tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/early-education-28111/articlesEarly education – The Conversation2023-12-08T13:35:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145202023-12-08T13:35:54Z2023-12-08T13:35:54ZMichigan is spending $107M more on pre-K − here’s what the money will buy<p><em>About <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/YB2022_FullReport.pdf">one-third</a> of the nation’s 4-year-olds are enrolled in state-funded prekindergarten programs.</em></p>
<p><em>In Michigan, 32% of 4-year-olds attend the state’s public pre-K program. However, the state has invested an additional <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mde/news-and-information/press-releases/2023/08/16/expansions-to-gsrp-will-benefit-thousands-of-children-and-families">US$107 million</a> from its 2023-24 budget to educate 4-year-olds, 20% more money compared to the prior year.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://marsal.umich.edu/directory/faculty-staff/christina-j-weiland">Christina Weiland</a>, associate professor of education at the University of Michigan, and <a href="https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/ajay-chaudry">Ajay Chaudry</a>, research scholar at New York University, are co-authors of “<a href="https://www.russellsage.org/publications/cradle-kindergarten-2ndEdition">Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality</a>,” a book about how to make affordable, high-quality early care and education available for all U.S. families.</em></p>
<p><em>Here, they answer five questions about Michigan’s new investment in preschool education.</em></p>
<p><strong>How many kids attend public pre-K in Michigan?</strong></p>
<p>Michigan’s <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/early-childhood-education/early-learners-and-care/gsrp">Great Start Readiness Program</a> is a voluntary public pre-K program for 4-year-olds operating in all but one of Michigan’s 83 counties. Classrooms are offered in both public schools and in community-based partner organizations.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">majority of children</a> who attend qualify based on their family’s income. Kids whose parents earn up to 300% of the federal poverty line, or <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1c92a9207f3ed5915ca020d58fe77696/detailed-guidelines-2023.pdf">$90,000 for a family of 4</a>, are eligible. Children can also <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/mde/gsrp/implementation/risk_factor_definitions.pdf?rev=578c7255aee44ef4a94199f6956bf3d8">gain access to the program</a> if they have a disability, at least one of their parents has not graduated from high school or is illiterate, or English is not the primary language in their home. </p>
<p>In the 2021-22 school year, <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">the program operated</a> in 2,524 classrooms and enrolled 30,872 children across Michigan. By our team’s estimates, enrollment increased to 33,200 in 2022-23. </p>
<p><iframe id="JAMAW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JAMAW/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>What are the strengths of the program, and where could it do better?</strong> </p>
<p>Michigan is <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/YB2022_FullReport.pdf">one of only five states</a> to meet all 10 quality benchmarks set by the National Institute for Early Education Research, a research institution based at Rutgers University. </p>
<p>Some of the program’s notable strengths include requiring universal developmental and health screenings for students, offering in-classroom coaching for all Great Start teachers and requiring lead teachers to have a college degree and specialized early education training. Nationally, only about half of state pre-K programs require a college degree for teachers and only about a third require coaching. </p>
<p>Like all state-funded pre-K programs, Great Start also has some room for improvement. In a recent <a href="https://edpolicy.umich.edu/sites/epi/files/2023-12/MI%20Pre-K%20for%20All%20Report_v8_0.pdf">policy brief</a>, our team highlighted several critical areas for further investment. For example, there are large gaps in pay and benefits for Great Start teachers compared with K-12 teachers in the state. <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">These gaps</a> amount to an average of $17,500 less per year for state pre-K teachers in public schools and $25,000 less per year for those in community-based programs. </p>
<p>These pay gaps help explain why 18% of lead teachers and 28% of assistant teachers still needed additional courses to meet the program’s educational requirements in the 2021-22 school year. </p>
<p>Pay parity for Great Start teachers would help Michigan school systems recruit additional qualified teachers. In 2021-22, <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">the vacancy rate</a> was 4% for lead teachers and 6% for assistant teachers.</p>
<p>Also, Michigan ranks <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/SE_FullReport.pdf">near the bottom</a> of states in early childhood inclusion, a model that allows children with special needs to attend preschool alongside their typically developing peers.</p>
<p>And finally, just as in most public pre-K programs nationally, most Great Start classrooms use curricula that have been repeatedly outperformed by other options. Children – especially those from historically marginalized backgrounds – learn more from <a href="https://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/resources/FINAL_SRCDCEB-CurriculaCoaching.pdf">evidence-based curricula</a>. However, less effective curricula persist in preschool programs around the country due in part to the history of early childhood education but also because of policy decisions.</p>
<p><strong>What is Michigan’s new investment slated to fund?</strong></p>
<p>The $107 million in additional funding for Great Start covers three critical areas. </p>
<p>First, new funding is meant to increase the number of children served and get kids off waitlists. </p>
<p>Second, additional funding is targeted to better meet the needs of working families. Historically, Great Start programs have served children four days per week for 30 weeks per year. With this new investment, some programs will offer children instruction five days per week and 36 weeks per year, bringing Great Start in line with the public school calendar. The expanded schedule stands to boost child learning, better match family work schedules and enable some families who were previously shut out to enroll.</p>
<p>Finally, $35 million is slated for classroom startup grants of $25,000 to help open new classrooms and expand existing programs in public schools and community-based organizations. </p>
<p><strong>What does research say about the benefits of public pre-K?</strong></p>
<p>Decades of <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/puzzling-it-out-the-current-state-of-scientific-knowledge-on-pre-kindergarten-effects/">rigorous research</a> show that children who attend high-quality pre-K programs are more ready for kindergarten, meaning they have on average stronger language, literacy, math, social emotional and executive function skills than their peers who did not attend preschool. Dual-language learners, children of color, children from families with low incomes and children with disabilities <a href="https://www.srcd.org/news/investing-our-future-evidence-base-preschool-education">particularly benefit</a> from high-quality pre-K. </p>
<p>Pre-K also <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/effects-universal-preschool-washington-d-c/">supports families</a> by giving parents time to work. </p>
<p>The benefits of preschool can <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/puzzling-it-out-the-current-state-of-scientific-knowledge-on-pre-kindergarten-effects/">last into adulthood</a>, improving high school graduation rates, college enrollment rates and the long-term health of kids who attend.</p>
<p>Families with higher incomes in the U.S. have historically had <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/do-we-already-have-universal-preschool/">more access</a> to high-quality preschool than families with less means. Public pre-K programs help fill that gap.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young Black boy pushes a car along a colorful playmat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children who attend high-quality preschools can reap benefits into adulthood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/boy-playing-chevrolet-camaro-toy-on-floor-3BztcJxliEM">Segun Osunyomi/unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>What’s next in Michigan?</strong></p>
<p>Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration has <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mde/news-and-information/press-releases/2023/01/26/michigans-children-to-benefit-from-governor-whitmers-education-proposals">announced intentions</a> to continue to expand public pre-K, including a goal of offering universal pre-K to all Michigan 4-year-olds by <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mde/news-and-information/press-releases/2023/08/16/expansions-to-gsrp-will-benefit-thousands-of-children-and-families">the end of 2026</a>.</p>
<p>To date, only six states – Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin – plus D.C. have achieved <a href="https://nieer.org/the-state-of-preschool-yearbook-2022">universal preschool</a> for 4-year-olds, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214520/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina J. Weiland 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>Scholars who study disparities in early care and education answer five questions about Michigan’s Great Start Readiness Program.Christina J. Weiland, Associate Professor of Education, University of MichiganAjay Chaudry, Research Scholar, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2179192023-11-27T19:17:24Z2023-11-27T19:17:24ZWhat are bush kinders? And what makes a good one?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561737/original/file-20231127-29-ym0xyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C34%2C4559%2C3297&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/two-children-sitting-on-ground-with-dried-leaves-MTeZ5FmCGCU">Marcus Wallis/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Australia we have a long history of taking children outdoors to learn about the natural environment. But thanks to computer games, tablets and busy lifestyles, children aren’t getting as much <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04691-9_2">exposure to nature</a> as they used to.</p>
<p>“Bush kinders” are one way to counter this. In a bush kinder, children in preschool years are regularly taken into the natural environment by their daycare centre or kinder/preschool. There are also standalone nature playgroup programs offered by organisations like the YMCA. </p>
<h2>What are bush kinders?</h2>
<p>Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework (which supports learning for children under five) talks about the importance of the natural world, <a href="https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf">noting</a> educators should: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>encourage children to develop appreciation of the natural world, understand our impact on the natural world, and the interdependence between people, animals, plants, lands and waters.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bush kinders deliberately and regularly take children into the natural world so they can experience this firsthand. </p>
<p>There is no national figure for bush kinders in Australia. But there are currently more than 200 bush kinder programs in Victoria alone (these are otherwise regular services that offer bush kinder sessions as part of their overall program). These numbers will grow rapidly thanks to the <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/bush-kinders">recent bush kinder funding</a> in the 2023 Victorian budget. We should expect another 600 bush kinder programs in the state by 2027. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-productivity-commission-wants-all-australian-kids-to-have-access-to-3-days-of-early-learning-and-care-a-week-218247">The Productivity Commission wants all Australian kids to have access to 3 days of early learning and care a week</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can they teach children?</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Children climb near a stream, while an adult watches on." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561742/original/file-20231127-26-6k6t4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561742/original/file-20231127-26-6k6t4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561742/original/file-20231127-26-6k6t4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561742/original/file-20231127-26-6k6t4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561742/original/file-20231127-26-6k6t4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561742/original/file-20231127-26-6k6t4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561742/original/file-20231127-26-6k6t4e.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">Bush kinders should let children use their own initiative and explore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/two-children-walking-on-water-stream-vRWt4_jriGc">Dave Clubb/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research shows bush kinders can happen in almost any outdoor place. It could be a forest, beach, rural area, garden or a park. </p>
<p>Bush kinders <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/australian-journal-of-environmental-education/article/bush-kinders-building-young-childrens-relationships-with-the-environment/D242074254F97F824B0E8A876D2D39CB?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark">work best</a> without playground equipment, toys, balls or other items. This is so children are challenged to play with only what nature provides. They can climb, dig, balance, explore or hide. </p>
<p>While playing, children can build STEM skills. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2022.2122026">research showed</a> children’s maths skills can benefit from bush kinder time – as they count and sort sticks, rocks, leaves and gumnuts into piles.</p>
<p>Educators have also told us bush kinders can help children’s social and emotional learning. In the natural world, they can take risks for example, exploring a new area and develop their <a href="https://theconversation.com/grit-or-quit-how-to-help-your-child-develop-resilience-195195">resilience</a>. </p>
<p>Bush kinders are supposed to be fun, discovery-filled places to learn about nature. It is only a child’s imagination that limits their play.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/real-dirt-no-fake-grass-and-low-traffic-what-to-look-for-when-choosing-a-childcare-centre-191260">Real dirt, no fake grass and low traffic – what to look for when choosing a childcare centre</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What makes a good bush kinder?</h2>
<p>Parents can find bush kinders by looking at kindergarten or early learning centre websites. Many centres actively promote their bush kinder programs.</p>
<p>Good bush kinders will be in spaces that are natural and have different aspects for children to explore. </p>
<p>But many different places and environments can work. It can have tall trees that are great for climbing or birds to nest. There can be soft earth or sand for digging. There may be ant trails to watch, fallen leaves to count or sticks to collect and make a pattern with.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/australian-journal-of-environmental-education/article/bush-kinders-building-young-childrens-relationships-with-the-environment/D242074254F97F824B0E8A876D2D39CB?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark">recent research</a>, we watched children at a park learn about weather and space by lying back, listening to the wind and watching the clouds. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stand-back-and-avoid-saying-be-careful-how-to-help-your-child-take-risks-at-the-park-212969">Stand back and avoid saying 'be careful!': how to help your child take risks at the park</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What role do educators have?</h2>
<p>While bush kinder experiences should be led by children’s curiosity, they also need to be supported by their educator to take appropriate risks and build their resilience. For example, educators can actively encourage children to climb trees as long as they feel safe. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063524">recently published research</a> examined bush kinder educators teaching children about sustainability and the natural world. They do not need specific extra training for this on top of their existing expertise in early education and play-based learning).</p>
<p>For example, at a beach kinder, if the tide is low, rock pools will exposed, children can explore under the water, get their feet wet and measure how deep the water is. The next week, the tide might be high. So children dig, play with shells, roll about and write their name in the sand. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two children play in the sand at a beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561738/original/file-20231127-19-xpm7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561738/original/file-20231127-19-xpm7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561738/original/file-20231127-19-xpm7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561738/original/file-20231127-19-xpm7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561738/original/file-20231127-19-xpm7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561738/original/file-20231127-19-xpm7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561738/original/file-20231127-19-xpm7i4.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">Bush kinders can also be at the beach, where the environment is always changing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-in-purple-long-sleeve-shirt-carrying-baby-in-yellow-and-white-stripe-onesie-t0EfuQ9N5JY">Isaac Quesada/ Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-sand-play-4-tips-from-a-sculptor-195209">How to get the most out of sand play: 4 tips from a sculptor</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Enthusiasm for the natural world</h2>
<p>Bush kinder must be more than taking children to a park occasionally for a walk. </p>
<p>It needs to be a regular part of a daycare or kinder/preschool’s program. The lessons also need to be applied back in the classroom or service. For example, educators can take learning about the weather and create a weather chart. </p>
<p>Teachers of course also need enthusiasm for the natural world. Imagine my excitement during a recent research trip when a seal glided past at a beach kinder and the children and educators screamed excitedly. Children can see the joy that we as adults experience when nature surprises us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217919/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Speldewinde 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>In a bush kinder young children are regularly taken into the natural environment.Chris Speldewinde, Lecturer, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1998642023-02-16T19:05:00Z2023-02-16T19:05:00ZBetter, cheaper childcare is on the horizon in Australia, but 4 key challenges remain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510443/original/file-20230215-28-k247ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C0%2C4859%2C3254&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Hanaoka/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>About 100 early childhood experts are meeting in Canberra today for a <a href="https://ministers.dss.gov.au/media-releases/9711">national summit</a> on children who are five and under.</p>
<p>This is part of the Albanese government’s work to develop an early years strategy to ensure Australian kids “have the best start at life in their critical early years of development”. It is also the latest in a flurry of activity around early childhood education and care.</p>
<p>The federal government has just set up two major inquiries. Last week it established a <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/media-releases/productivity-commission-inquiry-consider-universal-early">Productivity Commission inquiry</a> into early childhood education. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission began its <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-ongoing/childcare-inquiry">inquiry</a> into the cost of childcare last month. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, states are also making massive commitments. The <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/give-your-child-the-best-start-in-life">Victorian</a> and <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/early-childhood-education/early-years-commitment/about-the-early-years-commitment">New South Wales</a> governments have made multibillion-dollar promises to expand preschool for three- and four-year-olds. Former prime minister Julia Gillard is leading a <a href="https://www.royalcommissionecec.sa.gov.au/">royal commission</a> into early education and care in South Australia, with an interim report due in August. </p>
<p>Universal, affordable and high-quality early education for Australian families is on the horizon. But four key challenges remain. </p>
<h2>1. We still have ‘childcare deserts’</h2>
<p>Access to early childhood education and care is not equal in Australia, and depends on where families live. </p>
<p>Regional and rural families are more likely to have poorer access, and many live in “<a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/mitchell-institute/early-learning/childcare-deserts-oases-how-accessible-is-childcare-in-australia">childcare deserts</a>”. In these areas, more than three children vie for every childcare place. About one million Australians live in an area with no access to childcare at all. </p>
<p>It is easier to get a childcare place in high socioeconomic and metropolitan areas, suggesting access is not equitable. We need to address this, as research in <a href="https://ijccep.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40723-015-0012-0">Australia</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731515578882">overseas</a> highlights the importance of early education and care for children’s social and cognitive development, especially for children from <a href="https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/relationship-between-early-childhood-education-and-care-ecec-and-outcomes">disadvantaged backgrounds</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="ykTB1" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ykTB1/9/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>2. Childcare is really expensive</h2>
<p>In recent years, the <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/321382?utm_source=APO+Subscribers&utm_campaign=f9ee7e4111-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_02_08_10_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f9ee7e4111-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=f9ee7e4111&mc_eid=a3a7c3ecef">Coalition government</a> injected significant funds into childcare subsidies. But the cost of early childhood services <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/mitchell-institute/early-learning/assessing-childcare-affordability-in-australia">remains a key issue</a> for many families.</p>
<p>The Albanese government will <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/changes-if-you-get-family-payments?context=41186">increase the subsidy again</a>, as of July 2023. This will ease some of the financial strain. </p>
<p>However, subsidy changes provide only temporary relief, as childcare costs often rise again. The Labor government has also said it will investigate the <a href="https://www.cela.org.au/publications/amplify!-blog/nov-2022/new-federal-government-budget-2022-ecec">feasibility</a> of a 90% subsidy regardless of income, although it is not clear how this will occur or how it will be funded.</p>
