualified teacher or has any training. They may just have had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/jan/05/schools.uk2">some training in their scripted program</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.keeplearningeducation.com.au/page28.html">Some programs are facilitated by</a> primary-trained teachers. However, such degrees are largely based on curriculum content, whereas early childhood qualifications specialise in the nuanced development, pedagogy, curricula, environments and relationships of early childhood to provide customised educational programs to meet individual children’s needs.</p>
<p>Attending a commercial school-readiness program is effectively like having someone with a first-aid certificate (granted they have had some training in the prescriptive program) treat your child’s long-term health-care needs instead of a doctor. </p>
<p>All licensed early childhood education and care services in Australia must have access to, or employ, at least one qualified full-time early childhood teacher (depending on child numbers). Funded kindergarten programs must be planned and delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher. </p>
<p>Internationally, there is <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/49325825.pdf">strong evidence</a> that higher specialised early childhood qualifications raise the quality of interaction and pedagogy in early childhood education and care. This enhances student educational outcomes. </p>
<h3>2. ‘Readiness’ places pressure on children</h3>
<p>The idea of “school readiness” places all the pressure on the child – who at this point is around four or five years old. But how do you really know when a child is ready? </p>
<p>Commercial school-readiness programs are designed to accelerate maturation. They do this through rote-learning-style drills to teach the alphabet, phonemes (letter sounds) and numbers.</p>
<p>In 1925, it was proposed that children matured based on internal predetermined timing of growth and maturation. Since then many developmental psychologists and learning theorists have argued and demonstrated that children’s growth and development are influenced by a number of factors. These include relationships, family resources and experiences, neighbourhood, community resources and responsive early childhood programs provided by qualified early childhood teachers.</p>
<h3>3. Sole focus on literacy and numeracy</h3>
<p>Commercial school-readiness programs are largely focused on learning literacy and numeracy. For example, in the Keep Learning program they learn blends through basal readers and worksheets. This is simply focusing on the alphabetic code (knowing the letters and their corresponding sounds). </p>
<p>A quality early childhood program will embrace a holistic approach which enhances children’s sense of identity, their capacity to look after themselves (dressing and feeding, for example), to plan, play and create with others, to show care and respect for others and the environment, to make choices, take risks, manage change and celebrate achievements. All this (and more) is achieved through provocative learning environments, child-initiated inquiries, intentional teaching and exploratory creative play.</p>
<h3>4. Too few hours</h3>
<p>Most of these commercial programs run for only one hour a week. That is not going to have a lasting impact. Young children learn through being immersed for ongoing periods (days, weeks, months) in purposefully designed early childhood environments, which provoke learning inquiries and offer opportunity for child-directed activity with open-ended materials guided by experienced early childhood teachers. </p>
<p>The United Nations Children’s Fund has set a global benchmark of 15 hours per week for preschool children aged four and five. Regular ongoing participation in programs provided by early childhood teachers has been <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3155&context=sspapers">proven to be most beneficial for learning outcomes</a>.</p>
<h2>School transition programs</h2>
<p>The problem with such “bootcamps” is that they put the pressure on the child to fit in with school systems – and what they perceive as being “ready”. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v3n2/dockett.html">extensive research</a> on starting school has identified that what really counts is schools working with early childhood and community services, neighbourhoods, children and families to facilitate children’s ongoing development as capable learners. </p>
<p>This involves schools taking the responsibility to plan for successful transitions for young children to school. They do so using community data (such as Australian Early Development Census Data) and getting to know children and families through early childhood and community services. </p>
<p>By making the effort to know and understand next year’s student cohort, schools can plan for responsive environments and effective teaching practices that meet the specific children’s needs. </p>
<p><a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/pdf_with_bookmarking_-_continuity_of_learning-_30_october_2014_1_0.pdf">National guidelines</a> are available for transition to school. State education departments also provide transition-to-school guides and resources.</p>
<p>Community-facilitated transition programs aim to respond to each child’s strengths and challenges, and include children’s views as a way to inform the direction of the program. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v3n2/dockett.html">research tells us</a>, children can make valuable contributions to transition programs that are educational for all involved.</p>
<h2>Impact of quality early childhood education</h2>
<p>Participation in a quality early childhood education program has consistently demonstrated developmental and academic benefits, with the greatest gains for children from <a href="http://aihw.gov.au/workarea/downloadasset.aspx?id=60129552948">disadvantaged backgrounds</a>. </p>
<p>Data shows that children who have had at least a year of quality preschool education <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/research/preschoolparticipationandqualissummarypaper2013.pdf?Redirect=1">perform better</a> in Year 3 NAPLAN and in the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-overview.pdf">Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)</a> for 15-year-olds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Phillips receives research funding from the Spencer Foundation and the Queensland Department of Education and Training. She is affiliated with the Australian Literacy Educators' Association as co-editor of Practical Literacy: the early and primary years. </span></em></p>Parents are sending their children to private pre-school programs as a way to ensure they are ready to start school. But are these effective?Louise Phillips, Lecturer in Arts and early years education, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/647032016-09-02T13:28:22Z2016-09-02T13:28:22ZMany children aren’t physically ready to start school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136437/original/image-20160902-20228-1u3e9hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">almgren/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The age at which children start school <a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-at-what-age-are-children-ready-for-school-29005">varies across the world</a>. In Sweden, Denmark and Finland formal education starts at age seven, while in the UK, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7234578.stm">children often start</a> as young as four. This raises ongoing questions over school readiness and whether British children are sufficiently emotionally, socially and physically developed to start school. </p>
<p>Many children will have attended some degree of nursery education prior to starting school in the UK, thanks to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/increasing-free-childcare-wont-be-as-easy-as-a-b-c-42837">roll out</a> of free nursery places for three-year-olds (and two-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds). Physical development is now one core component of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/early-years-foundation-stage">Early Years Foundation Stage Framework</a>, the equivalent of the national curriculum for three- to five-year-olds. </p>
<p>A child who is physically well-developed – able to perform fine and gross motor skills appropriate to their age – is more able to sit up straight, sit still, pay attention and has the fine motor control necessary for holding a pencil and writing. </p>
<h2>Coordination problems</h2>
<p>But our <a href="http://www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2016/september/research-finds-4-year-olds-are-not-physically-ready-to-start-school.html">ongoing research indicates</a> that many children are not physically equipped to cope with school life, and their lack of readiness could be affecting their ability to learn. </p>
<p>In September 2015, my colleague Pat Preedy and I assessed 46 children who had just started at two schools (ten from an independent school and 36 from a state school) across a series of tests. This included the Movement ABC, a standardised set of tests often used to establish movement difficulties. </p>
<p>Within this sample, we found that just under a third of the children were starting school with movement difficulties which could affect their learning and behaviour. Of the children in our sample, 21% had significant movement difficulty. For another 8%, their physical development was below what might be expected for their age, meaning they may be at risk of developing future coordination problems. </p>
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<p>In a follow-up survey with a group of 26 teachers, 96% believed young children’s physical development as they start school has declined in recent years. The majority (80%) believed that this decline had happened in the last three to six years. </p>
<h2>Sedentary young lives</h2>
<p>These initial findings indicate that children currently are starting school less physically developed than they have been in previous years. One potential explanation might be a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13575270500340234">lack of appropriate experiences</a> of movement and physical activity early in life. At a time when there are <a href="https://www.bhf.org.uk/publications/statistics/physical-activity-statistics-2015">increasing concerns</a> regarding inactivity and sedentary behaviour in children, an inactive lifestyle early in life may be contributing to a lack of “school readiness” in young children. </p>
<p>Another reason, is that children are also spending less time outdoors than they used to. One 2014 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/10747841/Children-spend-less-than-30-minutes-playing-outside-a-week.html">survey by Mothercare</a> of 1,000 parents, found a quarter spend less than 30 minutes a week playing outside. In order to help develop good movement, children need to be climbing, crawling, rolling and experiencing what grass feels like between their toes. </p>
<p>There are also reports of an increase in sedentary behaviour for young people. The number of hours that young children now spend looking at screens is especially worrying. One survey by the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32067158">market research firm Childwise</a>, said the amount of time children between five and 16-years-old spend in front of a screen has doubled in the last two decades. </p>
<p>Research continues to find the best ways of making sure children are physically ready for school. Our ongoing research is looking at a “Movement for Learning” programme, designed to provide a daily dose of the movement that children may have missed out on earlier in life, such as tummy time, crawling, opportunities to balance, jump, hop and play ball games. </p>
<p>Early indications from the teachers we’ve interviewed who have been piloting the programme over the 2015-16 academic year are that it’s had a positive effect on children’s handwriting, their ability to follow instructions and their general readiness for learning. With the right input at the right time and opportunities to develop physically, young children will be given a better start in life and a better start to their school life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Duncombe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If children aren’t sufficiently coordinated, it could affect their ability to learn.Rebecca Duncombe, Teaching Fellow in PE and Sport Pedagogy, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/641782016-08-19T15:12:46Z2016-08-19T15:12:46ZChildhood obesity plan forgets about babies and toddlers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134797/original/image-20160819-30400-15id86i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Childhood obesity can be tackled from birth – so why aren't we doing anything about it?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-311142566/stock-photo-adorable-baby-boy-with-a-measuring-tape.html?src=iYkSkHv8UN0TDcR27albvw-1-45">Shutterstock/DementivaJulia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The British government’s long-awaited <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childhood-obesity-a-plan-for-action">childhood obesity plan</a> has finally been published. Touted as a proposal to “significantly reduce childhood obesity by supporting healthier choices”, it includes measures such as a soft drinks tax, a new healthy rating scale for schools, and daily hour-long activity in the curriculum to curb obesity over the next ten years. </p>
<p>The plan was immediately met with criticism and horror from several corners. The Guardian deemed it <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/18/former-ministers-attack-massive-damp-squib-childhood-obesity-plan">a “massive damp squib”</a>, the BBC criticised it as being <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-37108767">“weak and watered down”</a>, while sugar tax warrior Jamie Oliver said the plans were <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jamie-oliver-child-obesity_uk_57b555f7e4b0c5667a06f585">“underwhelming and disappointing”</a>.</p>
<p>Overall the strategy did not go far enough with measures: it only placed a sugar tax on soft drinks, for example, rather than all sugar-laden foods. The government also failed to restrict junk food advertising – apparently because Prime Minister Teresa May believes the economy is <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/may-rips-up-plans-for-junk-food-crackdown-35skq6fxw">more important than our health right now</a>. In addition, there is an over-reliance on voluntary action rather than legislation.</p>
<p>While these omissions are serious, what is particularly concerning is that the government appear to have completely ignored an entire critical period when children’s weight gain patterns, eating habits and even taste preferences are developed: pregnancy and the first years of life.</p>
<h2>Early eating</h2>
<p>The government plan focuses predominantly on school-aged children, but a quarter of children aged two to five-years-old are overweight or obese <a href="http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2015/01/07/archdischild-2014-307151.short?g=w_adc_ahead_tab">before they even start education</a>. Their weight is not simply due to genetics either: the number of overweight children has doubled in the last 20 years at a rate far exceeding genetic mutation. </p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2007.00181.x/full">Copious research</a> has shown that the early years of life are a critical period for the development of healthy eating habits and weight. Maternal obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy have been linked to increasing <a href="https://www.noo.org.uk/NOO_about_obesity/maternal_obesity_2015/child_outcomes">the risk of childhood obesity by two to three times</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, food preferences <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/apr/08/child-food-preferences-womb-pregnancy-foetus-taste-flavours">begin in the womb</a>: babies are exposed to their mother’s food as the aminotic fluid gets flavoured with the taste of it. Preferences for vegetables can be developed in the womb, but a pregnancy diet high in junk food may <a href="http://www.fasebj.org/content/27/3/1275.long">prime the brain</a> to want more of these foods. </p>
<p>Breastfeeding is also critical to healthy weight development, and the longer and more exclusive the better. Meta analyses suggest that for each month a baby is breastfed the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16076830">risk of obesity falls by 4%</a>. The reasons for this are <a href="http://abm.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/summer-2011-feature-article.pdf">multifaceted</a>: formula-fed babies consume a greater volume of milk; formula milk is too high in protein; and bottle-fed babies have less control over the amount they consume, as parents worry about them finishing all the milk in their bottle. </p>
<p>Introduction to solid foods is also important. Doing it too early can <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/3/e544.short">increase the risk of obesity</a>, as babies may consume more calories and protein overall. What foods babies eat also matters. Many parents rely on ready made baby foods but these are often <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/mcn.12208/asset/mcn12208.pdf?v=1&t=is1my5da&s=df47d040240f30924177f60ebb20611da63129ce">predominantly based on sweet tastes</a>, emphasising sugar intake, and are often <a href="http://adc.bmj.com/content/98/10/793.short">lower in nutrients</a>) than many home-cooked meals. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134798/original/image-20160819-30393-gtr25y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134798/original/image-20160819-30393-gtr25y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134798/original/image-20160819-30393-gtr25y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134798/original/image-20160819-30393-gtr25y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134798/original/image-20160819-30393-gtr25y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134798/original/image-20160819-30393-gtr25y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134798/original/image-20160819-30393-gtr25y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents can play a proactive role in preventing obesity from a very young age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-14501131/stock-photo-mother-feeding-baby-food-to-baby.html?src=_7B-N32oCAbKPGLz0qei8Q-2-0">Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whatever milk or food a baby receives, the feeding environment is also critical to developing positive relationships with food. So critical in fact that the World Health Organisation <a href="http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guiding_principles_compfeeding_breastfed.pdf">flags responsive feeding</a> – where babies are allowed to set the pace of their meal and enjoy and explore food under their own control – as central to developing good eating habits for life. Indeed, babies who are fed responsively during weaning have better appetite control and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2047-6310.2013.00207.x/full">eat a wider range of foods as toddlers</a>. </p>