<p><iframe id="hY3Xj" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hY3Xj/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>3. Work requirements are not working</h2>
<p>A 2022 <a href="https://www.impacteconomics.com.au/home/education">Impact Economics</a> report showed how the government’s “<a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/activity-level-and-subsidised-care-for-child-care-subsidy?context=41186">activity test</a>” is a major barrier to parents working. </p>
<p>Under the current test, families need to do certain amounts of paid work, such as study, training, volunteering or care, to receive certain hours of childcare subsidies. For example, parents doing less than eight hours of work a fortnight only get 24 hours of subsidised care for the same period. Those doing 48 hours of work get 100 hours of subsidised care. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2018-childcare-package-was-partly-designed-to-help-families-work-more-but-the-benefits-were-too-modest-to-matter-179934">The 2018 childcare package was partly designed to help families work more. But the benefits were too modest to matter</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If there are two parents in a family, the activity test is based on the parent who works the least.</p>
<p>Impact Economics found the activity test was not encouraging people to work. Rather, it found low-income families were less likely to use childcare because of the restriction to hours of care. So the activity test can lock children from disadvantaged backgrounds out of early learning, despite being the group that would <a href="https://data.unicef.org/resources/a-world-ready-to-learn-report/">benefit the most</a>. </p>
<h2>4. Early childhood educators are overworked and not paid enough</h2>
<p>There are also major challenges around retention, pay and professional work conditions for the early education sector.</p>
<p>A 2021 <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A91207">survey</a> by the United Workers Union showed that 73% of educators envisaged leaving the early childhood sector by 2024. Excessive workloads and low pay were the two main reasons cited by more than 4,000 current and former educators who participated in the research.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-canadian-program-that-helps-educators-thrive-not-just-survive-could-help-address-australias-childcare-staff-shortage-193954">How a Canadian program that helps educators 'thrive' not just 'survive' could help address Australia's childcare staff shortage</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Job vacancy rates are at <a href="https://www.nationalskillscommission.gov.au/reports/2022-skills-priority-list-key-findings-report">historically high levels</a> and the lack of qualified staff is a major restraint on increasing access to childcare services. To enhance efforts to attract and retain staff, educators are calling for a <a href="https://www.aeuvic.asn.au/your-job/early-childhood#:%7E:text=Pay%20rise%20for%20Preschool%20Field,replaced%20by%20a%20simpler%20process">pay increase</a> of between 13% and 30% over the next four years. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aeuvic.asn.au/your-job/early-childhood#:%7E:text=Pay%20rise%20for%20Preschool%20Field,replaced%20by%20a%20simpler%20process">Australian Education Union</a> is also negotiating for other changes to the early childhood profession, such as increased participation in professional development and changes to the structure of education and training. </p>
<h2>The good news … and the reality check</h2>
<p>A noticeable feature of the Albanese government’s approach to early learning is a greater emphasis on children’s development and wellbeing.</p>
<p>The summit has an explicit focus on making sure children are “thriving”. Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has stressed how the most significant stages of brain development happen before children turn five. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>By getting it right in the early years of a child’s life, we can help set the foundations for a happy, healthy, and successful future.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This marks a shift in government language, which previously talked about childcare in terms of <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/increased-child-care-support-brought-forward">boosting female workforce participation</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, huge challenges remain in the sector. Addressing them will be a major task for the government if is going to progress beyond summits and strategies to deliver real change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Tham works for the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University who receive funding from Minderoo's Thrive by Five initiative to undertake research into early childhood education and care.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cynthia Leung is affiliated with Parenting and Family Research Alliance. She is an adjunct professor at the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University who receive funding from Minderoo's Thrive by Five initiative to undertake research into early childhood education and care. She received consultancy fees for evaluation of a parent training program from Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Hong Kong.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Hurley works for the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University who receive funding from Minderoo's Thrive by Five initiative to undertake research into early childhood education and care. </span></em></p>About 100 early childhood experts are meeting in Canberra today for a national summit on children who are five and under.Melissa Tham, Research fellow, Victoria UniversityCynthia Leung, Adjunct Professor, Victoria UniversityPeter Hurley, Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1829912022-05-20T12:35:31Z2022-05-20T12:35:31ZHow children are helping to make their families more eco-friendly – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464254/original/file-20220519-5905-fstmoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5200%2C3446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children can influence their families to follow greener lifestyles.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-little-girl-parent-planting-young-649767436">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The UN climate change panel <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC</a> has warned that 2030 is our <a href="https://www.climateone.org/audio/what-2030-climate-deadline-really-means">deadline</a> for halving global carbon emissions to prevent climate catastrophe. Such a stark threat has seen a surge in youth <a href="https://www.unicef.org/stories/young-climate-activists-demand-action-inspire-hope">climate activism</a> across the planet. Millions of young people have sprung into action, <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-young-people-striking-from-school-see-it-for-the-life-threatening-issue-it-is-111159">striking from school</a> and taking to the streets or social media to galvanise action against <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-a-justice-issue-these-6-charts-show-why-170072">climate injustice</a>.</p>
<p>It’s clear that supporting children to care for the natural world from a young age is vital if we are to build an eco-friendly future. And a huge part of children’s environmental learning, or “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F002224377801500409">socialisation</a>”, occurs through observation and role modelling. Learning to <a href="https://novakdjokovicfoundation.org/influence-of-celebrities-childrens-upbringing/">emulate</a> family, teachers, peers, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02685/full">admired celebrities</a> or public figures – and being exposed to nature – shapes how children grow up to treat the environment. </p>
<p>As experts in marketing and consumption, we’ve been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296322003411">researching</a> how children and young people up to 19, across genders and geographies, develop predispositions towards sustainability through socialisation. </p>
<p>Primarily, it’s parents or caregivers who teach their children to conform to society’s environmental norms and expectations. By transmitting their own values or guiding principles, they pass on their beliefs about what behaviour is “acceptable”. Crucially, the way parents talk about sustainability – whether positive or negative – influences how children grow up to think about it themselves.</p>
<p>It’s not just about parents, though. If children see their role models’ genuine concern about or efforts towards cutting <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-food-waste-can-generate-clean-energy-176352">food waste</a>, reusing bags, bottles and cups, and taking <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-transport-is-the-fairest-of-them-all-24806">energy-efficient transport</a>, they’re likely to do the same. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A family walk through a forest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464251/original/file-20220519-11-ozu3ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464251/original/file-20220519-11-ozu3ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464251/original/file-20220519-11-ozu3ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464251/original/file-20220519-11-ozu3ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464251/original/file-20220519-11-ozu3ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464251/original/file-20220519-11-ozu3ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464251/original/file-20220519-11-ozu3ll.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">Introducing children to nature can help them engage with climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-family-walking-trough-park-1995551183">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s more, introducing children to natural landscapes such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/discovering-the-forest-wonders-of-africa-and-the-threats-they-face-179313">forests</a>, the wonders of wild and <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-marine-protected-areas-helping-marine-mammals-and-birds-maybe-but-more-can-be-done-173045">marine life</a>, and the dangers of <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-science-shows-theres-no-safe-limit-heres-how-laws-must-change-167223">pollution</a> from an early age helps them appreciate and care for the environment.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296322003411">research</a> also reflects on how children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.04.008">transmit</a> acquired values, beliefs, norms, knowledge and skills back to their families - potentially altering family behaviour - via the process of “<a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/159670/3/JBR%20paper-14-April-2020%20accepted%20version%20on%2018%20April%202020.pdf">reverse socialisation</a>”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/does-having-children-make-us-care-more-about-the-environment-89875">Does having children make us care more about the environment?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If a child learns from their teacher about the damaging effects of CO₂ emissions, they may ask their families to reduce car use or take eco-friendly <a href="https://www.littleguestcollection.com/en/magazine/eco-friendly-family-holidays-our-complete-record">holidays</a> in local spots rather than overseas. And putting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.01.030">recycling bins</a> in schools may encourage kids to ask parents whether they can introduce them at home. </p>
<p>Now, <a href="https://www.mccain.co.uk/custom/uploads/2020/03/McCain_Nations_Conversations_Report_2020.pdf">brands</a> are beginning to note how children are encouraging their parents to be greener through pushing them to recycle, cycle or scoot short distances, and compost.</p>
<p>Multinational <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2012.671816">companies</a> including <a href="https://us.pg.com/blogs/small-actions-at-home-can-make-a-big-difference-for-our-planet/">Procter and Gamble</a> and <a href="https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/life/culture/inside-h-m/role-models-annie-wu-interview.html">H&M</a> already acknowledge children as key drivers of sustainability by making them the focus of campaigns highlighting their environmental credentials. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mother and child play with Lego on the floor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464256/original/file-20220519-12-1hr894.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464256/original/file-20220519-12-1hr894.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464256/original/file-20220519-12-1hr894.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464256/original/file-20220519-12-1hr894.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464256/original/file-20220519-12-1hr894.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464256/original/file-20220519-12-1hr894.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464256/original/file-20220519-12-1hr894.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">Kids can socialise their caregivers to become more eco-conscious.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-son-playing-lego-on-carpet-1380302906">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Prompted by letters from their main customers – <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54169686">children</a> – <a href="https://www.lego.com/en-gb/sustainability/environment/sustainable-packaging/">The Lego Group</a> is aiming to make all packaging recyclable by 2025 and exploring ways to build its famous bricks without plastic.</p>
<h2>Teaching sustainability</h2>
<p>One of the most important places children pick up ideas about the environment is at school. The UK Department for Education’s recent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems">policy paper</a>, on making education more focused on sustainability, is evidence of the government’s growing concerns around how schools can help children become greener citizens. </p>
<p>But these <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems">policies</a> can only do <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-the-new-sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy-for-schools-in-england-doesnt-match-up-to-what-young-people-actually-want-181966">so much</a>. We don’t know whether teachers will have enough time to engage with extra environmental teaching, given the demands of the existing curriculum. Also, <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-the-new-sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy-for-schools-in-england-doesnt-match-up-to-what-young-people-actually-want-181966">lessons</a> on sustainability aren’t featured across the curriculum, and kids beyond 14 can opt out from subjects like geography and natural history. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Four children play in nature" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464253/original/file-20220519-25-fo65q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464253/original/file-20220519-25-fo65q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464253/original/file-20220519-25-fo65q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464253/original/file-20220519-25-fo65q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464253/original/file-20220519-25-fo65q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464253/original/file-20220519-25-fo65q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464253/original/file-20220519-25-fo65q0.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">Government strategies aim to get kids involved with the natural world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/children-forest-looking-leaves-researcher-together-1384179008">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Alternatively, climate learning can be encouraged on screen through <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031088">virtual reality</a> – providing the opportunity to experience simulated environmental changes due to extreme weather or visualise oceans filled with plastic – or the use of gardening-focused games such as <a href="https://www.groplay.com/partners/eco-schools/gro-garden/">Gro Garden</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.groplay.grorecycling&hl=en_GB&gl=US">Gro Recycling</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowarriors.app">Eco Warriors</a>. And as proposed by the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems">Department for Education</a>, a virtual <a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/11/09/cop-26-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-departments-quest-to-put-climate-change-at-the-heart-of-education/">National Education Nature Park</a>, allowing kids to upload their progress in learning about biodiversity onto digital maps, can help reinforce connections with nature. </p>
<p>It’s clear that getting children involved in sustainability wherever they live will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.001">encourage</a> environmental practices that will feed back to their families, helping to create green traditions that can hopefully last a lifetime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182991/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>In a process called ‘reverse socialisation’, children can help their elders become more green - but eco education is key.Shaheen Hosany, Lecturer in Marketing, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed 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/1376592020-05-20T12:15:32Z2020-05-20T12:15:32ZNapping helps preschoolers unlock their full potential for learning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334377/original/file-20200512-82375-r3k6mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C4947%2C4004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Napping reboots the preschool brain and clears the deck for learning.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/children-napping-on-floor-of-preschool-classroom-royalty-free-image/122399167">Ingram Publishing via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many parents of young children, the highlight of their day is nap time – not for them, but for their little ones. Especially now, with most preschools closed, getting a child to nap is the golden ticket. Not only can it mean uninterrupted work or self-care time for parents, but their unrecognizable tyrants often wake as happy campers after a nap.</p>
<p>Researchers have validated this experience. One study presented <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2011.00962.x">3-year-olds with an unsolvable puzzle</a>, one with a missing piece, either after they napped or after they missed their nap. They found the nap-deprived children showed more negative emotions – sadness, worry and anger – when faced with the puzzle than rested children did.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bvGVrocAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As a cognitive neuroscientist</a>, <a href="https://www.somneurolab.com/">I study sleep</a>. My research shows that naps help young children regulate their emotions and solidify memories that accumulate so quickly at this age. </p>
<h2>Emotional sensitivity</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I recently demonstrated that nap-deprived preschoolers not only showed more negative emotions, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12411">paid closer attention to the emotions around them</a> than rested children did. </p>
<p>We presented young children with pairs of faces on a computer screen, a neutral face and an emotional face – either happy or angry. Those faces were then removed to reveal a star hiding under one of them. The children were asked to identify which side of the screen the star was on by pressing a button.</p>
<figure>
<img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1041/XL9y2g-1.gif?1589548576" width="100%">
<figcaption><span class="caption">Where is the star?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This task measures whether a child is paying special attention to emotion stimuli or not. If a child is biased toward the emotional face, she will be quicker to press the button when the star is behind the emotional face than when it is behind the neutral face. </p>
<p>We found nap-deprived children were biased toward the emotional faces, responding 22 milliseconds faster than if they were rested. After a nap, however, children showed no bias. They responded equally whether the star was behind an emotional or neutral face. So a child who doesn’t nap is quicker to respond to emotional stimuli in his environment.</p>
<h2>A growing preschool agenda</h2>
<p>Although these results come as no surprise to parents, it is important to provide scientific backing of the nap benefit.</p>
<p>Most preschools offer a nap opportunity. However, the length of this period <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/03/15/time-may-be-up-for-naps-in-pre-k-class/b6149643-6e7c-4997-88ff-588c0f740829/">has been shortened in recent years</a> because studies have found a preschool education not only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12411">improves school readiness</a> but is also associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532480XADS0601_05">long-term academic performance</a> and even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.100.2.188">health outcomes</a> such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.12.037">reduced obesity</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1248429">improved cardiovascular health</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334397/original/file-20200512-82361-hg5vsd.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rested preschoolers have a remarkable capacity for learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/pre-school-children-royalty-free-image/157720194">FatCamera via Getty images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To capitalize on the advantages of preschool during this fertile learning period, regulatory agencies have added expectations such as <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tools-assess-sel-in-schools-susanne-a-denham">socio-emotional curriculum</a> and <a href="https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/oral-health/article/oral-health-policies-procedures-standards">even dental hygiene</a> to the preschool day. Sleep is often viewed as optional and is an easy target to cut when making room for more educational opportunities.</p>
<p>However, naps make it possible to reach these early education goals. Beyond the emotional regulation payoff, naps also provide a direct benefit to learning. Research shows when preschool children were read storybooks introducing new words, the children who napped after hearing the stories <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00184">learned more of the new words</a> than the children who did not nap. Following learning opportunities with a nap enhances memory.</p>
<h2>Storing memories</h2>
<p>The reason napping enhances learning has to do with the way brains process new information. </p>
<p>Research in rodents suggests that while we sleep, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/s0896-6273(02)01096-6">memories are replayed</a>. Just as if you wanted to learn all the words to your favorite movie scene, you might replay that scene repeatedly, sleep is a time to replay memories without interference from ongoing learning. Furthermore, the research suggests <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107581">memories are replayed in fast-forward</a> during sleep, allowing them to be replayed repeatedly during the night.</p>