<p>So why are these early influences so starkly missing from the government’s plan? It’s not as if the UK already has excellent early feeding outcomes. Half of women are <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/12181610/Half-of-pregnant-women-attending-their-first-maternity-appointment-are-overweight-or-obese.html">overweight during pregnancy</a>, we have the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35438049">lowest breastfeeding rates in the world</a> and three-quarters of babies are <a href="http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB08694/ifs-uk-2010-sum.pdf">introduced to solids before they are five months old</a>. Clearly, education, support and investment are desperately needed in these areas </p>
<p>Was it an omission? A political play? Or another example of preference to the economy over health? The government’s already established Change4life campaign aimed at promoting healthy behaviours is heavily <a href="http://info.babymilkaction.org/change4life">funded by formula and baby food companies</a>, despite the known link between formula, early solids and obesity.</p>
<p>If the government had simply looked westwards from Westminster, it would have seen that the Welsh government has already <a href="http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/news/40753">developed a programme</a> that is far more on target than this narrow national plan. Six of the <a href="http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/news/40753">“ten steps to a healthy weight”</a> cover preconception, pregnancy and the baby and toddler years, aimed at helping children grow up healthily from day one. </p>
<p>Sadly, the UK-wide plan starts far too late in life, and fails to invest in early prevention. Sticking a plaster over the problem won’t suffice, we need a plan, and investment behind it, which addresses childhood obesity before it becomes an even more life-threatening problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Brown has previously received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council</span></em></p>To combat childhood obesity, we need to start from day one.Amy Brown, Associate Professor of Child Public Health, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/611232016-06-22T15:37:48Z2016-06-22T15:37:48ZChildcare market is failing to provide parents with choice and quality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127708/original/image-20160622-7175-er5bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">FamVeld/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the face of it, free childcare sounds like a difficult policy to disagree with. Since 2013, parents of three and four-year-olds in England and those of disadvantaged two-year-olds have been entitled to 15 hours a week of free early education – now mostly referred to as childcare. From September 2017, this will be <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-of-parents-benefit-from-30-hours-free-childcare-early">extended to up to 30 hours</a> a week for children of “working parents”. </p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmpubacc/224/22402.htm">a new report</a> from MPs on the Public Accounts Committee – responding to a March 2015 <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/entitlement-to-free-early-education-and-childcare/">National Audit office publication</a> – highlights how the childcare market is failing to deliver choice and quality for most children and families in England. The market is instead thwarting the government’s twin intentions to boost educational outcomes for children growing up with disadvantage, as well as employment chances for parents. </p>
<h2>Skewed incentives</h2>
<p>The committee’s report homes in on the weaknesses in the way universal early education is delivered within England’s marketised system. Choice is limited for parents who only want the free hours for their three or four-year-olds. Nurseries are under no obligation to offer free early education and may not do so in areas where most parents are well-off.</p>
<p>In disadvantaged areas, three quarters of three-year-olds attend state nursery classes and schools, which mostly offer inflexible short sessions. But most English three-year-olds receive their free early education in private childcare provision: 64% in 2015 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provision-for-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2015">according to official statistics</a>. </p>
<p>Yet parents looking only for free early education – rather than childcare – for their children are not especially welcome in private day nurseries, as the nurseries’ business model relies on the childcare fees parents pay for hours over and above the 15 free hours. So if parents take up the 15 free hours for its educational value, rather than as part of their overall childcare plan each week, nurseries might be left out of pocket. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/corporate/the-practicalities-of-childcare---an-overlooked-part-of-the-puzzle.pdf">2014 study by Citizens Advice</a> using mystery shoppers illustrated how this acts as a perverse incentive for childcare businesses to find ways of discouraging parents from using the 15 free hours of early education. For instance, they may offer this only in restricted sessions or over restricted days. Local government funding rates for the “free” hours range from £2.28 to £7.15 per hour for three and four-year-olds and are generally lower than childcare fees paid by parents direct. This means nurseries would rather ensure parents need their children to attend for more than 15 hours a week, in order to cover their costs.</p>
<p>In her evidence to the committee, one childcare entrepreneur honestly articulated the dilemma facing her:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you are a popular nursery, which are you going to take: the child with just the free entitlement, with a gap in the hours that you have no income for, or the child with a parent who is able to pay for the full session? Private providers are only going to take what is best for them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The committee recognised that early education subsidies to childcare businesses may not cover the costs of delivering early education, although this <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479659/151124_Analytical_review_FINAL_VERSION.pdf">has been consistently denied</a> by the Department for Education. Yet even a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480222/DFE-RR493_Cost_of_providing_the_early_education_entitlement.pdf">2015 study for the department</a> of those costs concluded that the amount the state paid per hour for childcare of two-year-olds was insufficient. The study also noted the degree to which childcare businesses with multiple locations cross-subsidised their loss-making operations. </p>
<h2>Quality questioned</h2>
<p>The committee pointed out that the Department for Education is unable to measure the impact of its investment in universal early education. A <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12374/epdf">recent economic analysis</a> goes even further. It reckoned that the use of private sector provision, whose quality compares unfavourably to that of the state sector, was responsible for the lack of measurable impact of early education on the educational outcomes of English children at the end of primary school. </p>
<p>The outlook for two-year-olds in disadvantaged families could be even bleaker in terms of outcomes, as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provision-for-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2015">96% receive</a> their 15 hours within the private childcare sector. The fact that <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmpubacc/224/22402.htm">only 58%</a> of eligible two-year-olds took up a place under the scheme in 2015 reflects how badly the market is working for them and their parents.</p>
<p>As if things weren’t already bad enough, the delicate equilibrium within this system is about to be destabilised even further when the government introduces the additional 15 hours of free early education <a href="https://theconversation.com/focusing-free-childcare-on-working-parents-is-short-sighted-44623">for children of “working parents”</a> in September 2017. This will be available where both parents (or a single parent) are working and each parent earns, on average, an amount equivalent to 16 hours at the national living wage (£107 at the current rate), and less than £100,000 a year. </p>
<p>This move also compromises the government’s position on providing a universal pre-compulsory education service for all three and four-year-olds: calling it childcare is no defence. The extended offer compounds the lack of equity within the childcare market: it is a regressive policy which ignores the needs of the growing number of parents not in regular employment. It also virtually removes from childcare businesses the ability to cross-subsidise the “free” hours with the help of fees paid for additional childcare hours, as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2014-to-2015">most parents</a> use less than 30 hours for their three and four-year-olds. </p>
<h2>Unintended consequences</h2>
<p>According to the committee report, childcare businesses are considering refusing to offer the additional hours. Schools by and large won’t, and parents are confused. </p>
<p>The government was warned of the policy’s possible unintended consequences. It ignored a warning sounded in 2014 in the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ <a href="http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7072">green budget</a> that the case for further extending universal provision of early education was less strong than generally assumed, given the surprising lack of evidence on its impact on increasing parental employment levels. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/499168/Feasibility_study_into_evaluating_the_labour_and_childcare_market_impacts_of_Tax-Free_Childcare_and_the_Free_Early_Education_Entitlement.pdf">2016 Frontier Economics study</a> considered the feasibility – and risks – of the plan to extend free childcare. It said that childcare prices could rise, places could dwindle for two-year-olds and for children whose parents were ineligible for the offer. </p>
<p>Paradoxically, given the government’s aim of using early years education and childcare to improve the life chances of disadvantaged children, it will be they who stand to lose out. Extending the entitlement to early education to 30 hours a week may well result in one of the most complex, illogical and unfair early education and childcare systems in Europe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61123/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eva Lloyd has carried out research for the Department for Education and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. </span></em></p>England may end up with one of the most complex and unfair systems in Europe.Eva Lloyd, Professor of Early Childhood, Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/600232016-06-16T13:20:49Z2016-06-16T13:20:49ZTwo children in every class start school with an unexplained language disorder<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125505/original/image-20160607-15038-4t9mja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who's ready? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monkey Business Images/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Language is a fundamental human accomplishment. It is the foundation for <a href="https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evaluation/projects/nuffield-early-language-intervention/">literacy</a>, underpins academic and social success, and is important for developing and maintaining relationships with others.</p>
<p>So it is no surprise that children who struggle to acquire their native language are at a distinct disadvantage when they start school. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.12573/abstract">Our research</a>, recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, found that two five-year-old children in every Year 1 classroom of 30 had a currently unexplained language disorder. An additional 2.34% had a language disorder that occurred as part of another developmental condition, such as autism or Down syndrome. </p>
<p>Children with language disorders have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/RALLIcampaign">problems with speaking and listening</a>. They tend to have limited vocabularies, leave endings off words and use very simple grammar in their sentences. They have difficulties telling coherent stories and don’t understand complex instructions. This causes many problems in the classroom.</p>
<p>So for example, children with language disorders will struggle to understand questions such as “which of these items will float? Why do you think so?” Even if they understand and know the answer, they may not be able to use words to explain “the ball will float because it is filled with air and is lighter than the penny.” A child with language disorder may just point and guess, or articulate a couple of key words such as “the penny sinked”.</p>
<p>Our study involved more than 7,000 children and 190 schools in Surrey, south of London, in order to find out how many children in England start school with a language disorder – what is known as a prevalence estimate. This may sound straightforward to work out, but it isn’t. As language is multi-faceted, we measured vocabulary, grammar and narrative skills both when the children were speaking and listening. This is the combination of tests that has informed current diagnostic criteria for <a href="http://psychcentral.com/disorders/language-disorder/">language disorder</a>.</p>
<h2>What counts as a ‘language disorder’</h2>
<p>Different studies have used different cutoffs for language disorder, but the severity of the cutoff point can drastically affect the estimates of how prevalent problems are. In our study, children who scored in the bottom 7% of all pupils in the tests we gave were deemed to have a language disorder.</p>
<p>We also considered children’s non-verbal reasoning skills by asking them to solve problems that don’t involve words, for example, choosing the next step in a visual sequence from a selection of visually similar items. </p>
<p>Children with good non-verbal skills may mask problems with speaking and listening. For example, a very social child with language disorder, who is quick to learn new activities and can copy what other children are doing may not be able to follow complicated instructions such as “put your boots on after you find your coat” or may use very simple language like “him doing picture”, rather than “he is painting a picture”. </p>
<p>In recent years, many experts have argued that non-verbal skills should not feature in the diagnosis and decisions of how to treat children with language disorders. But many children with poorer non-verbal ability as well as language disorder can still find it difficult to meet <a href="https://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/sped02_05.pdf">eligibility requirements</a> for specialist speech-language therapy services. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125117/original/image-20160603-11598-1unhmle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125117/original/image-20160603-11598-1unhmle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125117/original/image-20160603-11598-1unhmle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125117/original/image-20160603-11598-1unhmle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125117/original/image-20160603-11598-1unhmle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125117/original/image-20160603-11598-1unhmle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125117/original/image-20160603-11598-1unhmle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Help those who need it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?country_code=GB&page_number=1&position=0&safesearch=1&search_language=en&search_source=search_form&search_type=keyword_search&searchterm=children%20at%20school&sort_method=relevance2&source=search&timestamp=1464950350&tracking_id=owKjf_hSOZR7B4984-PSnA&use_local_boost=1&version=llv1&page=1&inline=353880719">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To measure the impact of language disorder we took advantage of the fact that all children in England are assessed on the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488745/EYFS_handbook_2016_-_FINAL.pdf">Early Years Foundation Stage Profile</a> at the end of their first year in school. To achieve a “good level of development” children must meet or exceed 12 key curriculum targets, which cover speaking, listening, reading, writing, numeracy, physical and personal, social and emotional development. Most of these items tap into children’s ability to use language in the classroom, for example to play co-operatively, share ideas and form positive relationships with others. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that 7.58% of children starting school had an unexplained language disorder. Our estimate included children with low non-verbal abilities, and including these children increased the prevalence of disorders by almost 50% – from 4.8% to 7.58%. But we found that low non-verbal ability did not result in more severe language impairments, more pervasive behaviour problems or more serious academic difficulties.</p>
<p>Children meeting our criteria for language disorder were very unlikely to meet education targets on the early years profile – only 11% of them did so. They were also more likely than their peers to display social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.</p>
<h2>Children not getting help</h2>
<p>Despite this, fewer than half of the children who met criteria for language disorder had been referred to speech-language therapy services. </p>
<p>It’s clear from our research that a greater focus is needed on oral language development in the early years. Many teachers suggest that oral language needs to have the same status and protected teaching time that literacy and numeracy do. In the early years particularly, improving oral language <a href="https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evaluation/projects/nuffield-early-language-intervention/">should have positive impacts</a> on later literacy, behaviour and social development.</p>