<p>This replay <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2010.01.006">happens in the hippocampus</a>, an area of the brain where memories are processed in the short term. As memories are replayed in the hippocampus, they are moved (or copied) to unique areas of the cortex, making them more stable and easier to retrieve later. In the cortex, the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00426-011-0335-6">memories can be sorted and stored with other similar memories</a>. </p>
<p>Imagine the hippocampus as your desk at the end of the day, with stacks of papers and mail from different sources. Sleep moves these “papers” to the cortex, which is much more like a filing cabinet. Not only is there more space, but now when you want to find something, you can do so more quickly because of its organization.</p>
<p>In children, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.009">the hippocampus is less mature</a> – think of it as a smaller desk – so fewer memories can be held before there is catastrophic interference. This explains why naps are critical at this young age, and memories must be more frequently moved to the filing drawers. </p>
<h2>Naps in the time of coronavirus</h2>
<p>To parents still learning to implement a nap time, a few pointers:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Maintain a consistent pre-nap routine. After lunch, give your child time to unwind, then join them in a quiet activity such as reading.</p></li>
<li><p>Maintain a consistent overnight sleep schedule. Keeping bedtime and wake time within a stable 30-minute window day to day will allow for an appropriate and predictable amount of sleep pressure to build up.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are out of the nap routine, you may need to retrain your child to nap consistently. Stay with them as they fall asleep (soothing with back rubbing) initially, and leave the room earlier and earlier over the following days.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Not only is napping key to early education objectives, it is central to the emotional and cognitive development of young children. And it goes without saying, whether in school or at home, turning unrecognizable tyrants into happy campers is good for everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Spencer receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01 AG040133; R01 HL111695; R21 HD094758) and the National Science Foundation (BCS 1749280).</span></em></p>Research shows napping helps young children learn, as well as enhancing their emotional well-being.Rebecca Spencer, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/929272018-03-11T19:04:57Z2018-03-11T19:04:57ZFive things parents can do every day to help develop STEM skills from a young age<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209623/original/file-20180308-30958-13wnaeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Encourage children to think about where they are in space: if they're looking at a map of the zoo, ask them where they are in relation to the kangaroos or lions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Educators and researchers agree early literacy experiences are important for children’s cognitive and language development. For the past 30 years there has been a strong movement to foster children’s literacy skills. This has resulted in an abundance of information on how parents can do this by reading books, singing songs and nursery rhymes, playing word games and noticing print. </p>
<p>This is a good thing and should continue, given the importance of early literacy skills in learning to read, and how this leads to later success in school and life. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/science-in-the-home-boosts-childrens-academic-success-86668">Science in the home boosts children's academic success</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But in addition to early literacy skills, we should also be promoting early STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills. Early childhood is the natural starting point for STEM learning, as young children are curious and want to explore their environments. </p>
<p>Children are very capable STEM learners, and their knowledge and skills are often greatly underestimated by educators and parents. </p>
<h2>1. Encourage children to notice things</h2>
<p>Notice things in your environment such as changes in the seasons, new buds on plants, or the way things move in the wind. Children are often more observant than adults, especially when we are busy thinking about work and all the other things we need to do. Share your observations with your children and use the language associated with observations, such as noticing and observing. </p>
<p><a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0034654308325899">Observation is the most fundamental scientific process</a>. We form hypotheses and gather data from observations. With practice, children can move from noticing general features to more detailed or scientific features. </p>
<h2>2. Encourage children to describe things they see and do</h2>
<p>Ask children to describe the attributes or features of things they see and do. When your child sees a ladybug, ask them to describe it – what colour, shape and size is it? </p>
<p>Similarly, when your child is building something, ask them to describe what they are doing (or did). You can restate what they describe and extend on their words, increasing their vocabulary and confidence in using STEM language. </p>
<p>Only children who have had <a href="http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_080081.pdf">certain types of language socialisation</a> are likely to choose to study or learn STEM in later life. Use words like predict, experiment and measure.</p>
<h2>3. Ask ‘what’ rather than ‘why’ questions</h2>
<p>Ask questions that focus on what your child can see or do, <a href="http://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/STEMGuide.pdf">rather than why</a>. This will allow your child to confidently answer questions and experience success. “What is happening to the bubbles?” is much easier for them to respond to than “Why do bubbles stick together?”, and promotes further discussion between you and your child. </p>
<p>We want to extend conversations and learning, not shut it down with questions that children (and often parents) can’t answer. It’s fine to later find out why bubbles stick together or any other why question, but in the first instance, ask questions children can answer.</p>
<h2>4. Encourage children to count using one-to-one correspondence</h2>
<p>Children need to be able to do more than count. Children need to know <a href="http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/P2.pdf">one-to-one correspondence</a>: that “one” equals one object, “two” equals two objects, “three” equals three objects, and so on. </p>
<p>Parents can easily develop this skill by asking children to, for example, collect five pegs for the washing, or two eggs for the cake mixture. Or by asking how many bags of shopping there are or how many letters are in the mailbox. </p>
<p>Board games are great for helping children understand one-to-one correspondence – especially when they move their counter along the board according to the number rolled or spun. Think back to arguments you may have had over where Monopoly tokens were supposed to be! </p>
<h2>5. Encourage children to think about space around them</h2>
<p>Encourage children to think about where they are in space. If they are looking at a map of the zoo, ask them where they are in relation to the kangaroos or lions. When driving to swimming lessons, ask them to give directions on how to get there. </p>
<p>Or, ask them to remember landmarks when driving somewhere you go regularly, like grandma’s place. Could your child recognise your house from a picture taken from the road, can they describe where their bedroom is in relation to the kitchen. <a href="http://www.tedderchemistry.com/uploads/2/7/8/8/2788620/stem_accomplish_vs_dose.pdf">Research</a> has shown clear links between spatial skills and STEM skills.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blocks-are-still-the-best-present-you-can-buy-children-for-christmas-87171">Blocks are still the best present you can buy children for Christmas</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Children can develop complex understandings about the world around them with the <a href="http://ecstem.uchicago.edu/">right guidance from adults</a>. Early STEM experiences can set children up for later STEM learning. In line with 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 Years Learning Framework </a>, we want children to be confident and involved learners. We need children to feel that they can “do” STEM, as well as understand and speak the language of STEM. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209625/original/file-20180308-30965-1i55wk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209625/original/file-20180308-30965-1i55wk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209625/original/file-20180308-30965-1i55wk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209625/original/file-20180308-30965-1i55wk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209625/original/file-20180308-30965-1i55wk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209625/original/file-20180308-30965-1i55wk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209625/original/file-20180308-30965-1i55wk6.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 teach their child that ‘one’ means one object by asking them to, for example, collect two eggs for the cake mixture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unlike literacy materials, there are still very <a href="http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/jgcc_stemstartsearly_final.pdf">few resources available for parents </a>on how to develop children’s early STEM skills. But there are many opportunities in everyday life for parents to develop these skills – they simply need to be made aware of them. </p>
<p>Parents don’t need to buy expensive toys, science kits or workbooks for children to fill in. Nor do parents need to have degrees in STEM to teach their children. </p>
<p>Waiting for children to begin school to learn about STEM is too late, just as waiting for children to start school to learn about reading. Parents can help their children be capable and confident STEM learners from a young age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92927/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kym Simoncini is part of the Early Learning STEM Australia project funded by the Australian Government. </span></em></p>Early STEM skills are as important as early literacy skills. Parents can help their preschoolers develop STEM skills by working these simple techniques into everyday activities.Kym Simoncini, Assistant Professor in Early Childhood and Primary Education, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/837062017-09-10T19:41:12Z2017-09-10T19:41:12ZEarly learning report card: Australia is improving rapidly, but there’s more work to do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185210/original/file-20170908-9585-ngc2ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia still lags behind comparable OECD countries in the participation of younger children – particularly three year olds. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Photographee.eu</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Quality early education can set a child up for life, allowing them to develop to their full potential. High quality and affordable early learning opportunities need to be a reality for all children in Australia. </p>
<p>A new report from the <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/everyonebenefits/pages/73/attachments/original/1504689599/ELEB-Report-web.pdf?1504689599">Early Learning Everyone Benefits campaign</a> (ELEB) tracks progress across a range of different early childhood education and care (ECEC) measures.</p>
<p>It shows that while the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/universal-access-early-childhood-education">National Partnership on Universal Access to Early Education</a> has driven significant rises in preschool participation in the year before full time school, Australia still lags behind comparable OECD countries in the participation of younger children – particularly three year olds. </p>
<p>It also highlights the persistent correlation between socioeconomic status and early childhood outcomes in Australia, as well as the diversity and fragmented nature of our early childhood sector.</p>
<h2>Child development</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/">Research</a> shows a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and developmental vulnerability at the start of school. </p>
<p>In 2015, one in five children started school developmentally vulnerable. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more than twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable at the start of school, and this number increases to two in five for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The effect of disadvantage is evident across all areas of development, and is not changing over time. </p>
<p>This gap between the most advantaged and least advantaged children, in both learning and well-being, creates significant challenges for an education system already struggling to reduce the gap in achievement. </p>
<h2>Participation</h2>
<p>The ELEB report shows the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/universal-access-early-childhood-education">National Partnership on Universal Access to Early Education</a> has driven significant rises in preschool participation in the year before full-time school. In 2015, 91% of children participated in 15 hours per week, which is within reach of the 95% target. All states and territories, except New South Wales, met the target in 2015. </p>
<hr>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NyHJy/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>
<hr>
<p>However, it shows Australia still lags behind comparable OECD countries in the participation of younger children – particularly three-year-olds. Only 89% of four- year-olds, 62% of three-year-olds and 35% of Australian children aged birth to two participated in early childhood education and care in 2015. </p>
<p>We continue to rank <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/education-at-a-glance-19991487.htm">below the OECD average</a> for the participation of three-year-olds and four-year-olds, although we have had the fastest growth of any OECD country over the past decade. </p>
<hr>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9Y58X/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="1000"></iframe>
<hr>
<p>The low rate of participation among three year olds in Australia is of particular concern. <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/two-years-preschool/">Research</a> indicates that two years of a high-quality preschool program delivers better outcomes than one year, especially for children who are developmentally vulnerable.</p>
<h2>Diversity, complexity and quality improvement</h2>
<p>The Australian ECEC sector is complex, with a diverse mix of funding streams (all levels of government and families contribute), provider types (for profit, not-for-profit, government, community managed and private) and delivery settings (long day care, family day care, sessional preschool and school-based). </p>
<p>There are strengths to this diversity, but it can create challenges for coherent policy. State and territory governments share responsibility for early childhood education with the federal government. Early education systems across each state and territory are varied and have differing proportions of community, private and state education department providers. </p>
<p>Although the <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a> (NQF) has laid a solid foundation on which to build quality in the sector, the process of assessing all early learning and care providers has taken time. At <a href="http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/Reports/2017/NQF_Snapshot_Q1_2017.PDF">the end of March 2017</a>, 88% of services had been assessed, with 73% “meeting” or “above” the National Quality Standard. </p>
<p>In addition, competing policy objectives continue to create complexity for policy implementation. For example, the federal government’s new <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/ChildCarePackage">Jobs for Families Child Care Package</a>, centred on reform of the childcare subsidy scheme, has a focus on parents’ workforce participation. But the NQF focuses on improving learning outcomes, and the National Partnership Agreement focuses on building participation. </p>
<p>Unaligned policy objectives can result in tensions, such as between raising standards of care and ensuring childcare is affordable. They can also deliver adverse policy outcomes: for example, when eligibility requirements for funding reduce access to early learning.</p>
<h2>Investment</h2>
<p>Australian governments are recognising the benefits of early childhood education, which is reflected in their investment. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2017/child-care-education-and-training/early-childhood-education-and-care">Total Commonwealth, state and territory government expenditure</a> on ECEC services was $9.1 billion in 2015–16, compared with $8.8 billion in 2014–15. Federal Government spending on early childhood services has grown rapidly over the past decade, from $2.9 billion in 2006–07 to $7.4 billion in 2015–16.</p>
<hr>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Pe458/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>
<hr>
<p>State and territory government spending on early childhood services has also seen an upwards trend. However, it should be noted this has included funding received from the federal government through the National Partnership Agreement. </p>
<p>Western Australia and South Australia spend the greatest proportion of total budget expenditure on early childhood services. New South Wales spends the lowest.</p>
<p>When it comes to per-child spending on early childhood services, the Northern Territory spends the most, at $1,116 per child aged birth to 12 years in 2015-16. Again, New South Wales spends the least, at $246 per child.</p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>While Australia has lagged behind comparable countries over recent decades, the National Partnership Agreement has been a significant turning point. This long-overdue investment from governments to provide all Australian children with access to 600 hours of preschool education in the year before school has paid off enormously. It also shows what can be achieved when federal, state and territory governments work together. </p>
<p>However, there is more to do. Now is the time not only to continue this commitment, but to extend that access to high-quality, age-appropriate early education programs for three-year-olds.</p>
<p>We need a system that can deliver two years of quality preschool programs, as well as access for all Australian children during their crucial first five years of early development - wherever they live and whatever their family circumstances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Pilcher 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>Despite good progress in recent years, there is still more to do, including improving access to early childhood education for three-year-olds.Sarah Pilcher, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/795382017-07-05T22:42:33Z2017-07-05T22:42:33Z‘Screen time’ is about more than setting limits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176447/original/file-20170630-8225-1jd0hdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much is too much screen time for kids?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-brother-sister-watching-cartoons-on-472962424?src=-8M1vrXec2Haov1oCsGriQ-1-8">Dragon Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In today’s media-rich world (or media-saturated, depending on your view), one rarely has to look far to find parents concerned about the ways that kids engage with technology. Recently, managing “screen time” seems to be on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/19/why-a-colorado-dad-is-fighting-to-make-smartphones-for-preteens-illegal/">everyone’s</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/can-they-unplug-a-school-principal-will-pay-students-to-forgo-screentime-this-summer/2017/06/09/b22decd4-4c88-11e7-bc1b-fddbd8359dee_story.html">mind</a> – particularly during these summer months when kids find themselves with more time on their hands.</p>
<p>As someone who has spent the majority of my career studying <a href="http://www.mitpress.mit.edu/books/framing-internet-safety">kids and safety online</a>, I get a lot of questions from parents about screen time. My response? There’s a lot more to digital media consumption than expert advice about hourly limits. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8NcPA/4/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="328"></iframe>
<h2>Where ‘screen time’ comes from</h2>
<p>The idea of “screen time” initially gained traction in 1999, when the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that parents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-1753">avoid smartphone, tablet, computer and TV use for children under two</a> and limit such use to no more than two hours for children over two, adding hours as kids mature. While the American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-screen-time-is-good-for-kids-53780">relaxed these guidelines</a> somewhat in 2016 (expanding their policies to include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2592">positive digital media use</a> and suggest family media plans), the <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66927/1/Policy%20Brief%2017-%20Families%20%20Screen%20Time.pdf">core idea of screen time remains largely unchanged</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As early as 1984, even the Berenstains had something to say about screen time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/12152/the-berenstain-bears-and-too-much-tv-by-stan-and-jan-berenstain-illustrated-by-the-authors/9780394865706/">Penguin Random House</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the allure of easy-to-follow rules that address parental concerns, screen time recommendations have drawn <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66927/1/Policy%20Brief%2017-%20Families%20%20Screen%20Time.pdf">increasing criticism</a> from a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/jan/06/screen-time-guidelines-need-to-be-built-on-evidence-not-hype">wide range of experts</a>.</p>
<p>In the academic world, the science supporting screen time recommendations has major limitations. Lab-based studies don’t always translate to the complexities of real life. More often than not, screen time studies demonstrate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615596788">connections between problems with well-being and media use</a>; they don’t demonstrate that one causes the other. For example, while research suggests that there’s a connection between screen time and childhood obesity, that could just mean that kids who are less active are more likely to be obese and spend more time in front of screens. The research does not suggest that screen time causes obesity.</p>
<h2>Screen time today</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One way to limit kids’ screen time: apps that lock their internet usage after a certain amount of time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.unglue.com/press/">unGlue</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As our media practices have changed, and adults themselves have begun to spend more of their time online, the idea of screen time has not quite kept up with the times. The world is increasingly saturated with all kinds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/textbooks-in-the-digital-world-78299">positive, interactive media experiences</a> – for children and adults alike. Ideas about limiting screen time assume all screen experiences are equally negative for kids and that they’re replacing positive offline activities.</p>