<p>Of course there will still be some children who require specialist support, and our findings clearly indicate this should not depend on non-verbal ability. Instead, speech-language therapists should base decisions on eligibility for support on the child’s language and communication needs.</p>
<p>But children with lower non-verbal abilities may not respond to intervention in the same way that more able children do. It’s difficult to prove this, in part because children with lower non-verbal abilities are often excluded from trials of interventions that could help them. Nevertheless, that shouldn’t mean they get no help – only that we need to establish the most appropriate way of helping children with multiple developmental challenges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60023/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Courtenay Norbury receives research funding from the Wellcome Trust, who funded this research, and the British Academy. </span></em></p>And many of them are not getting the help they need.Courtenay Norbury, Professor of Developmental Language & Communication Disorders, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/588282016-05-04T09:53:32Z2016-05-04T09:53:32ZFree university tuition will help SNP defend a very mixed record on education<p>How has education fared in Scotland since the SNP was re-elected in 2011? The first thing to say is that the Scottish government has successfully seen through a major curriculum reform. Launched in 2004 under the <a href="http://www.gov.scot/About/Government/sgprevious/sgprevious2003-2007">Labour-Lib Dem administration</a>, the <a href="http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningandteaching/thecurriculum/whatiscurriculumforexcellence/">Curriculum for Excellence</a> (CfE) covers all learners from aged three upwards. It seeks to shift the focus away from content and knowledge towards enabling learners to achieve more generic outcomes. </p>
<p>The CfE organises all education around four broad capabilities – aiming to make all pupils “successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors” for the rest of their lives. By involving teachers in developing new teaching materials and adopting a rather traditional subject-based focus, the Scottish government for the most part managed to avoid confrontations with teacher unions – albeit there is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-36198992">talk</a> of action over the extra workload pressure on teachers that the CfE has created. </p>
<p>The principles have been accepted by all the major political parties – but is the CfE really a major reform? In 2015 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/Improving-Schools-in-Scotland-An-OECD-Perspective.pdf">positively reviewed</a> the implementation of the Scottish education system, but it also accepted that the Scottish government had not collected the evidence to allow a rigorous evaluation of the initiative itself. It warned that the next stage of the policy would be at risk unless the government rectified this.</p>
<p>Some independent evidence does exist, however. My colleague Mark Priestley, who has been studying the new curriculum since its inception, has <a href="http://www.scotedreview.org.uk/media/scottish-educational-review/articles/355.pdf">found that</a> while most teachers welcomed the underlying philosophy, they have tended to stick to existing practices and retained many features of the previous curriculum. What the OECD praised as “elasticity” was often viewed by teachers as a lack of clarity and focus. Still, in spite of its limitations, I think it is probably fair to mark CfE as a success for the SNP. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121062/original/image-20160503-5832-1in0w11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Craigroyston Primary in Edinburgh.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dennajones/4406612291/in/photolist-7Hp3iZ-8sA2ef-7HqkSK-7HsVUU-hrdyn-7Hughs-gP54gd-7HsWmo-9KMCTz-dd57Gn-dAeyLk-8RQ5s2-pEL59L-dzGTzL-7HucEU-qNNrLg-XYigr-7Huf5h-iz76Z-nTmPNq-5imMhF-8xvYDu-9NJybd-9M2DUT-4J8rvU-r81eNn-iKpsgk-gyBVrb-9NF1UU-51igoT-rgjz8T-7HoZR4-gP54pu-7oLF4Y-7Hp2g4-6YEQDy-7HugBL-qBKLrT-7HudDJ-7Hudf5-dsJVLT-6YANRk-7HuckS-nRp6L7-7HuejA-7HqkKX-7HueYf-7HueR5-qkj5rc-7HqiBi">Denna Jones</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learners great and small</h2>
<p>The picture elsewhere is far from perfect and there are difficulties and challenges in every sector – from early years to adult learning. Only higher education seems like an SNP success, at least at first glance. The government has <a href="http://www.thenational.scot/politics/snp-pledge-to-protect-free-higher-education.12176">maintained its commitment</a> to free university tuition for all, while <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/12179962/Row-over-SNP-funding-cuts-for-poor-university-students.html">cutting grants</a> for the poorest students without anyone much noticing. It has slightly increased university funding to compensate for the absence of fee income and it has managed to push through a <a href="http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Better-university-governance-1a12.aspx">reform of</a> university governance, winning the argument against strong opposition (at least by university standards). </p>
<p>But, under the surface, Scottish higher education faces serious challenges. A series of studies have <a href="http://www.docs.hss.ed.ac.uk/education/creid/NewsEvents/57_iii_WA_PPT_Riddell.pdf">shown that</a> university entry rates for the poorest and the state-educated are significantly below England and Wales. So far, the government has preferred to respond simply by restating its commitment to free tuition. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121061/original/image-20160503-23604-jnoowg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trouble between the shelves?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/viictoria4/6798696063/in/photolist-bmM6tD-ju1QXw-jsngfc-a8aMDz-94hu83-9Epw6b-fhvYG-oAwFxA-cigQb7-5zuXs-7HrMgU-qnTzCZ-gajZdb-dYoK3-oTbCT4-nRRfj9-huEE4B-cbJC3j-9rASBS-58ANxk-fbzY6M-27bLw3-5ucBEK-3mgzri-bUnrYx-9QTytQ-6MvBSs-6UKAXh-ct87Au-rKmXZ-j1TnXz-9QQLx2-8ivmEx-277iFn-v1rn4-2iQ7Y5-ruwZLD-94epvr-q1zK4u-cuDNSy-niGJWJ-raTq3V-dtAceP-fPxGqz-qWV3B8-8XmZ6w-mXwrKw-9Mtiwt-kjCg74-e9TGv8">Vic.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In early years education, there can be no doubting the Scottish government’s ambitions – but the number of trained specialists working in the sector <a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1155989/scotland-will-miss-education-goals-with-falling-early-years-teacher-numbers">is falling</a> at a time when demand is expected to rise. I think this has to be classed as making a superficial effort but not actually doing much.</p>
<p>Further education has been put through the mill. Overall funding for colleges has been <a href="http://www.stv.tv/scotland/1335559-lecturers-protest-over-draconian-cuts-to-scotlands-colleges/">systematically reduced</a> since 2011 and colleges have been told to <a href="http://www.scottishpolicynow.co.uk/article/chill-winds-blow-on-further-education">prioritise</a> their full-time and higher-education courses for young people. The number of colleges <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-34373613">has been reduced</a> from 37 to 20 through a top-down merger programme, intended partly to achieve future efficiency savings of £50m a year from 2016. There have <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35730342">also been</a> strikes over pay levels in colleges. Overall, the SNP policies for colleges look messy.</p>
<p>Although the government published a forward-looking <a href="http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/AdultLearningStatementofAmbition_tcm4-826940.pdf">Statement of Ambition on adult learning</a>, in practice it has presided over drastic cutbacks and the adult learning sector has suffered particularly badly as a result of the cuts to college budgets. Part-time student numbers in colleges <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/TrendFEStudents">have fallen</a> by half since 2008. Meanwhile, the government’s freeze on council taxes has meant that local authorities have reduced discretionary spending, including their spending on adult-learning services, and reduced grants to voluntary adult-education providers. The impression of neglect wasn’t helped by a minister <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/sneering-adult-learners">who mocked</a> the part-time computing courses that she was closing as “how to click on a mouse”. </p>
<p>So we have a pretty mixed bag – but one that is unlikely to harm the SNP electorally. Whatever its shortcomings in other areas, the party has turned free tuition into a flagship policy, something that is both highly popular and which visibly distinguishes Scotland from England – in nationalist Scotland, that will do nicely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Field has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and chairs Scotland's Learning Partnership, which represents adult learners across Scotland, but the views expressed here are entirely his own.
</span></em></p>A few notable successes, but could do better.John Field, Professor Emeritus, Lifelong Learning, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/496932016-04-06T09:45:34Z2016-04-06T09:45:34ZWhy make-believe play is an important part of childhood development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107823/original/image-20160111-6981-j1axdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trying on new roles. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/11454785166/in/photolist-isdLxY-iiie9s-iihX6r-isdoKs-8az3Zm-pavLsT-isd5JP-isdNPm-moKZsn-dyPQMd-isdcun-ise6Xr-moMM8C-isdvYW-isdJUY-isdXze-isdJdh-iiiw2e-isdKGj-isdang-isdpgs-isdXyT-moLAjp-moMGsq-isd7px-isdbKg-ise4xM-isdHT9-isdQrE-isdqqS-isd9sF-isdEyJ-iiicqu-ise6We-isdLBf-isdb84-isd6vP-isdmyd-isd5Wn-isdCXY-dyPQQ1-isdkys-isd8tr-isd7HZ-jMA7Tc-nqh9Ej-8ag3X2-2htcw-y1kA3z-isdemZ">Boston Public Library/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Visit any preschool classroom during free play and you will likely see a child pretending to be someone else. Make-believe play is a ubiquitous part of early childhood. And beyond being fun for kids, pretending and other kinds of <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo3617303.html">imaginative play</a> are also believed by some to be <a href="http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195393002.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195393002-e-003">critical to healthy child development</a>. </p>
<p>Research has found a relationship between pretend play and a child’s <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400419.2005.9651477#.VucalYwrJhA">developing creativity</a>, <a href="http://imaginarycompanions.uoregon.edu/files/2014/07/TaylorCarlson1997-qwbe8t.pdf">understanding of others</a> and <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1985-00967-001">social competence with peers</a>.</p>
<p>As a psychologist who studies imaginary play and childhood development and is no stranger to the preschool classroom, I have met many children for whom an imaginary friend or impersonation of a character is more than just an amusing pastime. Such activities often reflect what children have on their minds.</p>
<p>So how might imaginary play lead to benefits for kids? And does imaginary play make for more socially astute kids? Or is that that kids who more socially adept tend to engage in this kind of play more?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107815/original/image-20160111-6964-ql7e7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107815/original/image-20160111-6964-ql7e7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107815/original/image-20160111-6964-ql7e7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107815/original/image-20160111-6964-ql7e7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107815/original/image-20160111-6964-ql7e7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107815/original/image-20160111-6964-ql7e7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107815/original/image-20160111-6964-ql7e7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pretending and learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/joybot/19156808315/in/photolist-vbPDGx-fie1tZ-e1XaXq-7k6DhM-fitfmA-fitewY-4nU97i-frYqkt-az5Azs-7imNMJ-76ZGCz-6XbTsP-6jNrAD-8WpyZH-nJbwJT-nro8bB-yPNGEs-qxKoR-ueZjSX-uUooNV-8WsD2h-bVvQMo-vc8HXB-8rGN25-bCMmqb-9snbMe-9wF8Zp-8WTeMf-8WTf8b-fidZDc-9t7S2k-fitcGQ-8WTeL1-nt9UXF-fidYN6-fidZd2-STFYX-v7xwdK-b3uGxv-9ggzZC-v9v6i3-ueYbma-9fY4wf-a4NCra-uUdLYs-9Lnhaz-9sqbeq-cERHTj-rjh1Xf-5EsEEZ">Sarah Joy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learning to think from different perspectives</h2>
<p>Imaginary play could encourage social development because children are simultaneously behaving as themselves and as someone else. This gives them a change to explore the world from different perspectives, and is a feat that requires thinking about two ways of being at once, something that children may have difficulty doing in other circumstances.</p>
<p>You can imagine how this could be a part of a child’s developing social abilities.</p>
<p>For instance, if a child is pretending to be a mother, he or she must imagine what it would feel like if the baby cries or doesn’t behave. If a child is pretending to be the family dog, he or she needs to figure out how to communicate with the “owner” without speaking. </p>
<p>The child who creates an imaginary friend has the opportunity to explore all the nuances of friendship – without having to manage the unpredictability of another person’s behavior or risking the friendship ending.</p>
<p>The child who impersonates a superhero can play out and achieve goals such as helping others and performing daring rescues. This kind of power is not easily found in early childhood. Getting to be the hero and taking care of others must be a nice change from being taken care of and ordered around. </p>
<h2>Learning the delicate art of negotiation</h2>
<p>When children play these make-believe games with other kids, they must constantly consider their own behaviors and signals to send clear messages about what they are doing. And they also have to pay attention to signals coming from other participants in the game and learn how to decipher them. </p>
<p>This kind of communication also happens in real-world interactions. But within the world of fantasy play, successful coordination requires extra attention to all of these details. Children must engage in sophisticated levels of communication, negotiation, compromise, cooperation and coordination to keep the play moving forward. </p>
<p>In fact some research suggests that children engaging in social pretend play spend almost as much time negotiating the terms and context of the play <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0885-2006(89)90015-X">as they do enacting it</a>. This might come in handy as they grow up and manage the rules of neighborhood games of Capture the Flag, the division of labor on group projects in high school and the benefits associated with a first job offer. </p>
<h2>Are the benefits of play correlational or causative?</h2>
<p>The studies that connect pretend play to all of those positive outcomes are correlational. In other words, a socially astute, competent child might be more interested in pretend play, rather than pretend play making a child more socially astute. Alternatively, some other variable, like parenting, might be responsible for connections between engagement in fantasy and getting along well with others. </p>
<p>In fact, Angeline Lillard, a prominent scholar in the field, looked at dozens of studies with her colleagues, and found <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/bul-a0029321.pdf">little evidence to support</a> the idea that pretend play causes positive developmental outcomes. </p>
<p>Instead, these authors assert, pretending might be one route to these outcomes. Or both pretend play and positive outcomes might be supported by other factors, such as the presence of supportive, encouraging adults, play that focuses on positive, pro-social themes, and the characteristics of the children themselves, such as their intelligence and sociability. </p>
<p>At the same time, the researchers are also quick to point out that children love to play and are motivated to do so. Adults who want to foster perspective-taking, empathy, negotiation skills and cooperation would do well to think about how lessons related to these skills could be embedded in the materials, themes and general content of children’s imaginative play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49693/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracy Gleason does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research has found a relationship between pretend play and a child’s developing creativity, understanding of others and social competence with peers.Tracy Gleason, Professor of Psychology, Wellesley CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/552822016-03-01T13:37:09Z2016-03-01T13:37:09ZThe world’s longest studied birth cohort turns 70 – here’s what they’ve told us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113235/original/image-20160229-4090-9rw7ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Birth cohort studies are an invaluable resource for researchers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=7FXt6hQsZRJE8LIL_Ffzig&searchterm=large%20group%20of%20people&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=245684488">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world’s oldest continually running birth cohort study – <a href="http://www.nshd.mrc.ac.uk/">the MRC National Survey of Health and Development</a> – <a href="http://www.nshd.mrc.ac.uk/70thbirthday/">turns 70</a> this month. </p>
<p>A birth cohort study is one where a representative sample of newborns is followed over many years – with the consent of their parents – to track their health, development, education and other life circumstances. In the case of this cohort, what began as a study of maternity has now evolved into a valuable resource for studying ageing. </p>
<h2>Early years</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.nshd.mrc.ac.uk/study-members/douglas-children/">James Douglas</a> was appointed to run the initial maternity survey and, within a year of the end of World War II, health visitors had interviewed 13,687 mothers, from across Britain, who gave birth in March 1946. They asked about the care of the mother and her baby, and the costs she incurred during pregnancy and childbirth. </p>