<p>Yet, we know that kids do all kinds of positive things with digital media, often in ways that <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/hanging-out-messing-around-and-geeking-out">support and are supported by “real life” activities</a> – in ways similar to adults. They go online to hang out with friends, catch up on events and seek out entertainment and information, just like anyone else.</p>
<p>In my own work, I’ve argued that some of the problems that parents have with kids and technology are, in fact, not about technology at all. With each generation, kids have been <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2011.638173">increasingly restricted</a> from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/living/feat-maryland-free-range-parenting-family-under-investigation-again/index.html">going outside on their own</a>. With fewer private spaces to be a kid, we shouldn’t be surprised when kids turn to social media apps to hang out and socialize – and get upset when we stop them.</p>
<p>What looks like a “waste of time” or an “addiction” is often just <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242101479_Questioning_the_Generational_Divide_Technological_Exoticism_and_Adult_Constructions_of_Online_Youth_Identity">everyday hanging out</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Should kids be allowed outside – away from their devices – alone? The Meitiv family of Silver Spring, Maryland, faced an investigation after allowing their children to play in a local park unsupervised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what should parents do?</h2>
<p>How, then, can parents get a handle on their children’s media use? As always, <a href="https://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf">it’s complicated</a> – and no expert advice should trump the real, everyday experiences that parents have with their own children. That said, there are some general guidelines that can help.</p>
<p>First, parents should get away from ideas about time and focus more on the <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mediapolicyproject/2016/08/05/the-content-and-context-of-screen-use-is-more-important-than-the-amount-of-screen-time/">content, context and connections</a> provided by different kinds of engagement with media. There’s a world of difference between spending a few hours playing games with close friends online and spending a few hours interacting with hate groups in an online forum. </p>
<p>Second, parents should ask <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2016/10/21/new-screen-time-rules-from-the-american-academy-of-pediatrics/">real questions concerning the well-being of their children</a>, independent of their media use. Are your children healthy, socially engaged, doing well in school and generally happy? If so, there’s probably no need to enforce hard restrictions on technology. If not, it’s best not to rush to conclusions about the inherent evils of technology. Have a conversation with kids about what they’re doing and what they think the rules should be. Unilaterally cutting kids off without understanding their problems can often <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/warning-screen-time-rules-can-backfire_us_5925d374e4b090bac9d46b07">make things worse</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, parents should remember that there’s no substitute for a meaningful, supportive relationship between parents and children. With a stable, trusting relationship, even negative experiences online can become positive learning experiences. In my many years of working with families, I’ve learned that if you already care enough to be worried about digital media, you’re probably already “doing enough” to protect your kids.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.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">Monitoring children’s media consumption is important, but there’s no substitute for quality family time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/3995036506/">Nathan Rupert</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Fisk, Ph.D. receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>For decades, parents have fretted over ‘screen time,’ limiting the hours their children spend looking at a screen. But as times change, so does media… and how parents should (or shouldn’t) regulate it.Nathan Fisk, Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity Education, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/719292017-02-16T03:21:43Z2017-02-16T03:21:43ZCombatting stereotypes: How to talk to your children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156997/original/image-20170215-27430-1n217r2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C12%2C4243%2C2816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children around the world are susceptible to stereotypes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/9129092368">World Bank Photo Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How can modern parents raise the next generation to be free from corrosive gender and racial stereotypes? By the time children start elementary school, gender and race shape their lives in many ways that parents might want to prevent. As early as first grade, <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6323/389">girls are less likely than boys</a> to think members of their own gender are “really, really smart.” And by just age three, white children in the United States implicitly endorse stereotypes that <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797612463081">African-American faces are angrier than white faces</a>.</p>
<p>These stereotypes go deeper than children’s beliefs – they can also shape a child’s behavior. By age six, girls are less likely than boys to choose activities that seem to require them to be <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6323/389">really smart</a>, which could contribute to the development of <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvydoctorates/">long-term gender differences in science and math achievement</a>.</p>
<p>Why do stereotypes develop in such young children? As a professor of early cognitive and social development, I have seen my research reveal how surprisingly subtle features of language contribute to a child’s tendency to view the world through the lens of social stereotypes.</p>
<h2>The problem of generalization</h2>
<p>Many parents try to prevent the development of stereotypes in children by avoiding saying things like, “boys are good at math,” or “girls cannot be leaders.” Instead, parents might take care to say things that are positive, like “girls can be anything they want.” </p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/34/13526.short">our research</a> has found that, to the developing mind, even these positive statements can have negative consequences.</p>
<p>For young children, how we speak is often more important than what we say. Generalizations, even if they say only things that are positive or neutral, such as “Girls can be anything they want,” “Hispanics live in the Bronx” or “Muslims eat different foods,” communicate that we can tell what someone is like just by knowing her gender, ethnicity or religion. </p>
<p>In our research, published in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12714/full">Child Development</a>, we found that hearing generalizations led children as young as two years old to assume that groups mark stable and important differences between individual people.</p>
<p>In this study, children were introduced to a new, made-up way of categorizing people: “Zarpies.” If they only heard statements about specific individuals, (e.g., “These Zarpies whisper when they talk”), children continued to treat the people as individuals, even though they were all marked by the same label and wore similar clothes. But if they heard the same information as a generalization (e.g., “Zarpies whisper when they talk”), they started to think that “Zarpies” are very different from everyone else. Hearing generalizations led children to think that being a member of the group determined what the members would be like.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56d88d0c0442624b79f94337/t/582f724915d5db9bb606a9ab/1479504460875/Rhodes+et+al.+Developmental+Science.pdf">another recent study</a>, we found that hearing these types of generalizations – even if none of them was negative – led five-year-old children to share fewer resources (in this case, colorful stickers) with members outside their own social group.</p>
<p>These findings show that hearing generalizations, even positive or neutral ones, contributes to the tendency to view the world through the lens of social stereotypes. It is the form of the sentence, not exactly what it says, that matters to young children.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156995/original/image-20170215-27421-13c7tvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Studies show that repeatedly hearing generalizing language can negatively impact children’s behavior toward different social groups.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofed/9606226839">Department of Education</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From groups to individuals</h2>
<p>Our research means that generalizations are problematic even if children do not understand them. </p>
<p>If a young child overhears, “Muslims are terrorists,” the child might not know what it means to be a Muslim or a terrorist. But the child can still learn something problematic – that Muslims, whoever they are, are a distinct kind of person. That it is possible to make assumptions about what someone is like just by knowing if they are Muslim or not.</p>
<p>Language that uses specifics – instead of making general claims – avoids these problems. Sentences like, “Her family is Hispanic and lives in the Bronx,” “This Muslim family eats different foods,” “Those girls are great at math,” “You can be anything you want,” all avoid making general claims about groups. </p>
<p>Using specific language can also teach children to challenge their own and others’ generalizations. My three-year-old recently announced that “Boys play guitar,” despite knowing many female guitar players. This troubled me, not because it matters very much what he thinks about guitar playing, but because this way of talking means that he is starting to think that gender determines what a person can do. </p>
<p>But there is a very easy and natural way to respond to statements like these, which <a href="https://mindmodeling.org/cogsci2016/papers/0272/paper0272.pdf">our research</a> suggests reduces stereotyping. Simply say, “Oh? Who are you thinking of? Who did you see play the guitar?” Children usually have someone in mind. “Yes, that man at the restaurant played the guitar tonight. And yes, so does Grandpa.” This response guides children to think in terms of individuals, instead of groups. </p>
<p>This approach works for more sensitive generalizations too – things a child might say, like “Big boys are mean,” or “Muslims wear funny clothes.” Parents can ask children who they are thinking of and discuss whatever specific incident they have in mind. Sometimes children speak this way because they are testing out whether drawing a generalization is sensible. By bringing them back to the specific incident, we communicate to them that it is not.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156989/original/image-20170215-27416-14nqn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers and parents both influence the way children think about groups and individuals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofed/14100759446/in/album-72157644133329688/">Department of Education</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Every interaction counts</h2>
<p>How much can this small change in language really matter? Parents, teachers and other caring adults cannot control everything that children hear, and exposure to explicitly racist, sexist or xenophobic ideas can also influence a child’s view of societal norms and values.</p>
<p>But children develop their sense of the world through minute-by-minute conversations with important adults in their lives. These adults have powerful platforms with their children. As parents and caregivers, we can use our language carefully to help children learn to view themselves and others as individuals, free to choose their own paths. With our language, we can help children develop habits of mind that challenge, rather than endorse, stereotyped views of the people around us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marjorie Rhodes receives funding from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development and the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>For young children, how we speak is often more important than what we say. Even ‘positive’ generalizations can lead children to adopt negative stereotypes.Marjorie Rhodes, Associate Professor of Psychology, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/729612017-02-15T01:35:58Z2017-02-15T01:35:58ZClosing the Gap is failing and needs a radical overhaul<p>Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull presented the ninth annual <a href="http://closingthegap.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/ctg-report-2017.pdf">Closing the Gap report</a> to parliament this week. In keeping with previous reports, it outlined limited progress on key indicators of Indigenous disadvantage established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2008. </p>
<p>These are measured in terms of a “gap” between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians across priority areas of health, education and employment. </p>
<p>This year’s report is important because four of the seven targets (child mortality, school attendance, employment outcomes, and reading, writing and numeracy) were set to be achieved by 2018. With the target of having all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities accessing early childhood education by 2013 already missed, key government actors will be concentrating on the real prospect of further failures in 2018.</p>
<p>There is no established format for the Closing the Gap report. Each successive report has presented its own narrative of Indigenous affairs, reflecting the priorities of the government of the day.</p>
<p>This year’s is twice the length of the 2016 report, and three times longer than Abbott’s 36-pager in 2015. The latest one presents more useful analysis and information about the data sources, and differentiates performance across regions and jurisdictions. </p>
<p>Turnbull’s emphasised narrative is one of “local solutions”, “empowerment” and “ambitious reform”. He promises to “overhaul” the operation of Indigenous affairs. He repeats the advice from Indigenous educator Chris Sarra that governments should “do things with us, not to us”. Yet Turnbull’s vision is being tested in practice.</p>
<h2>Negatives, but also positives</h2>
<p>The data themselves are grim. Only one of the seven targets - the rate of attaining year 12 schooling - <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-gap-of-indigenous-disadvantage-is-being-closed-too-slowly-report-72963">remains on track to be achieved</a>. </p>
<p>The headline target of closing the gap in life expectancy within a generation has not moved at all. Improvements in Indigenous health outcomes have been outpaced by improvements in the health of non-Indigenous Australians. The earlier improvements in child mortality rates have tailed off, indicating that the goal of halving the gap by 2018 will be harder to achieve than hoped. </p>
<p>The gap in the employment rate has worsened, and literacy and numeracy results for school children have remained inconsistent across age cohorts and jurisdictions. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s additional target focussing on school attendance rates has not improved at all since 2014. </p>
<p>In all cases, remote communities fare worst. This is particularly the case in education and employment rates, but preschool attendance and antenatal care are also not accessed at optimum levels in urban and regional centres.</p>
<p>It is easy to focus on the negatives of missed targets and limited progress, but it should be remembered that Indigenous affairs is an area of enormous complexity and diversity. Significant improvements have also been made over time, <a href="http://malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/closing-the-gap-report-statement-to-parliament">as Turnbull said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If we look at the long-term intergenerational trends, we see that Indigenous life expectancy is increasing, babies are being born healthier, more people are studying and gaining post-school qualifications and those adults are participating in work. These are achievements that families, elders and communities can be proud of.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The report also points to particular successes in specific policies. These include efforts to train community workers to prepare for the roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a substantial drop in tobacco smoking rates and the high take-up of Medicare health assessments.</p>
<h2>Failures in Indigenous consultation</h2>
<p>The annual reporting exercise is losing its salience as an exercise in accountability. The statement is noticeably partisan, focusing on the government’s own policies and failing to acknowledge genuine differences of opinion on key issues such as constitutional recognition, income management and cashless welfare, and township leasing. </p>
<p>The government’s own well-publicised failures, such as the chaotic roll-out of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) as a key source of funding for Indigenous-specific services, are not mentioned at all. Nor is the harmful impact of the punitive work-for-the-dole Community Development Programme in remote communities. </p>
<p>The government’s reluctance to include measures of issues of particular concern to Indigenous communities, such as incarceration rates and family violence, is also disappointing. </p>
<p>There is little acknowledgement of the <a href="http://nationalcongress.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CongressFactSheet.pdf">National Congress of Australia’s First People</a> - a body representing views in Indigenous affairs. The government has largely ignored its <a href="http://nationalcongress.com.au/about-us/redfern-statement/">Redfern Statement</a>, which was prepared by 55 non-government Indigenous organisations, presented to government in July 2016 and again this week.</p>
<p>Instead, the government continues to favour the advice of its own hand-picked Indigenous Advisory Council – albeit refreshed with <a href="https://ministers.dpmc.gov.au/scullion/2017/new-appointments-prime-minister%E2%80%99s-indigenous-advisory-council">new appointments</a> replacing those first nominated by Tony Abbott during his prime ministerial term. </p>
<p>It also favours the <a href="http://empoweredcommunities.org.au/">Empowered Communities</a> model developed by Noel Pearson. This has a strong focus on economic development and individual responsibility, arguably at the expense of <a href="http://caepr.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/Publications/topical/TopicalIssue1-2015(31Aug15).pdf">genuine participation</a>.</p>
<p>Turnbull’s government is promising “enablement” of Indigenous organisations through flexible, outcome-based funding schemes, primarily through the problematic Indigenous Advancement Strategy. For the many Aboriginal community-based organisations that lost funding and ceased operations following the 2014 budget, this comes too late. </p>
<p>The funding cut from Indigenous affairs under the Abbott government has not been restored, and substantial amounts continue to go to mainstream city-based organisations with little Indigenous input. </p>
<p>As always, it is important to remember the task of improving Indigenous lives is not uniquely a Commonwealth responsibility. State and territory governments deliver services that matter in health, education and criminal justice. Turnbull invited premiers and chief ministers to parliament for the speech and promised COAG would work on a new agenda in the next year. It is certainly time for a new approach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diana Perche 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 report focus on the government’s own policies fails to acknowledge genuine differences of opinion on key issues such as constitutional recognition and income management.Diana Perche, Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/693272016-12-13T03:54:58Z2016-12-13T03:54:58ZWhy kids who have trouble behaving in preschool fall behind<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149715/original/image-20161212-26074-1tlwtbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What does it take for kids to be ready for school?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/holtsman/3931735368/in/photolist-6ZraWQ-5iriPH-c4vDYA-6Qcv7w-eFtxyP-2WMgSU-68FbNw-9LnuRn-KfohR-g8u7g-gVknE-9nfaAn-9nidz9-dnooaQ-7PPHk-bFpDgx-8aVJx9-NVVB8-68BEp2-6QdjF1-eFBNkE-3aeYqH-68G1EG-6xajYr-5xHmNJ-2FwkyD-68FPtq-6p3b11-eFvCTP-CubFn-6xajHT-5em8tF-7q399g-NVkqN-NVk1m-9nidbW-pmogW-68BGdc-7i8PvZ-7qKhfB-KfoAR-8xRUKE-68Cc4V-4SoSPQ-eFvFKe-68Faa7-5gzBqn-71jsT7-c4vMiS-6p3aQb">Melanie</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The landscape of early schooling is drastically changing. More and more children are attending school at an earlier age. At the same time, early childhood and kindergarten programs are increasing focus on <a href="http://ero.sagepub.com/content/2/1/2332858415616358">academic</a> content. </p>
<p>But are these children ready for school?</p>
<p>Most <a href="https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-1f12239a-5447-3e9e-9c5e-6670b56e9d32">parents</a> and <a href="http://ero.sagepub.com/content/2/1/2332858415616358">teachers</a> will tell you that children’s abilities to “self-regulate” – that is, follow directions, pay attention, sit still and minimize disruptive behaviors – are among the most important skills necessary. </p>
<p>And with good reason: Such early behaviors <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261327622_Social_skills_and_problem_behaviors_as_mediators_of_the_relationship_between_behavioral_self-regulation_and_academic_achievement">predict academic success</a> throughout school and even later educational attainment. Some preschool-age children with self-regulation difficulties <a href="https://bangordailynews.com/2016/09/15/news/state/maine-officials-concerned-about-preschool-expulsions/?ref=relatedBox">are even expelled</a> from preschool.</p>
<p>We are researchers who evaluate what skills prepare children to succeed in school. The problem that our work has identified is that most children are still learning to manage their own behavior at the start of kindergarten. Many are simply not ready for the behavioral demands of kindergarten. And some are already two years behind their peers at kindergarten entry.</p>
<h2>Here’s how we found out</h2>
<p>To look at differences in how children develop self-regulation, we tested nearly 1,400 children from diverse backgrounds. Children were tested multiple times in preschool, from preschool to kindergarten, and preschool into first grade. </p>
<p>We used a game-like assessment called the <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2013/10/schoolyard_games_predict_academic_success_researcher_says.html">“Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders”</a> task to measure children’s developing self-regulation skills. </p>
<p>Every time the experimenter said “touch your head,” the child had to remember to touch her toes instead, and when told to “touch your toes,” the child had to touch her head. </p>
<p>Sounds easy? Perhaps for the first part. The assessment became a lot harder as we added shoulders and knees. This task required children to engage their ability to remember the rules, do a different action than what the experimenter said, and keep focused throughout the task.</p>
<h2>Different levels of self-regulation</h2>