<p>In this first phase, the study revealed important differences in the mothers’ and babies’ health and survival by geographical area and income group. The study showed that many more babies from poor families died compared with those from well-off families. </p>
<p>Soon after the maternity study was completed, Douglas decided to follow a group of 5,362 infants to discover the factors that led to poor growth and ill health during preschool years. This data contributed to the design of NHS care for the preschool child.</p>
<p>By the end of the school years two sets of data had been collected. One on health and growth and the other on cognitive and emotional development and educational attainment. The data revealed an increased risk of underachievement – known as the “waste of talent” – among children with high intelligence in poorer families.</p>
<h2>Adapting to the times</h2>
<p>After Douglas retired, Michael Wadsworth took over the leadership of the project. He expanded the data collection in the second phase of the study to investigate mental health in early adulthood. Under his directorship, the study also expanded the number of physical traits that were measured. In these years the study began to address emerging areas of research concerning the influence of early-life factors, such as growth and environment, on early adulthood. </p>
<p>After Wadsworth came <a href="http://www.nshd.mrc.ac.uk/lha/lha-team/diana-kuh/">Diana Kuh</a> and by now the study participants were in their sixties. Kuh changed the focus of the study to ageing. </p>
<p>Over the past decade researchers on the project have tried to understand how social and biological factors across life influence ageing. By examining survival, physical and cognitive ability, as well as psychological and social well-being they have gained a better understanding of ageing at the individual, body system and cellular level.</p>
<p>As a result of the lifelong commitment of the study participants, researchers have been able to gain insight into what factors, from early- and midlife, contribute to the risk of decreases in physical and cognitive ability and of common diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and dementia. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113237/original/image-20160229-4066-los6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113237/original/image-20160229-4066-los6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113237/original/image-20160229-4066-los6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113237/original/image-20160229-4066-los6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113237/original/image-20160229-4066-los6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113237/original/image-20160229-4066-los6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113237/original/image-20160229-4066-los6al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brain imaging provides insights into ageing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=JSa6-nFGHH1QyW1nO701DA&searchterm=brain%20image&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=118491940">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>New tools</h2>
<p>The study continues to collect data on study participants, using new methods and medical technologies. For example, medical imaging technology was first used to scan the hearts and bones of study participants and is now being used to scan their brains. And DNA is now collected from study participants, which is now giving us insights into ageing at the genetic and <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-epigenetics-13877">epigenetic</a> levels. </p>
<p>Through the contributions of the study founders, directors and researchers as well as the lifetime of commitment from its thousands of participants, the cohort study has provided – and continues to provide – a wealth of information on ageing, as questions surrounding ageing become increasingly important and complex.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55282/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Theodore D Cosco does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Medical Research Council’s National Survey of Health and Development turns 70 this month, and is more ambitious than ever.Theodore D Cosco, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/497892015-11-09T05:06:22Z2015-11-09T05:06:22ZState benefits negatively affect personality – here’s how<p>Few debates raise blood pressure more readily than those about the welfare state, especially those regarding <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/11/benefits-claimants-other-research">the personality</a> of those on benefits. Welfare claimants are both <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3091717/The-Sun-declares-war-on-Britains-benefits-culture.html">stereotyped</a> as being genetically hardwired as un-conscientious and disagreeable, as well as the <a href="http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Capitalism/Wealth/19999/28-01-2015/government-welfare-cuts-no-to-sanctions">helpless victims of capitalism</a>. </p>
<p>As I am both a personality researcher and former claimant of unemployment benefits, the issue of personality and the welfare state is of special interest to me and is the <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/The-Welfare-Trait/?sf1=barcode&st1=9781137555304">focus of my new book, The Welfare Trait</a>. My research has led me to an alarming conclusion: the welfare state increases the number of children at risk of developing personality profiles that make them less likely to get a job.</p>
<p>Research on personality and the welfare state is rare, but in the papers that have been published, the message is clear. Individuals with <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657557?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">aggressive, rule-breaking</a> and antisocial personality characteristics are <a href="http://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/pedi.2010.24.6.709">over-represented</a> among welfare claimants. </p>
<p>We also know that <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Organizational_Citizenship_Behavior.html?id=E7l2AwAAQBAJ&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y">conscientious, agreeable</a> individuals <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2389.00160/abstract">tend to make</a> good employees. And <a href="http://cesifo.oxfordjournals.org/content/57/4/605.abstract">epidemiological studies</a> have shown that each generation living under the protection of the welfare state had lower work motivation than the previous one.</p>
<p>Viewed as a whole, this data suggests that willingness to violate norms concerning work and social responsibility is increasing, generation by generation. It’s as if the welfare state is gradually warping the personality profile of the population so that more people in each generation are resistant to employment.</p>
<h2>Early years key to personality</h2>
<p>The Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman has <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.103.6.2052">carried out research</a> showing that intensive preschool tutoring before age five – not done by the parent – significantly improves the life outcomes of disadvantaged children. </p>
<p>Heckman and colleagues showed that intensive preschool tutoring achieved its beneficial effects by altering the personality development of the children: disadvantaged children who received tutoring developed personality profiles that were significantly less aggressive, rule-breaking and antisocial than those of the untutored children. </p>
<p>Since the children were randomly assigned to receive the tutoring, Heckman’s work showed that exposure to childhood disadvantage is the active, environmental, ingredient in promoting the development of those personality characteristics that make people less likely to get a job.</p>
<p>Well-prepared by my own experience of unemployment to appreciate the power of the welfare state, it struck me that if the welfare state increases the number of children born into disadvantaged families, it will increase the proportion of individuals in the population who possess personality characteristics that make them resistant to employment, as a result of having been exposed to disadvantage during childhood. </p>
<p>This happens because people with these characteristics are over-represented among welfare claimants and so are unlikely to manage their welfare money conscientiously to benefit their children. They are also unlikely to give their children the necessary attention for adequate personality development.</p>
<p>This seems to explain the <a href="http://cesifo.oxfordjournals.org/content/57/4/605.abstract">tendency</a> researchers have observed for work motivation to decline in each generation living under the protection of the welfare state. Each generation will contain proportionately more children who are exposed to disadvantage. In turn, the dysfunctional personality characteristics that result from this disadvantaged upbringing mean that these children will have a greater risk than average of becoming welfare claimants themselves and neglecting their own children, thereby perpetuating a cycle of personality mis-development.</p>
<h2>More children born to welfare claimants</h2>
<p>I began investigating the effects of the welfare state on how many children welfare claimants have. Through a freedom of information request I obtained government data from the Office of National Statistics on reproduction and employment in England and Wales for April to June 2013. These are split into three groups: working households, where every 16 to 64-year-old is employed; mixed households, which contain both employed and unemployed adults; and workless households, where all 16 to 64-year-olds are unemployed. It shows that the number of children born into English and Welsh households rises in step with the proportion of income from welfare benefits.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/yw0fc/1/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The implication contained in this is that the welfare state means more children are being born to welfare claimants than to employed citizens. But raw, census-style data such as this take no account of confounding factors. For example, this finding could also be an artefact of the greater material needs of larger families, leading to greater reliance on welfare benefits for reasons connected to poverty rather than personality.</p>
<p>These problems have been addressed by studies in the <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs001480050152">US</a> and <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00148-010-0332-x">UK</a> that explored the causal links through follow-up interviews with people who claimed welfare. They found that claimants used less contraception when there were increases in the amount of benefits available and the number of children born to welfare claimants rose by 1% for every 3% rise in benefit generosity. </p>
<p>This raises the alarming possibility that the welfare state has become a production line for dysfunctional, employment-resistant personality characteristics. In order to verify if this is indeed the case and, if it is, come up with reforms to change it, we need more coherent scientific research on personality and the welfare state.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49789/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Perkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The welfare state increases the number of children born at risk of developing personality profiles that make them less likely to get a job.Adam Perkins, Lecturer in the Neurobiology of Personality, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/492562015-10-19T16:08:20Z2015-10-19T16:08:20ZDo babies feel tickles in a different way to adults?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98699/original/image-20151016-25117-h0kpmr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ticklish?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Babyfoot via Michael Kempf/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For a newborn baby emerging from the cosy womb, the outside world is much bigger, much colder and quite a different kind of place. At birth, the way newborn babies sense their environment changes dramatically. How do they make sense of all the new sounds, sights, smells and sensations? </p>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215010714">new research</a> has focused on the way babies experience touch, such as tickling. We’ve found that young infants of four months old, unlike older infants, are pretty accurate at locating where they’ve been tickled, even with their limbs crossed. </p>
<p>In the womb there is a constant chain of tactile sensations occurring for the foetus to feel, but those touches might be experienced as rather lonely events, unrelated to the low-resolution sights, and the gurgling low-frequency noises of the womb.</p>
<p>In the outside world, the environment becomes much more multisensory. The tactile feeling of being picked up is likely to accompanied by sights such as a parent’s face or hands, and the sounds of voices. We don’t fully understand yet how infants link these kinds of sensory stimuli, and how long it takes them to figure out the way what they feel and what they see or hear fits together.</p>
<h2>Where’s that coming from?</h2>
<p>Our research at the <a href="http://www.goldsmithsinfantlab.org/">Goldsmiths InfantLab</a> has been investigating the early development of tactile perception for some time, looking particularly at the early development of how babies perceive where a touch is coming from in space.</p>
<p>Typically, we present little tactile buzzes to babies’ hands, one hand at a time, and in a random order so that the baby does not know where to expect them. The touches – which are like a little tickle – are delivered by what we call voice-coil tactors, small vibrating boxes which we wrap into the palms of the babies’ hands. When a buzz is presented there is nothing going on visually to indicate which hand received the touch. Any noises made by the tactors are masked so that the infants cannot tell where they are coming from.</p>
<p>In order to figure out what the babies can do, we look at video records of the infants’ movements. We measure whether they can accurately localise those buzzes, by moving their hands or moving their eyes towards the location of the tactile stimulus.</p>
<p>One of our most striking <a href="http://research.gold.ac.uk/7309/1/AJBremner_accepted.pdf">early findings</a> was that babies do not often look towards touches. Comparing six-month-old and ten-month-old babies, we found that whereas the older infants made eye and head movements quite quickly and accurately to the hand where they had felt a touch, the younger ones tended to make many fewer and less of such movements. It was as if they did not yet know how the visual world matched up to the tactile world of the body.</p>
<h2>Figuring out the outside world</h2>
<p>Our most <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215010714">recent findings</a> have looked in more detail at the question of whether babies perceive where a touch might be, not just on their body but in the outside world. One signature of this ability is a tendency, demonstrated by both young children and adults, to become confused about the location of a touch when our limbs are crossed over. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98821/original/image-20151019-23239-p3ym82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98821/original/image-20151019-23239-p3ym82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98821/original/image-20151019-23239-p3ym82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98821/original/image-20151019-23239-p3ym82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98821/original/image-20151019-23239-p3ym82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98821/original/image-20151019-23239-p3ym82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98821/original/image-20151019-23239-p3ym82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A baby taking part in the experiment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jannath Begum Ali</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As we grow up, we learn from experience that our bodies and limbs tend to rest in particular places. For instance, we come to expect that our left hand is usually in our left field of vision, and our right hand is usually in the right field of vision. <a href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v4/n7/full/nn0701_759.html">We also expect</a> touches to our right hand to have originated from events to the right of us. However, if our hands are crossed, our left hand and the touches it feels are in right space, and our right hand and the touches it feels are in left space. This therefore confounds our expectations leading us into errors. </p>
<p>But if young infants haven’t learnt to localise touches in the outside world yet, they should make fewer mistakes than older infants when their hands are crossed. We tested this in four- and six-month-old babies – this time placing buzzes on babies’ feet rather than their hands. (Four month olds seemed quite unwilling to cross their hands over.) </p>
<p>The six month olds were quite good at localising touches when their feet were uncrossed. About 70% of the time, they moved the foot which had been touched. When their legs were crossed, their performance dropped to 51% – chance. But the young four month olds got the correct foot about 70% of the time – both when their legs were crossed and uncrossed. They did not seem to care which side of their bodies their feet were, simply responding to a tactile location on the body, and at a good level of accuracy to boot.</p>
<p>On the basis of this we argue that before six months of age, when a baby feels a touch on their foot or their hand, they don’t relate the touch to an object or event outside of themselves. They just feel the touch as a touch on their body and that’s all. We’re calling this “tactile solipsism”. To me this idea of what it would be like to be a baby feeling a touch is quite strikingly different to our own realities – if we’re right – it must be strange being a newborn baby.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49256/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Bremner receives funding from the European Research Council (European Commission, Framework Programme 7), and the British Academy.</span></em></p>The world outside the womb is full of new sensations for a newborn. New research is explaining how they navigate it.Andrew Bremner, Professor of Psychology and Head of Department, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.