<p>We found that children had three different patterns of development: Some children entered preschool already demonstrating higher levels of self-regulation compared to their peers and quickly gained higher skill levels. For example, if most children start at “zero” on a scale of zero to 40, then the early developers started approximately 10 points ahead. </p>
<p>But most children started with lower self-regulation skills and gradually developed during preschool until they were ready for kindergarten. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.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">Most children start preschool with low self-regulation skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewiselementary/8473380287/in/photolist-dULhKz-bfDoMn-dE5hgG-dDZqhi-JNeFwc-6p3aR7-MU8eT-6xairB-6p3cE3-buv3ti-zQXHHh-79avKF-dDZpSp-dDZgmM-bjp5ur-VNZo5-cev6tw-6p3cLN-5H1nG6-i8oaSZ-emMxm4-6SePR8-34cr6r-5hjRd3-6oY3rz-bTdMtn-3KhHX5-dDYVsk-6p3cTC-7ETqdB-dE5F9u-6p3bn5-7i8PwB-dDZ3GZ-8C5qaP-2CCYHz-neyMm8-7u6oHw-6dJ74g-5kkWNw-3KcCig-7qPbJj-8uTFTp-arSShD-6p3bEq-5H1nrg-dDYTxF-6oY2sp-6p3cVo-bWfLJx">Meriwether Lewis Elementary School</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most troubling finding was that around 20 percent of children hardly showed any gains in self-regulation skills – such as remembering complex directions, raising their hand before speaking or taking turns with others – during their preschool years. </p>
<p>These children were attending preschool programs, usually four days a week, for one or two years, and yet they were lagging behind their peers in the self-regulation skills they would need in kindergarten. </p>
<p>The ones who had the most difficulty were more likely to be children from families where mothers had lower education levels, and children with lower levels of English vocabulary. They also tended to be male children.</p>
<p>For example, in our study, even though we had slightly fewer boys than girls (about 49 percent), when we looked into who the later developers were, up to 58 percent of them were boys. That is a noteworthy difference. </p>
<p>Other researchers who recently studied the same question as ours found <a href="http://ldx.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/11/0022219415619754.abstract">remarkably consistent</a> results. Specifically, <a href="http://cds.web.unc.edu/people/mentors/willoughby-michael/">researcher</a> <a href="http://ldx.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/11/0022219415619754.abstract">Michael Willoughby</a> concluded that at least 10 percent of children showed few or no gains in self-regulation across preschool. This had devastating consequences during their kindergarten years related to behavior and academic achievement. </p>
<h2>Why does this matter?</h2>
<p>Children who develop self-regulation later are generally the same children who lag behind their peers in the academic skills we value and target. </p>
<p>There is some evidence that the children who start kindergarten with lower self-regulation not only do not catch up by first or even second grade, but in some cases may be falling even further <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223830060_The_Impact_of_Kindergarten_Learning-Related_Skills_on_Academic_Trajectories_at_the_End_of_Elementary_School">behind</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children with lower ability to regulate their behaviors tend to fall behind in later grades as well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56155476@N08/6660073861/in/photolist-b9wBVF-ns3992-qMebL2-6pCyky-b9wBHa-b9woPx-oKwDst-cm4aWo-6pCs1m-8La5MM-nYfJYn-eg5hzD-7QrxNC-7FMHdG-eUGZ7h-8RWbxQ-87pDRt-2JwHu8-b9wfxp-6pCKfA-b9wzyB-b9wrUg-b9woDp-dtihpG-dQBCBA-6pyoyc-pEr4PD-b9wA7n-b9wFkx-fUfXdX-b9wejM-jcckSN-b9wbFz-pEtqf7-2bFCA-6AZxUv-jDxwsZ-b9wzna-qYMoLH-pEnuLx-axk7VN-b8vv3K-6AZBS8-p11MrG-6pynjc-dtifkW-dSim6o-b9waAB-6pCNLA-pWNbdR">Brad Flickinger</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, a child with lower self-regulation in kindergarten is likely to have lower math skills throughout elementary school. What is worse, in early elementary grades that skill gap could further widen. </p>
<p>Our ongoing research evaluating literacy skills among children until second grade echoes these findings. Just as with math, later developers do not appear to catch up when it comes to letter and word recognition, awareness of word sounds and reading comprehension. In fact, the gaps grow wider across kindergarten and first grade. </p>
<h2>So what can we do?</h2>
<p>Does this mean that early childhood programs should eliminate their academic focus? </p>
<p>We are not arguing for this. Research shows that the early introduction of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3780775/">academic</a> material does help prepare children for school success.</p>
<p>Rather, what we are arguing for is what teachers have been observing for at least two decades – that programs that value children’s early social emotional development, and particularly their self-regulation skills, are critical. The development of these skills need individualized focus along with academic materials.</p>
<p>Teachers need to make sure children are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/17/well/family/which-came-first-the-behavior-problems-or-the-poor-sleep.html?_r=0">not overtired</a> or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4073202/">hungry</a> or that there is not some other physical need. Research shows the body and brain work together to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4682347/">self-regulate</a>. </p>
<p>Parents can set strong routines including bedtime, other rest times and consistent snack times. Such routines ensure children’s <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/think-better/201111/how-structure-improves-your-childs-brain">brains</a> are ready to engage in tough academic work. </p>
<p>After that, children need practice. It is important to understand that paying attention, remembering directions and avoiding disruptive behaviors are all skills that can be practiced through <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201107/Self-Regulation_Florez_OnlineJuly2011.pdf">daily interactions</a>. <a href="http://www.parentingscience.com/teaching-self-control.html">Games</a> that require rules can be used for practicing these skills.</p>
<p>If children are to get the most out of early academic content, they need to be prepared for it. As it turns out, some of us need both a little bit more practice and lot more help in order to be ready to succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children who aren’t ready for school tend to lag behind their peers in later grades. Parents and teachers can help.Janelle J. Montroy, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, The University of Texas Medical BranchRyan Bowles, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/677902016-10-30T19:08:25Z2016-10-30T19:08:25ZTwo years of preschool have more impact than one, research shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143613/original/image-20161028-15799-m1cc6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children with at least two years of preschool achieve much higher scores than those who attend no preschool or only one year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Providing universal access to preschool programs for all three-year-old children could improve academic results in the longer term and prevent the learning gap that sees nearly one in four children not ready for school when they start.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/two-years-preschool/">Our research shows</a> that it is an achievable – and high priority – policy goal for Australia.</p>
<p>With <a href="http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4240.0Main+Features12015?OpenDocument">two thirds</a> of three-year-olds accessing early education and care (ECEC) services, Australia already has the foundations of a universal preschool program. </p>
<p>Australia currently has a national preschool program for all children (around four years old) in the year before school – a significant reform that started in 2008 and now provides 15 hours of preschool, delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher. </p>
<p>It is now time to extend this to three-year-old children, so that all children can access two years of preschool.</p>
<p>In establishing a second year of preschool, the challenge is to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Make sure all three-year-olds receive the right amount of sufficiently high quality preschool that will have a <a href="https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/news/preschool-academic-skills-grow-stronger">sustained impact on their development</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Ensure the children <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/access-early-childhood-education-australia/executive-summary">currently missing out</a> because of financial or other barriers have the opportunity to participate.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Educational-opportunity-in-Australia-2015-Who-succeeds-and-who-misses-out-19Nov15.pdf">Nearly a quarter</a> of Australian children start school without the foundations they need to take advantage of learning opportunities at school. And our school systems are <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/937-Widening-gaps.pdf">struggling to help them catch up</a>.</p>
<p>There is a <a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/2015-aedc-national-report">direct correlation</a> between how wealthy a child’s community is and their risk of developmental vulnerability. </p>
<p>Children from low socio-economic status communities are more likely to experience developmental vulnerability – but<a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/2015-aedc-national-report"> half of all children</a> who are developmentally vulnerable come from the top three fifths of the income distribution. </p>
<p>There are many children across our communities who need the learning environment preschool programs provide; and all children benefit from opportunities preschool provides to develop and master new skills.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143606/original/image-20161028-11256-1h1zm80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children experiencing development vulnerability by socio-economic status, Australian Early Development Census.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AEDC 2015</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many children who start school behind their peers <a href="http://mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Quality-Early-Education-for-All-FINAL.pdf">struggle to catch up</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Educational-opportunity-in-Australia-2015-Who-succeeds-and-who-misses-out-19Nov15.pdf">At age 24</a>, 26% of young people aren’t fully engaged in employment, education or training.</p>
<p>Reduced educational opportunity has lifelong consequences for young people and for the broader community and economy.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/two-years-preschool/">Two years of high-quality preschool</a> is one of the most effective strategies we have to change the trajectories of children. </p>
<p>It is a key strategy for investing in the most important economic asset we have - the capabilities of the Australian people.</p>
<h2>Two years of preschool have more impact than one</h2>
<p>For the children most likely to experience developmental vulnerability, two years of high-quality preschool can be transformative. But it has positive impacts for all children. </p>
<p>There are many studies that show the long-term benefits of two years of preschool for children of all socioeconomic backgrounds.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>A <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/373286/RR352_-_Influences_on_Students_GCSE_Attainment_and_Progress_at_Age_16.pdf">landmark UK study</a> showed that students who attended two to three years of preschool obtained higher overall scores in their end-of-school exams, better grades in English and in maths, and took final year exams in more subjects.</p></li>
<li><p>Analysis of international test results (<a href="http://www.llakes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/36.-Mostafa-Green.pdf">Programme for International Student Assessment - PISA</a>, <a href="http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/pirls2011/downloads/P11_IR_FullBook.pdf">Progress in International Reading Literacy Study - PIRLS</a> and <a href="http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2011/downloads/T11_IR_Mathematics_FullBook.pdf">Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study - TIMSS</a>) show that children with at least two years of preschool achieve much higher scores than those who attend no preschool or only one year. </p></li>
<li><p>The Abbott Pre-K program in New Jersey, which provides two years of high quality preschool programs to all children in priority communities, found <a href="http://nieer.org/sites/nieer/files/APPLES%205th%20Grade.pdf">much greater benefits</a> for the children who attended from age three.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143612/original/image-20161028-32322-1w8iztz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Impact of two years of preschool on language and maths at Grade 4.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Abbott Pre-K Study, New Jersey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/quality_review_0.pdf">Meta-analyses</a> looking at the impact of two years of preschool find that while all children benefit, it provides a major boost to children from low-income households. </p>
<p>This is important because children from poor communities are often significantly behind their peers, even by the age of three. </p>
<h2>Access and quality are the priorities</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/time-for-australia-to-provide-preschool-education-for-all-three-year-olds-64665">Establishing an entitlement to two years of preschool</a> for all children is the most practical and achievable way of boosting the accessibility and impact of our existing early education and care system. </p>
<p>Setting up minimum and consistent hours of attendance and high-quality learning programs, in the way we have for four-year-old preschool, is critical.</p>
<p>Although many three-year-olds currently attending ECEC will be experiencing a high-quality learning environment, this isn’t the case for all children.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Quality levels are <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10409289.2015.1076674?journalCode=heed20">lowest in poorest communities</a>, where children are most in need of exceptional quality. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/199716/sub054-education-evidence.pdf">Only 7% </a>of children in the lowest socioeconomic quintile attended programs delivering the highest levels of instructional support. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10409289.2015.1076674?journalCode=heed20">Quality levels are highest</a> for older children, especially those in four-year-old preschool programs, and much lower for younger children. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Foundations are already in place</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a> already provides the foundations of structural quality needed for a three-year-old preschool program - appropriate educator to child ratios, and a second early childhood teacher coming online in many services from 2020. </p>
<p>We have <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2015/March/The_review_of_universal_access_to_early_childhood_education">achieved near-universal enrolment</a> in preschool for four year olds in the past five years. We can do the same thing for three year olds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stacey Fox 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>Two years of high-quality preschool is one of the most effective strategies we have to change the trajectories of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.Stacey Fox, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/655842016-09-28T16:23:59Z2016-09-28T16:23:59ZAre Kenyan children ready for the leap from pre-primary to primary school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138776/original/image-20160922-22533-udmmzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Four-year-old Stacey Musimbi sits inside a specialised early childhood deaf unit programme in Nairobi. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Samantha Sais</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A child’s brain develops rapidly during the first five years of life. In this time it is exposed to countless stimuli in a variety of environments. Research has <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/school-success/according-experts/school-completionacademic-achievement-outcomes-early-childhood">demonstrated</a> that participating in early childhood programmes leads to higher levels of academic achievement and better adjustment during later schooling years. </p>
<p>The significance of early childhood education is attested to by its positioning as the first goal in the <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/the-efa-movement/jomtien-1990/">World Declaration on Education for All</a> which aims at, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Kenya, preschool education is not compulsory. A child is not required to attend a pre-primary or early childhood development and education (ECDE) class before joining primary school. Nonetheless, many public primary schools have pre-primary schools linked to them. </p>
<p>Out of the <a href="http://www.kicd.ac.ke/images/ICT/2014BasicEducationStatisticalBooklet.pdf">more than 40,000 ECDE centres</a> in Kenya, nearly 70% are attached to a primary school. There are 114,831 teachers with less than half of them professionally trained.</p>
<h2>The quality and demand for pre-primary</h2>
<p>More <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/kenya/labor-force-female-percent-of-total-labor-force-wb-data.html">women</a> are joining Kenya’s workforce. This has increased the demand for early childhood education services, which have proliferated the public and private sectors. But many children who attend these preschool centres do not receive quality services. </p>
<p>Apart from having few trained teachers, the early childhood education sector receives <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09575140902984400">little financial support</a> from the government. Furthermore, many of these centres are characterised by inadequate play and learning materials and lack of health and nutrition services. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the increased enrolment in public primary schools has resulted in a <a href="http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/workingpapers/pdfs/csae-wps-2011-04.pdf">decline</a> in the quality of instruction. For children from poor households, the combined effects of inadequate preparation for pre-primary school and low quality primary education could have significant adverse implications on their school preparedness and opportunities later in life. </p>
<p>Assessing these challenges and improving the quality of early childhood education is the ultimate goal of a three-year pilot programme in Kenya. The <a href="http://aphrc.org/search/Tayari"><em>Tayari</em></a> programme aims to develop a tested, cost-effective, affordable and scalable model for ensuring that preschool children are cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally prepared for primary school. <em>Tayari</em>, which means “ready” in Kiswahili, will strengthen the existing ECDE model in Kenya. It will do so through: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>developing child-centered instructional materials;</p></li>
<li><p>interactive teacher training combined with continued instructional coaching and support; and,</p></li>
<li><p>a child health intervention that integrates psychosocial with health and nutritional components.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>By 2018, the programme will reach 75,000 children in 1,500 centres in the four pilot counties of Laikipia, Nairobi, Uasin Gishu and Siaya. The effectiveness of the programme is measured based on children’s scores on the Tayari School Readiness Index (TSRI). This is a composite index that measures performance across 10 tasks that cover:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>executive functioning, that is, the ability to hold and manipulate information in short-term memory</p></li>
<li><p>literacy skills including sound knowledge</p></li>
<li><p>letter name knowledge and rhyme; </p></li>
<li><p>and numeracy skills such as oral addition and quantity discrimination. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>If the programme is found to be effective in improving school readiness for children in pre-primary school, it will be scaled up to all preschool learning centres across the country. </p>
<h2>Encourage critical thinking</h2>
<p>One of the hallmarks of quality is the style of teaching used in the classroom. Teachers should foster learning environments that encourage <a href="http://www.earlychildhoodteacher.org/blog/six-strategies-for-21st-century-early-childhood-teachers/">critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, global awareness, and social responsibility</a>. But the predominant teaching techniques focus on academic preparation through use of memorisation and recitation. This means that the development of other skills, such as the social and emotional get minimal attention. </p>
<p>Many public and private ECDE centres in Kenya are affiliated with a primary school. It is usually the case that children will move on to the affiliate primary school. With the introduction of free primary education in Kenya, parents expected that public pre-primary schools would also be free of charge. When this did not materialise, many poor households opted to keep their children at home until they could attend the free primary schools. </p>
<h2>School readiness scores for boys and girls</h2>
<p>Kenyans have long obsessed with the qualitative differences between public and private education. But the initial results from this preschool study show no significant difference between the learners in public and private pre-primary schools in terms of literacy, numeracy, executive functioning and socio-emotional readiness. </p>
<p>The school readiness index scores for boys were not significantly different from those of girls. That was the good news. The bad news was that the children’s school readiness was generally found to be poor. Most did not possess the majority of skills assessed by the TSRI. In both public and private ECDE centers, mean index scores were 50% or below. </p>
<p>Notwithstanding the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057920120053238?src=recsys">weaknesses</a> inherent in teacher-centered approaches, the programme results found that in public and private learning centres, most teachers employed direct instruction as the primary teaching strategy. Furthermore, more than 60% of teachers’ time in class was focused on the entire group. </p>
<p>Very little time (less than 30% of the lesson time) was devoted to individual children or group work as teachers hardly engaged in actions that would encourage learners to work independently and cooperatively. This flies in the face of efforts to improve teaching quality in early childhood classrooms. </p>
<p>The initial results from this programme highlight the need to transform Kenya’s approach to teaching. Doing so will help Kenya to attain inclusive, quality education for all its citizens, starting from the very youngest members of society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65584/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Njora and I acknowledge the contribution of APHRC Policy Engagement Manager Mwangi Chege</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Njora Hungi 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>Early childhood education services have proliferated in the public and private sectors. But many children who attend these preschool centres do not receive quality services.Patricia Kitsao-Wekulo, Post-Doctoral Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research CenterNjora Hungi, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/646652016-09-01T00:50:24Z2016-09-01T00:50:24ZTime for Australia to provide preschool education for all three year olds?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136030/original/image-20160831-791-3o921.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Attending two years of preschool improves children’s readiness for school.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ireland has just become the latest country to make preschool programs available to <a href="http://www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/ecce-scheme/20151214FAQsBudget.pdf">all three year olds</a>.</p>
<p>There is a clear move internationally towards delivery of two years of preschool, with early education being understood as a critical investment in human capital.</p>
<h2>Who offers preschool to three year olds?</h2>
<p>Many European countries, including France, Germany and Norway, have provided universal preschool for three and four year olds for decades. More recently, the UK and New Zealand have made moves to join them. And East Asian countries that consistently top education performance lists are rapidly gearing towards universal access for three and four year olds. </p>
<p>Australia has much <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2015/indicator-c2-how-do-early-childhood-education-systems-differ-around-the-world_eag-2015-25-en">lower levels</a> of participation in ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) and preschool programs than our OECD peers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136027/original/image-20160831-799-vyn2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136027/original/image-20160831-799-vyn2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136027/original/image-20160831-799-vyn2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136027/original/image-20160831-799-vyn2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136027/original/image-20160831-799-vyn2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136027/original/image-20160831-799-vyn2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136027/original/image-20160831-799-vyn2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Enrollment rates at age 3 in early childhood education, selected OECD countries, 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">OECD</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We currently provide universal access to one year of <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/universal-access-early-childhood-education">preschool in the year before children start school</a>, delivered for 15 hours per week (or 600 hours per year). This is either free or subsidised, depending on which state you live in. </p>
<p>Is it time for Australia to join other countries and consider a second year of funded preschool for three year olds? </p>
<h2>Why are other countries investing in preschool?</h2>
<p>Preschool programs (also known as kindergarten) provide an environment for children to develop their <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf">skills, capabilities, interests and talents</a>. Preschool is about helping children learn to get along with others, to be creative and collaborative problem solvers, to understand and talk about their emotions, as well as supporting the foundations of literacy, numeracy and science. </p>
<p>Skilled educators use teaching strategies that are appropriate for the age of the child. They extend children’s thinking, encourage them to ask questions, engage them in conversations about things that excite them, and integrate learning into play and exploration.</p>
<p><a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3155&context=sspapers">Research from the UK</a> shows that attending two years of preschool improves children’s readiness for school more than one year’s attendance, with particular impacts on their early literacy and social and emotional skills. </p>
<p>And 16 year olds who attended <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/455670/RB455_Effective_pre-school_primary_and_secondary_education_project.pdf.pdf">at least two years of preschool</a> were three times more likely to take a higher academic pathway in post secondary school.</p>
<p>Preschool has benefits for all children, but the biggest impacts are seen with the children who need extra support the most – the <a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/early-childhood-education-and-care-and-the-transition-to-school">23% of children arriving at school developmentally vulnerable</a>. Evidence shows that <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150331121624.htm">one year of preschool isn’t usually enough</a> for these children to catch up. </p>
<h2>What are other countries doing?</h2>
<p>Increasing access to early education, especially for the children who will benefit most, is not a light undertaking. </p>
<p>Many countries face <a href="http://healthpolicy.unm.edu/sites/default/files/AES.Chapters1%20and%2010.pdf">challenges</a> maintaining or increasing quality and managing affordability (for both families and the government). </p>
<p>Even so, the clear trend internationally is to invest in preschool for three year olds, and provide it universally – for all children – not just a small proportion with high levels of need.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/pre_school_education_and_childcare/early_childhood_care_and_education_scheme.html">Ireland</a> has historically low levels of participation in preschool. Universal access for four year olds was introduced in 2010, with universal free preschool for three year olds coming into effect from September 2016.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/docs/MISOC%20Childcare%20briefing%20paper.pdf">UK</a> established an entitlement to subsidised early education for four year olds in 2000. This was expanded to three year olds in 2005, and more recently to disadvantaged <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/541394/Unknown_children_destined_for_disadvantage.pdf">two year olds</a>. There is near-universal attendance in part-time programs from all three and four year olds.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/school/NEW%20ZEALAND%20policy%20profile%20-%20published%203-8-2012.pdf">New Zealand</a> introduced <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/2288-6729-2-1-77">20 hours of free early education</a> for all three year olds in 2007 and also has near universal attendance. The introduction of a free entitlement increased overall participation slightly, and number of hours attended <a href="https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/indicators/main/student-engagement-participation/1923">significantly</a>.</p>
<p>Many European nations introduced free or highly subsidised preschool programs for children, starting at least at age three, decades ago. These programs are very high quality, and they are both good for children and helpful for families going back to work.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oecd.org/norway/Early-Childhood-Education-and-Care-Policy-Review-Norway.pdf">Norway</a> has near universal attendance in preschool from age three and for around 30 hours per week. They introduced preschool for three year olds nearly thirty years ago, and participation has been steadily increasing. </p>
<p>By 2010, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qgznh.8?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">97% of three year olds were attending</a>, largely because there are enough places for all children and fees are low enough that all families can afford to send their children. </p>
<p><a href="http://thema.u-cergy.fr/IMG/documents/2010-07.pdf">France</a> has a long-standing universal preschool platform for all children aged three to six. The program is free, integrated with the school system, supports full or part day attendance, and runs in three age-based classes. Since 1980, all three year olds have had a legislated right to an early education place, and attendance is near-universal.</p>
<p>The countries at the forefront of global education innovation that perform highly in international education benchmarking exercises, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Korea, are rapidly moving towards universal early education for all children from age three. </p>
<p><a href="https://internationaleducation.gov.au/News/newsarchive/2010/Documents/China_Education_Reform_pdf.pdf">China</a> currently has two thirds of four year old children attending preschool programs, and is aiming to subsidise universal access to two years of preschool by 2020. National education strategies identify early childhood education as priority for lifting human capital and educational participation and outcomes. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/50219964.pdf">Korea</a> currently has nearly <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/2288-6729-6-2-1">75% of three year olds</a> in preschool programs, with universal access to early education for three to five year olds. All three to five year olds receive a subsidy to attend early education.</p>
<p>In a report released earlier this year, Mitchell Institute identified boosting access to preschool programs as one of the <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/quality-early-education-for-all/">top five early childhood education policy priorities</a>. It is opportune for governments to consider whether or not three year olds should have access to preschool too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stacey Fox 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>Ireland is the latest country to offer two years of preschool education to all children. Is it time Australia followed suit?Stacey Fox, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/632922016-08-03T17:29:22Z2016-08-03T17:29:22ZHow music-inspired free play can nurture creative young minds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132745/original/image-20160802-17160-1fxjqpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teaching and learning from music often occurs spontaneously</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mignon van Vreden</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>I smile when I hear a group of preschoolers giggling and can feel the excitement as I enter the classroom. The cause of the animated mood is a musical concert for young children that the learners attended the previous day. A demonstration and explanation of musical instruments preceded the concert and clearly had an impact on one little boy. “Come and have a look,” he beckoned me. We sat down next to a creative construction of colourful blocks in different sizes laid out in a neat row on the carpet. “Look at my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF1O5YDP33Q.">marimba</a>!” he smiled proudly. With enthusiasm, he picked up two thin twigs and started to play on his handmade musical instrument.</em></p>
<p>The vignette describes learning <em>from</em> music – with the accent on <em>from</em>. It narrates an event that occurred early one morning during <a href="http://www.sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/373/246">data collection</a> for a multiple <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/qualitative-inquiry-and-research-design/book235677">case study</a> in a preschool classroom in Potchefstroom, in South Africa’s North West Province. The purpose was to explore the teaching practices of Grade R teachers and to ascertain how they integrated music with the three Grade R subjects: home language, mathematics and life skills. Grade R is the final year of children’s early development before entering formal schooling. </p>
<p>This was the only example of learning from music in the case study that resulted in a conceptual <a href="http://www.sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/373/246">framework</a> for music in Grade R. </p>
<p>I concluded that experiences related to music, in this case the tone colour, design and materials of an instrument, provoked a specific thinking pattern. This inspired and stimulated the preschooler to apply his new knowledge to create something new: a musical instrument. </p>
<p>The activity took place during unstructured free play. It emphasises that the value of learning through self-directed play should never be underestimated. This aspect of teaching and learning is where music inspires another activity (creating an instrument from building blocks) that is different from the original activity (a musical concert for preschoolers). It should be explored further in early childhood through sufficient opportunities for unstructured free play. </p>
<h2>Spontaneous learning</h2>
<p>Teaching and learning from music cannot always be predetermined by a specific teaching method or musical activity. Instead, teaching and learning from music often occur spontaneously after learners have been given opportunities for free play, where they can explore new musical knowledge in an informal way. When this manifests, music imitates these activities and creativity is kindled. </p>
<p>Yolanda Huijsamer <a href="http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/8703">explains</a> the active role that preschoolers play in their own development through interactions with their environment during play. She defines this type of play as a creative expression of a young child’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional self. This is where opportunities are created for children to acquire essential skills and values that give meaning to their existence. </p>
<p>I therefore propose that learning <em>from</em> music can seldom be predetermined by an early childhood teacher through a specific teaching method or structured musical activity. It is rather a <a href="https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-55409977/the-relationship-between-play-and-music-in-early-childhood">reaction</a> to teaching and learning related to music that can only surface when there is an awareness of how learners spend their time with adequate opportunities for unstructured free play. </p>
<p>Neryl Jeanneret and George DeGraffenreid <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=egETj5QAAAAJ&citation_for_view=egETj5QAAAAJ:RHpTSmoSYBkC">remark that</a> preschool teachers gain knowledge about their learners through their daily interactions. This knowledge should be applied to create opportunities where teachers can observe unprompted and continuous play. Therefore, a preschool teacher does not always have to be a facilitator of music integration but must rather be receptive to unexpected moments when learners integrate music in their own learning, especially during free play. </p>
<p>Researchers and practitioners in the field of music education have <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Education-Century-United-Kingdom/dp/0854738991">unequivocally proven</a> the value of music for the young child. Music <a href="https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/ETD-UT-2011-05-2845/ANDREWS-DISSERTATION.pdf?sequence=1">promotes</a> intrinsic and unique qualities in young learners, including the development of creativity, social skills, expression, cognition and coordination. The value of music for preschoolers supports, motivates and promotes the <a href="http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Arts%20in%20Education/brewer.htm">integration</a> of music into their daily programmes.</p>
<p>Music has been shown to create a positive learning environment and atmosphere. It also:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>increases anticipation;</p></li>
<li><p>energises learning activities;</p></li>
<li><p>changes the brain waves;</p></li>
<li><p>focuses concentration;</p></li>
<li><p>improves attention span and memory;</p></li>
<li><p>facilitates a multisensory learning experience;</p></li>
<li><p>relieves tension;</p></li>
<li><p>enriches the imagination; and </p></li>
<li><p>promotes group work through the development of cooperation. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Music inspires, motivates, adds an element of fun to the learning situation, emphasises units with a specific topic, influences mood, connects disparate elements of learning and makes other forms of literacy available to everyone.</p>
<h2>Inspires teachers too</h2>
<p>Integrating music across the curriculum proposes a pedagogical approach to teaching and learning by integrating thoughts, actions and attitudes. The effect of being surrounded by music is an <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Music-Childhood-Preschool-through-Elementary/dp/1285160142">enriched life</a> for preschool teachers and learners alike.</p>
<p>The power of music to stimulate young minds and touch young hearts is never to be underestimated. A constant awareness of young childrens’ expressive outlets during unstructured free play will zoom in on creativity during the most unexpected moments and deepen future learning opportunities related to music.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mignon van Vreden 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 value of music-inspired play in early childhood should never be underestimated.Mignon van Vreden, Lecturer, Music, North-West UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/618962016-07-13T23:18:11Z2016-07-13T23:18:11ZRacial inequality starts early – in preschool<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130460/original/image-20160713-12380-gog27q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why should kids get suspended in preschool?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/moominmolly/3745920593/in/photolist-BBCC9-hKEHj-PaDH1-36MX1-8TyLw1-bwTx1-4E8cJ-778AdQ-PaDH3-81f9T-4dQKd-4QVyDQ-PbagM-3rLDA4-4QkWLt-4QqatW-mwM1Re-fzU9gS-mwMHVZ-cEBhbW-7JUAQ-jjqhQ-9J562P-no3qW-nTBAaz-jjtYS-6ar6E-ciD69-6H1PFP-a3tQjk-7JUH7-3Nb5ed-7JUHV-n1b39-9Mhsj3-7JUFJ-E6nuJ-5uHzmC-s4yVc-5uHy73-2PE6kp-wufUx-L4EXx-2PJxZf-anKnao-6Rjro3-2PE6s2-29Q9Vs-7m9rM-9G77kj">Molly</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Wednesday, July 6, the four-year-old daughter of Diamond Reynolds <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/us/philando-castile-facebook-police-shooting-minnesota.html?_r=0">witnessed</a> the killing of Philando Castile by a Minnesota police officer. She and her mother sat in close proximity to Castile when he was shot.</p>
<p>A 2009 Department of Justice study showed that <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227744.pdf">more than 60 percent of American children</a> had directly or indirectly been exposed to violence within the past year. Exposure to such violence has long-term physical, psychological and emotional implications. </p>
<p>When these children enter school, they have unique needs. Many are ill-prepared for the social, emotional and academic rigor that is anticipated and required. Conversely, many schools are not prepared to handle the needs of children who have been victims of poverty, trauma or who have special education needs.</p>
<p>Preschool experience could help prepare children for learning in academic, social and emotional spheres of elementary education. In my role as a clinical professor of law and director of the Education and Health Law Clinic at Rutgers Law School, it is not uncommon for me to represent parents of young children who have been suspended or have had a history of being suspended as early as preschool or kindergarten. </p>
<h2>Preschool suspensions and black kids</h2>
<p>For the first time in March 2014, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) collected data regarding how early learners are disciplined during the 2011-12 school year. </p>
<p>That report showed that while black children represent 18 percent of preschool enrollment, they accounted for <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-early-learning-snapshot.pdf">48 percent of students</a> receiving one or more suspensions. White children, on the other hand, represented over 40 percent of the total enrollment, but a little more than 25 percent of such suspensions. </p>
<p>A suspension involves the removal of a student from school for violations of a school’s code of conduct for one or more days. These violations could vary depending on the state and local school district policies. They could include infractions such as tardiness, dress code violations, failure to follow directions and “willful disobedience.” In public schools, short-term suspensions typically are 10 days or less. More than 10 consecutive days of suspension require greater due process rights. </p>
<p>A March 2016 OCR report shows a continuation of the disturbing trends and disparities of the 2014 report. This time, the OCR provided more data by breaking down preschool suspension rates based upon race and gender. For the 2013-14 year, the report shows that black children attending public preschools were <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf">3.6 times more likely</a> to receive one or more suspension compared to their white counterparts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130462/original/image-20160713-12386-1hvzqb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130462/original/image-20160713-12386-1hvzqb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130462/original/image-20160713-12386-1hvzqb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130462/original/image-20160713-12386-1hvzqb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130462/original/image-20160713-12386-1hvzqb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130462/original/image-20160713-12386-1hvzqb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130462/original/image-20160713-12386-1hvzqb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black boys are at a greater risk of suspension.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/acplinfo/7396312596/in/photolist-cgA33Y-cgA7h1-cipoiS-6vM5fk-f8e9nB-eN1j2n-7QWLzR-raNTY-6vRgoq-oNxJ1o-eN1wrM-9a38oy-bWZT2m-5yoAio-KBzdg-7L1q2G-eNcLRJ-6XeHQ2-4JVf3W-pKttXQ-oQ8VcT-bWZNVm-9fTdtp-qaqD7k-6vRgiy-6hxSab-fQqaKQ-9vmeuw-6vRgnA-9i72jF-8fgptC-qhv5S4-9fWAqL-4Yz494-ndMBAs-7R167u-gs8TBn-nUXzPb-fmm54k-dDpj8p-dK6HM5-eg3ZTY-cipqjw-fgLBzC-cgAaZS-55k9rb-cgA9cY-cipd5E-fgLtzm-cgA5zJ">Allen County (IN) Public Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to the 2016 OCR report, black boys were at greater risk for preschool suspensions. Even though preschool boys represented almost 20 percent of enrolled preschoolers, they represented 45 percent of male students receiving one or more out-of-school suspensions. Even more problematic were the statistics for black girls. Although they represented 20 percent of female preschool enrollment, they accounted for over 50 percent of female students with one or more out of school suspensions. </p>
<p>A national pre-kindergarten study conducted in 2005 identified similar disparities with respect to these vulnerable children. That study, conducted by <a href="http://childstudycenter.yale.edu/faculty_people/walter_gilliam-2.profile">Walter S. Gilliam</a> at Yale University, concluded that preschool children were expelled at a rate of more than three times that of students in K-12. </p>
<p>According to the same report, African-American children attending state-funded preschools [were about twice as likely](http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/explore/policy_docs/prek_expulsion.pdf “) to be expelled as Latino and Caucasian children. </p>
<p>More than 10 years has passed since this study, and the problem still persists.</p>
<h2>Why are kids suspended?</h2>
<p>The root causes of suspensions and expulsions of early learners vary. An overwhelming majority focus on behavior. </p>
<p>Studies have differed on the causes of behaviors that <a href="http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/16.pdf">lead to suspension</a> of children. </p>
<p>These vary from lack of prenatal and maternal care, poverty, <a href="http://www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/complex-trauma/effects-of-complex-trauma">exposure to trauma</a> and harsh discipline practices to language disorders and disability-related diagnoses. </p>
<p>Children born into poverty lack exposure to educational experiences that would prepare them to enter a formal school setting. African-Americans and American Indian children are about <a href="http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-the2016kidscountdatabook-2016.pdf">three times as likely to live in poverty</a> as their white counterparts. About half had no parent with full-time employment. Latino families also had high rates of poverty, at 32 percent.</p>
<p>Environmental issues such as exposure to <a href="http://www.apa.org/action/resources/research-in-action/lead.aspx">lead and toxins</a> could also play an important role. </p>
<p>Less tolerant and discriminatory treatment based on race could also be a factor. In such instances, black children are <a href="http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/03/black-boys-older.aspx">viewed as more mature</a> and less innocent than their white counterparts. They are removed from school for minor infractions. </p>
<p>Often, these children may suffer from neurological, psychological, learning or medically based disabilities. However, based on my experience, these factors are not always considered or identified in a timely manner. </p>
<h2>School environment through K-12</h2>
<p>Suspensions at the preschool level are the tip of the iceberg. Black and brown students continue to be <a href="https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/resources/projects/center-for-civil-rights-remedies/school-to-prison-folder/federal-reports/out-of-school-and-off-track-the-overuse-of-suspensions-in-american-middle-and-high-schools/OutofSchool-OffTrack_UCLA_4-8.pdf">suspended disproportionately</a> at the elementary and secondary levels.</p>
<p>The media is full of examples of black children being suspended, handcuffed or arrested by police at a young age. For instance, a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/17/justice/georgia-student-handcuffed/">six-year-old girl in Georgia was handcuffed</a> and taken to the police station for throwing a tantrum and destroying school property. A seven-year-old with Attention Deficit Disorder was <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-7-year-old-black-child-adhd-handcuffed-school-article-1.2422191">handcuffed for acting out</a>, and a six-year-old Florida girl was handcuffed and <a href="http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/6-Year-Old-Handcuffed-at-School-84136922.html">sent to a mental institution</a> for hitting the school principal. The manner in which these children were treated is not characteristic of nurturing or caring school environments.</p>
<p>According to OCR’s 2016 report, of the 2.8 million K-12 students receiving one or more suspension, 1.1 million were black; 600,000 were Latino; 660,000 were disabled; and 210,000 were English language learners. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130472/original/image-20160713-12377-111skah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130472/original/image-20160713-12377-111skah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130472/original/image-20160713-12377-111skah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130472/original/image-20160713-12377-111skah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130472/original/image-20160713-12377-111skah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130472/original/image-20160713-12377-111skah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130472/original/image-20160713-12377-111skah.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">The rate of suspension is higher for African American girls as well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/3120816179/in/photolist-5KLZVv-pbHtvN-pbHwym-oUgh6X-oUghni-aTFaar-pbKwqz-8ahuKF-3qN7cJ-7EsSio-bcQ3xV-9chSab-7EsSQL-3qNkKb-fpGqvf-a3jmtp-fpGrv1-c1hJrC-fps9KD-p9Hpx3-6anhTR-7EsSB1-7EsUbu-pbtKEt-pbHvDA-p9HqwC-eTfqX4-avSjih-oUgcT9-oUggEg-fpsc6t-pbtGNM-Ecyjzg-oUgbUq-oUgbdq-a3ndDu-7EsXQS-pbKya6-9Y6YFo-99PyaL-fpscfc-p9Hpb1-eTfqjR-DGXXFU-7EsXdf-7Ep7QM-5AYrYd-g7jWYj-dHGoqx-by56G6">woodleywonderworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>School districts have criminalized and dehumanized very vulnerable children for minor school infractions, such as talking back to the teacher or not wearing a school uniform. A blatant example of this draconian behavior occurred in Meridian, Mississippi where small infractions led to the <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/criminal-kids-juvenile-justice-sentencing-reform-incarceration-116065_full.html?print#.V4ZgD2QrJ-U">arrest, confinement and conviction of students</a> in what was characterized by the Department of Justice as a "school-to-prison-pipeline.” Some of these children were as young as 10. </p>
<p>The Meridian School District referred students to the Police Department for small infractions. All students referred were handcuffed, arrested and sent to the County juvenile justice system without consideration of their rights to due process or representation by an attorney at all stages of the process. </p>
<h2>Against the law</h2>
<p><a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/policy-statement-ece-expulsions-suspensions.pdf">Federal laws prohibit</a> such discrimination. Special Education laws also <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504922.pdf">prohibit school districts</a> from suspending and expelling students with disabilities without providing procedural protections. </p>
<p>In fact, a joint policy letter, issued in 2014 by the the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education, <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/policy-statement-ece-expulsions-suspensions.pdf">strongly urged</a> early child care providers to establish policies and procedures aimed at eliminating the suspension of preschoolers.</p>
<p>But intentionally or unintentionally, these laws or policies are often overlooked or blatantly ignored. </p>
<p>Some states and local school districts are taking action to address this problem. States such as Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland and Oregon have passed bills focused on <a href="http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ki-interventions.pdf">improving outcomes</a> and addressing the disproportionate suspension of students of color. </p>
<p>But much more needs to be done to address this issue. Young students are still pushed out and suspended. In fact, by the time some children reach first grade, they may have had several negative school experiences. </p>
<h2>Repairing broken men is harder</h2>
<p>The problem that many schools face is a lack of resources attributable to a lack of funding. Unfortunately, sometimes, students are suspended because schools lack the resources to address their specific and unique needs. </p>
<p>In contrast to the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66">decrease in funds in education</a>, the funding for the prison industry has increased geometrically. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130469/original/image-20160713-12358-p3xbz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130469/original/image-20160713-12358-p3xbz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130469/original/image-20160713-12358-p3xbz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130469/original/image-20160713-12358-p3xbz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130469/original/image-20160713-12358-p3xbz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130469/original/image-20160713-12358-p3xbz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130469/original/image-20160713-12358-p3xbz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Suspended kids have a greater risk of dropping out later.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thetasha/3635223378/in/photolist-5grNvo-358Jnn-dxe44R-8uTG6Z-g8uA3-5R7TTd-6xetg9-7LpvaT-eFA8QY-9JV3Sr-68BCjF-68FpN5-4SjE5p-atfbt-87iJb-bjpaxM-4SoSm1-a5XM3T-68FAiN-NVQVZ-68FXWQ-atfi2-bsuLj9-8d2NXP-68G3wj-7cFwC-35dgLo-diCmN-6xakCX-51GqtR-9JXSiJ-g8uA4-68Bvn2-8rqp9P-HNUeTr-a61BZL-atffE-5oaUYJ-BGpwZ-Q25Pb-PjhRo-buv3qx-NVhC7-4S6RZg-8EyTKk-7q72n1-bsuLej-4SoSjb-8d67Cs-c4vQdA">tasha little</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children who are suspended or expelled from school at such an early age have a <a href="https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/resources/projects/center-for-civil-rights-remedies/school-to-prison-folder/federal-reports/out-of-school-and-off-track-the-overuse-of-suspensions-in-american-middle-and-high-schools/OutofSchool-OffTrack_UCLA_4-8.pdf">greater risk for dropping out of school</a> and entering the juvenile justice or prison system.</p>
<p>When children are suspended for substantial periods of time, it becomes a <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/zero-tolerance.pdf">more difficult task</a> to keep up with school work and to catch up once he or she returns to school. There is no positive rationale for the degree to which zero tolerance policies have been used. </p>
<p>For the cost of incarcerating a juvenile in some states, a child could receive a quality private school college education.</p>
<p><a href="http://today.law.harvard.edu/it-is-easier-to-build-strong-children-than-fix-broken-men-at-hls-summit-edelman-says-we-must-move-from-punishment-to-justice-video/">A quote</a> by <a href="http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/douglass/aa_douglass_leader_1.html">Frederick Douglass</a>, an abolitionist born into slavery, is still appropriate today. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esther Canty-Barnes 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>Black kids get suspended in preschool for minor offenses. A 2016 report shows 45 percent of preschool boys were suspended, once or more.Esther Canty-Barnes, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Education and Health Law Clinic, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/598152016-05-25T05:15:24Z2016-05-25T05:15:24ZWhy is childcare such a hard sell in the federal election?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/123893/original/image-20160525-25239-lpztq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children who attend preschool are more likely to be ready to learn when they start school.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spending on early years education seems to be a tough sell for politicians.</p>
<p>A significant number of Australians, both politicians and voters, see “childcare” as a service to help parents get back to work, despite growing recognition that early education is important for children’s learning and development.</p>
<p>The discussion tends to focus on household budgets and the ability of mum (mostly) to go back to work.</p>
<p>While these are important issues that families face every day, we don’t treat school in this manner – we don’t make decisions about whether children can go to school based on how much their parents work and earn and, likewise, this shouldn’t factor into decisions about young children accessing quality early learning. </p>
<h2>Early education as important as school</h2>
<p>Education is figuring strongly in the election campaign, but the focus has been on <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-election-2016-whats-on-the-table-for-schools-58399">Gonski reforms</a> and the funding each party is willing to make available for schools. </p>
<p>Both the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-coalitions-real-agenda-for-australian-schools-53308">Coalition</a> and Labor have said that we need to target spending on schools. But neither party is focused on where spending can <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-must-boost-attendance-rates-in-early-education-57983">make the most difference</a> – the early years before school starts. </p>
<p>In the federal budget the government <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2016-education-experts-react-58592">shelved its early learning policy</a> for at least another year.</p>
<h2>Early learning matters</h2>
<p>Children’s sensitivity to learning in many areas, such as language and understanding symbols, <a href="http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/">peaks before the age of five</a>. </p>
<p>Foundational skills such as peer relationships, emotional regulation and behaviour, problem solving and planning are also <a href="http://aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737421521">developed in the preschool years</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/123871/original/image-20160525-25239-1075yv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/123871/original/image-20160525-25239-1075yv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/123871/original/image-20160525-25239-1075yv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/123871/original/image-20160525-25239-1075yv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/123871/original/image-20160525-25239-1075yv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/123871/original/image-20160525-25239-1075yv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/123871/original/image-20160525-25239-1075yv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sensitive periods in early brain development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament%5Ccommit.nsf/(Report+Lookup+by+Com+ID)/5D835C076D06D025482579B400070FB5/$file/EHSC+Report+No+deleted+pages.pdf">Education and Health Standing Committee</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is up to governments now to heed the evidence and be bold with their policy proposals – put aside some payment for play based learning. </p>
<p>Parents are their children’s first and most important teachers, but high quality early education also has <a href="http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/5309/1/sylva2004EPPEfinal.pdf">positive impacts for all children</a> and particular benefits for disadvantaged children.</p>
<p>Children who attend preschool are more likely to be <a href="http://aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/early-childhood-education-and-care-and-the-transition-to-school">ready to learn</a> when they start school. </p>
<p>They are likely to do better on NAPLAN and have <a href="http://education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/research/preschoolparticipationandqualissummarypaper2013.pdf">higher maths and literacy levels</a>. </p>
<p>We know that there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-change-the-way-we-measure-student-progress-in-schools-56422">a widening gap in learning outcomes</a> – it is evident when children start school, and it grows over time. </p>
<p>We end up with a <a href="http://mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Educational-opportunity-in-Australia-2015-Who-succeeds-and-who-misses-out-19Nov15.pdf">quarter of young people not fully engaged</a> in education, training and employment at age 24. </p>
<p>What is less well known is that these performance gaps are can be predicted (and changed) much earlier on. </p>
<p>Given this weight of evidence, investment should be flowing into the early years, but it’s not.</p>
<h2>Childcare or learning?</h2>
<p>There is a big difference in the way government talks about childcare and the way child development experts talk about early learning.</p>
<p>Research shows that many Australian families are unaware of the <a href="http://aracy.org.au/projects/engaging-families-in-the-early-childhood-development-story">science of early childhood learning and development</a>. Quality play based learning with peers in early education and care supports children to develop greater confidence and resilience in school.</p>
<p>As a result, families tend to think of childcare as <a href="http://frameworksinstitute.org/assets/files/Australia/au_mtg.pdf">a safe place for children</a> to be while they work, whereas experts think of early education and care as a place that can amplify children’s learning and help build their social skills and emotional regulation.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that the Australian government has historically funded childcare <a href="http://oecd.org/australia/1900259.pdf">primarily to encourage women to participate in the workforce</a>. </p>
<p>The government’s language around childcare subsidies is intrinsically linked to the workforce agenda – the government’s policy is entitled <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/billsdgs/4511107/upload_binary/4511107.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22legislation/billsdgs/4511107%22">Jobs for Families</a> rather than Outcomes for Children. </p>
<p>Government funding of early education and care is seen as something that helps household budgets, not an investment in children that is essential for future jobs and growth. </p>
<p>Yet early education is an investment that is equally important as our longstanding national commitment to ensuring all young people have access to a school education.</p>
<h2>Need for universal access to preschool</h2>
<p>Government has a role to play in reinforcing the pivotal role of early learning in building children’s capabilities. </p>
<p>One step in the right direction would be for government to commit to sustainable, ongoing funding for universal access to preschool in the year before school. </p>
<p>There is currently a short-term National Partnership Agreement to provide <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-must-boost-attendance-rates-in-early-education-57983">15 hours of early education</a> to children in the year before school, but many children are not accessing the number of hours needed to make a difference and cost remains a barrier for some families.</p>
<p>Establishing <a href="http://mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Quality-Early-Education-for-All-FINAL.pdf">preschool education as a legislated entitlement</a> equivalent in status and importance to primary and secondary schooling, would bring Australia into line with other OECD countries. </p>
<p>This would help in part to re-frame the community’s views around the impact of preschool.</p>
<p>To shift the focus from “childcare” to “early education”, we also need a public education campaign to give families access to information on the science of children’s learning and development.</p>
<p>Communicating the key insights of cutting-edge science in ways that resonate can help create community support and public demand for investment in the early years.</p>
<p>There is <a href="http://frameworksinstitute.org/assets/files/Australia/au_mtg.pdf">great demand</a> for more information from parents, but we need to communicate these messages more effectively.</p>
<p>A national campaign could also help build community understanding of what high-quality early education looks like and why it matters. </p>
<p>Australia’s <a href="http://acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a> does a good job of setting benchmarks for a quality early education and care system, but is <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/rr28.pdf">not well understood</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://everyonebenefits.org.au/">Early Learning, Everyone Benefits</a> is a grassroots campaign aiming to shift community perceptions – government could fast track its impact by committing to ongoing funding to this vital education sector.</p>
<p>The challenge is to ensure workforce participation imperatives do not undermine access to quality early learning for all children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>Government funding of childcare is seen as something that helps get mums back into work, instead of setting children up for learning before they start school.Stacey Fox, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityMegan O'Connell, Policy Program Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/543032016-02-18T10:47:34Z2016-02-18T10:47:34ZWhen do children learn to write? Earlier than you might think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111699/original/image-20160216-19232-oxw3pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young children are writing even before they are reading.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/radioflyer007/1471652986/in/photolist-3f3Bam-s6Zvyc-8FtWXT-gnthDM-gnt16q-N7Zdr-8REmPR-8Fx75W-8FtVNR-8FtXST-73j5zZ-7UQuxP-7UQuw2-dsLkS6-dsLvqm-dr7ZBT-dsLvsG-mFcTct-mFcVyH-e6VpZi-e723Yf-2pMGZ-mFd5ji-mFd4QH-mFeWWh-mFdoe4-mFdncp-mFd6mZ-8NzkqD-8NCqQm-8NCqwY-drEKDL-drEAQ2-drEKBy-drEKCN-72pExw-73iUCK-8NCqNJ-8Nzk4k-8NzjTZ-8NCqs7-8NCqoU-8NCqgL-8NCqys-8NCqCh-8NzjVk-dRxssL-8N6Gmz-8N6GC6-8N9LH1">Steven Yeh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We typically think of writing as something that is out of reach for preschool children. After all, young children can’t write recognizable letters, and they can’t spell words. </p>
<p>We have been <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12478/abstract;jsessionid=01153C9AAA774A22DE550D06C0404C13.f04t02?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+unavailable+on+Saturday+27th+February+from+09%3A00-14%3A00+GMT+%2F+04%3A00-09%3A00+EST+%2F+17%3A00-22%3A00+SGT+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.&userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=">studying</a> young children’s knowledge about writing in our research. And we are finding that they know more about writing – even before they learn to read – than one might think. </p>
<h2>Writing is smaller than drawing</h2>
<p>Consider this production by a two-and-a-half-year-old American child, Sophia:</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111678/original/image-20160216-19269-1diyzm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111678/original/image-20160216-19269-1diyzm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111678/original/image-20160216-19269-1diyzm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111678/original/image-20160216-19269-1diyzm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111678/original/image-20160216-19269-1diyzm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111678/original/image-20160216-19269-1diyzm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111678/original/image-20160216-19269-1diyzm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sophia’s drawing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WUSTL Photo / Courtesy of Rebecca Treiman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sophia identified the large circular portion on the right as a drawing of a circle. She said that the portion with small squiggles on the bottom and near the left was writing. Sophia’s writing did not use recognizable letters, nor was she spelling any specific word.</p>
<p>However, she seemed to know that writing is generally smaller than drawing and that writing is arranged along a line. </p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1598/RRQ.43.1.5/abstract">Research has supported</a> what the example from Sophia suggests – that children as young as two or three years of age already know about some of the basic differences in appearance between writing and pictures. They try to reproduce these differences in their own attempts to write and draw. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111690/original/image-20160216-19245-3qdzak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111690/original/image-20160216-19245-3qdzak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111690/original/image-20160216-19245-3qdzak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111690/original/image-20160216-19245-3qdzak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111690/original/image-20160216-19245-3qdzak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111690/original/image-20160216-19245-3qdzak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111690/original/image-20160216-19245-3qdzak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children know from early on that writing is arranged along a line.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WUSTL Photo/Courtesy of Rebecca Treiman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2010.08.013">Consider a study</a> in which Chinese children were asked to write several words, such as “sun,” and also to draw pictures of those same things. Two- and three-year-old children’s attempts to write characters were far off the mark, bearing little resemblance to the correct characters. </p>
<p>However, children’s writings tended to be smaller than their drawings. The writings were also less curvy and more angular, angularity being a property of characters in Chinese. </p>
<p>Not only did children make different sorts of marks when writing than when drawing, they also chose different implements to do so. Specifically, children would often choose dark pens or pencils to write and colored crayons to draw.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111691/original/image-20160216-24635-1s8cs8k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111691/original/image-20160216-24635-1s8cs8k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111691/original/image-20160216-24635-1s8cs8k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111691/original/image-20160216-24635-1s8cs8k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111691/original/image-20160216-24635-1s8cs8k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111691/original/image-20160216-24635-1s8cs8k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111691/original/image-20160216-24635-1s8cs8k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children know the difference between writing and drawing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WUSTL Photo/Courtesy of Rebecca Treiman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In another part of this study, adults were shown the productions that the children had made. They were told that some of them were produced in response to a request to write and that others were produced in response to a request to draw. The adults were not told which was which, and their job was to guess. </p>
<p>The adults found the task to be difficult, which is not surprising. However, they performed better than would be expected by random guessing even with the productions of two- and three-year-old children.</p>
<p>Clearly, children were doing something different when writing than when drawing – different enough that adults could even detect some of the differences. </p>
<h2>Drawings can have different labels, words remain same</h2>
<p>Young children may know that writing generally looks different from writing, but the next question is: do they have any understanding that it functions differently? </p>
<p>One important property of writing is that it represents a specific word in a specific language. The written word “rabbit,” for example, stands for the spoken word “rabbit.” It would not be appropriate to read this word as “bunny.”</p>
<p>In contrast, we can look at a picture of a rabbit and say that it is a rabbit or a bunny or an animal – any one of these labels, or others, would be considered correct. </p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12478">In a recent study</a>, we examined children’s knowledge of this important difference between writing and drawing. The children in the study ranged from three to five years old, and they were not able to read words themselves. A researcher would show a child a written word such as the word rabbit and would read it to the child. </p>
<p>Later, when a puppet employed in the experiment read the word as “bunny,” many children picked up the mistake. In a similar task with drawings, children were more likely to say that the puppet was correct in using the alternative label.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111713/original/image-20160216-24635-2r38d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111713/original/image-20160216-24635-2r38d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111713/original/image-20160216-24635-2r38d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111713/original/image-20160216-24635-2r38d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111713/original/image-20160216-24635-2r38d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111713/original/image-20160216-24635-2r38d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111713/original/image-20160216-24635-2r38d8.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 know that writing and drawing function in different ways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/25011363125/in/photolist-E7aLSH-4Vu2kb-83Dx4q-i6yCh-dNjh4k-dNpRpf-dNpRwm-dNpRuS-dNjgTF-dNpRvh-dNpRCw-dNpRDN-dNjh1V-dNpRyC-pxrWN-LAMe1-4B6VnH-4ERSZL-27u8D-7HMQMS-27u4h-ehncU4-96n6Yn-fTaEiQ-6fMM6i-n9L9W-ikVsYr-8tE9z7-fy2ypE-2BzZNk-cJjCZ7-7LQBv7-94EcJg-8tB8ak-guJ9jQ-CQsC7Y-8mLSuL-befrR-8tB7Tg-fnywF-4kDvPm-9D9Xdv-3eYru-4kDvhh-5xp7ZC-3eYre-2wKYbU-t15jkU-5xjFzP-7xFbUV">Donnie Ray Jones</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The different results in the writing and drawing tasks suggest that young children have some understanding that a written word stands for one specific unit of language in a way that a drawing does not. </p>
<p>They are beginning to understand that, while a written word should be read the same way each time, it is sometimes appropriate to use different labels for a drawing. Importantly, children begin to acquire this understanding even before they can sound out words themselves.</p>
<h2>Encouraging children to write</h2>
<p>Parents and teachers sometimes dismiss children’s early productions as scribbles – signs of a lack of knowledge about how to write and how to draw. </p>
<p>Reading activities are common in preschools, and parents appreciate the importance of reading to their young children. The value of writing is less widely appreciated. Reading activities are more common than writing activities in preschools. And parents too tend to give more importance to reading. Preschool writing activities may be limited to having children write their names. </p>
<p>The research we have reviewed, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.43.1.5">together with other findings</a>, shows that children begin to learn about some of the visible distinctions between writing and drawing from an early age. Our research shows that from a surprisingly young age, children have some knowledge about what writing looks like and how it functions. That is, young children know more about writing than we might think. There is more to their scribbles than meets the eye. </p>
<p>Preschool teachers and parents can build on the knowledge that children have. If we know what to look for, we can acknowledge what children already know, for example by saying, “You did a good job of writing on a line here.” This can help children advance to the next step. </p>
<p> </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54303/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Don’t dismiss children’s early writing as scribbles. Children know more about writing, even before they learn to read.Rebecca Treiman, Burke and Elizabeth High Baker Professor of Child Developmental Psychology, Washington University in St. LouisLori Markson, Associate Professor of Psychology, Washington University in St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/543222016-02-09T23:17:09Z2016-02-09T23:17:09ZEarly childhood education is key to closing the gaps<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110878/original/image-20160209-12616-pouqya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Preschool attendance has been shown to improve literacy and numeracy for Indigenous children.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Neda Vanovac</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year’s <a href="http://closingthegap.dpmc.gov.au/">Closing the Gap report</a> delivers a result that has become all too familiar in comparing outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians: not enough progress is being made. There is improvement in some areas, but stagnation in others.</p>
<p>The government is right to highlight progress reducing infant mortality (which is on track to meet its target) and the fact that Indigenous children are more likely to have been immunised than non-Indigenous children by the age of five. Make no mistake: if sustained, these are massive achievements.</p>
<p>But other areas such as early childhood education, school attendance, literacy and numeracy, employment and life expectancy are not on target. This is a policy failure and a societal failure.</p>
<p>What the report doesn’t mention is that <a href="http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Publications/census-papers/2015CP18.php">the changing structure</a> of the Indigenous population is in most cases making change looking more positive than it otherwise would be. Without these demographic shifts, the story would probably be even worse. </p>
<p>It is tempting when looking at the year-on-year progress to become despondent, to feel that nothing works, or to assume it must be the fault of Indigenous Australians that the gaps aren’t closing. To consider perhaps <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2016/feb/09/well-never-close-the-gap-until-we-start-again-with-indigenous-policy">starting again on policy</a>. But, as <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/closing-the-gap-indigenous-leaders-appeal-to-turnbull-for-engagement-amid-crisis-20160209-gmpqf2.html">argued</a> by Mick Gooda, that would ignore that there has been positive change, especially in the <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/history/economic-history/cambridge-economic-history-australia">long run</a>. It would also be a terrible disservice to the fantastic work that thousands of Indigenous Australians are doing for their people at the community, regional, state/territory and national level. </p>
<p>One example of this is early childhood education (ECE). In an <a href="http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Publications/WP/2015WP103.php">analysis</a> that I co-authored with Lilia Arcos-Holzinger, we undertook the first investigation (that we know of) to document the effects of early education on a range of cognitive and developmental outcomes of Indigenous children. </p>
<p>This work utilised a rich set of data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (<a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/publications-articles/research-publications/longitudinal-data-initiatives/footprints-in-time-the-longitudinal-study-of-indigenous-children-lsic">LSIC</a>), also known as Footprints in Time. If you aren’t aware of <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/national-centre-for-longitudinal-data/footprints-in-time-the-longitudinal-study-of-indigenous-children-lsic/key-summary-report-from-wave-1-2009">the dataset</a>, then it is worth looking into, as it is another example of thousands of Indigenous carers (and interviewers) making a significant investment in time to provide information to “improve the understanding of, and policy response to, the diverse circumstances faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, their families and communities”. </p>
<p>Our study, while not reaching the “gold standard” of a policy trial, yields insights into the effect of early childhood education over the short term (two years after ECE participation) and over the longer term (three to five years after ECE participation). </p>
<p>The results indicate that preschool attendance has a strong positive association with reading and literacy outcomes in the short term. But it does not have any significant association with developmental outcomes in the short term. On the other hand, childcare attendance has no observed cognitive or behavioural effects in the short term.</p>
<p>In the longer term, we find evidence that both preschool and childcare participation were positively associated with reading and literacy, as well as maths and abstract reasoning. Both preschool and childcare participation also had a positive association with developmental outcomes, especially in terms of children demonstrating fewer behavioural difficulties.</p>
<p>An important finding is that the type of institution matters, as does the number of hours attended. Relative to preschools, childcare centres often do not have a capped maximum hours of attendance, a structured educational curriculum, or strict qualification requirements for staff. And we found some evidence that long hours of childcare attendance have a detrimental effect on the developmental outcomes of children.</p>
<p>In general, favourable cognitive and developmental effects were consistently more significant for preschool than for childcare participation. But Indigenous children still attend preschool at much lower rates than non-Indigenous children. </p>
<p>Our current early education system is widening, not narrowing, gaps later in life. We know some of the reasons for this. These include income constraints, location, curriculum that isn’t always relevant, and experiences of <a href="http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Publications/WP/2011WP77.php">discrimination</a>. Without closing this gap, there is no hope that other gaps will be closed, regardless of how much money we spend. </p>
<p>It is heartening, therefore, that a new target of 95% early childhood education attendance for all Indigenous four-year-olds was announced in the latest report. Our <a href="http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Publications/census-papers/2013CP7.php-0">analysis</a> and data in the report show that gaps in preschool participation are greatest in regional and urban areas, and that the previous focus on remote areas was inadequate. </p>
<p>It is time to rethink our approach to Indigenous affairs. It has been said many times before that this starts with listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on goals, aspirations and priorities. It also involves building on the best available evidence and rigorously trialling and evaluating programs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Biddle has worked on projects that have been funded by Commonwealth and State/Territory governments. The views expressed in this piece are, however, his own. </span></em></p>The Closing the Gap report shows a mix of successes and failures, but early childhood education holds the key to significant progress.Nicholas Biddle, Fellow, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/533842016-02-07T19:06:05Z2016-02-07T19:06:05ZChildren as young as four can learn how to avoid getting ill, if they understand why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109636/original/image-20160129-27351-1jc2p1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Asking your child to wash their hands before they eat isn’t useful unless they know why it’s important.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Learning about illness is unlike learning about other things: it requires children to reason about objects like “germs” that they can’t see or touch.</p>
<p>Although children have some difficulty of grasping the concept of illness and how illness is transmitted, children begin to learn about it in the preschool years. </p>
<p>At first, they acquire very basic knowledge about illness transmission, and can provide accurate explanations for how someone might have gotten sick. </p>
<p>For example, when <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010028508000467">researchers</a> asked a group of preschool-aged children how another child might have become sick after a sequence of events, even three year olds were able to list accurate explanations for contracting the illness, spontaneously citing germs or contact with a bodily fluid. </p>
<p>But preschoolers’ knowledge isn’t quite complete and they still make mistakes. </p>
<p>For example, the same three year olds had trouble making predictions about who would get sick a day later based on whether they engaged in a risk behavior like eating a contaminated food. </p>
<p>Other studies have shown that five year olds have trouble differentiating between various illnesses, and think that non-contagious illnesses like <a href="jbd.sagepub.com/content/32/5/443.short">cancer</a> and mental illnesses like <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/026151009X461366/pdf">depression</a> are as contagious as the common cold. </p>
<p>It isn’t until a few years later that children acquire a more sophisticated understanding of illness transmission and can make predictions about how engaging in risky behaviours might make someone sick, and differentiate between illnesses that are contagious and illnesses that are not.</p>
<h2>How children behave when faced with contamination</h2>
<p>Children’s behavior seems to lag a bit behind their verbal understanding of illness transmission, and preschoolers are generally happy to engage with objects — even foods — that have been contaminated. </p>
<p>In one <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/21/6/1075/">study</a>, researchers presented three- to 12-year-old children with a glass of apple juice and systematically put various objects into the juice. They later asked the children if they wanted to take a drink. It wasn’t until age six that most children rejected the juice when a dead grasshopper was visibly floating inside, and even then, some of the older children still drank it. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666314007831">Similarly</a>, another study showed that after watching a video of two actors eating applesauce out of two bowls, two- and four-year-old children ate applesauce from both, including one that had been sneezed in by one of the actors. </p>
<p>It was not until ages five to eight that children ate more applesauce from the clean bowl than from the contaminated bowl; and even then, most of them still ate some of applesauce from the bowl that was sneezed in. </p>
<h2>Teaching children to stay healthy</h2>
<p>Most preschool-aged children don’t necessarily understand illness transmission and how to actively take steps to avoid getting sick until middle childhood–not until children are older than six or seven.</p>
<p>However, my own research suggests that we can teach kids as young as four some healthy habits if we give them the right kind of information. </p>
<p>We <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022096515002593">found</a> that four- to seven-year-old children who knew that touching a sick person might make them sick later avoided touching the toys of an experimenter who they thought might have a cold. </p>
<p>Even the youngest children who happened to know that interacting with a sick person could make them sick avoided contact with a potentially sick experimenter. The implication here is that even children as young as four and five are capable of learning how illnesses spread; most of them just haven’t yet. </p>
<h2>Tips for parents</h2>
<p>Children do not <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010028508000224">learn much</a> if you just teach them a list of dos and don’ts, like “wash your hands before you eat,” or “don’t go outside without a hat”. </p>
<p>The key is to explain why something like washing your hands might be useful. In other words, you can tell a child to wash their hands before they eat, but it might not be effective in promoting healthy behaviour unless you tell them that exactly what they are washing off and how it could make them sick. </p>
<p>In the end, talking to children specifically about germs and how germs spread might be the most effective strategy in promoting healthy behaviours, even in preschoolers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa LoBue 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 don’t learn much about how illnesses spread if they are just taught a list of dos and don’ts. They need to know why an action is useful.Vanessa LoBue, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/533252016-01-22T11:02:57Z2016-01-22T11:02:57ZWhen do children show evidence of self-esteem? Earlier than you might think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108722/original/image-20160120-26089-1yqm1wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where does self-esteem in children come from?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/digphotos/20170840366/in/photolist-wJqQ6L-4Ceph4-95wiv3-92jR57-9aTDgi-3S8XZD-5TLNbX-4EfNkp-6KBWCE-baFaCV-gptiGK-bCFHKR-6HNAAT-fqYyin-qG1aYF-b9w1tF-beMxS6-qKgnBg-on4ojV-aYawX2-4uMJq1-b5UNNM-5F3MbH-7m84pT-hUYSu9-a4FfAz-4HqWH8-ydpo1v-dzmv9X-gEVnAC-cjqv2C-wzXWKq-8xriyq-bQu5WH-6FVAig-qF9qp-5uNGWv-tU37Hc-iARCSo-5EV2NQ-dvNb5i-8SjP45-q4dj5-Bc2MW-ehQoQX-6J1aGD-bD1duV-9qtHNs-6DEpxh-cz6cEY">Saulo Victor</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A YouTube clip called “Jessica’s Daily Affirmation” recently went viral. The clip shows a four-year-old Jessica standing in front of the bathroom mirror saying what makes her happy about herself. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qR3rK0kZFkg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jessica’s Daily Affirmation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many youngsters, like Jessica, seem to exude positive feelings about their abilities – they happily report that they are good at running, jumping, drawing, math or music. </p>
<p>However, the belief in being good at certain concrete skills could be different from a more general sense of self-worth or what scientists call “positive self-esteem.” For example, at early ages, children can report “I’m good at running” or “I’m good with letters.” But preschoolers might not be able to answer questions about their overall sense of self-worth.</p>
<p>So, when do kids develop a sense of self-esteem and how can we measure it? </p>
<p>Our research has developed new ways to study what kids think about themselves. Parents, make a note: our <a href="http://ilabs.uw.edu/sites/default/files/CG_and_M_2016_Self_Esteem_JESP.pdf">results show</a> that most kids develop a sense of self-esteem – feeling good or bad about oneself – as early as age five, before they even enter kindergarten.</p>
<h2>Measuring self-esteem in young children</h2>
<p>Measuring children’s self-esteem can be challenging because it seems to require a certain level of introspection and verbal abilities. We found a way of getting around this by measuring children’s deeper and more implicit sense of self-esteem, something that did not require answering verbal questions.</p>
<p>For example, in adults, self-esteem is often measured by asking people to rate their <a href="http://fetzer.org/sites/default/files/images/stories/pdf/selfmeasures/Self_Measures_for_Self-Esteem_ROSENBERG_SELF-ESTEEM.pdf">agreement with statements</a> such as, “I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others,” or “I take a positive attitude toward myself.”</p>
<p>But preschoolers have difficulty answering such verbal questions. Cognitive and verbal skills required for such answers do not develop before age eight. </p>
<p>So, rather than relying on asking children verbal questions, we developed a new tool called the <a href="http://ilabs.uw.edu/sites/default/files/Cvencek%26al.PSIAT_.JECP_.2011.pdf">“Preschool Implicit Association Test”</a> (the PSIAT) to measure children’s implicit self-esteem. The value of this measure was that it did not require children to verbally describe how they felt about themselves.</p>
<p>Here’s how we did it.</p>
<p>We gave two sets of small colored flags (see below), each set symbolizing “me” and “not me” to 234 children.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108719/original/image-20160120-26125-dkpfrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108719/original/image-20160120-26125-dkpfrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108719/original/image-20160120-26125-dkpfrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108719/original/image-20160120-26125-dkpfrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108719/original/image-20160120-26125-dkpfrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108719/original/image-20160120-26125-dkpfrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108719/original/image-20160120-26125-dkpfrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Child’s view of the apparatus used in the test.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reprinted from Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 62, Cvencek, D., Greenwald, A. G., & Meltzoff, A. N., Implicit measures for preschool children confirm self-esteem’s role in maintaining a balanced identity, 50–57, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These children then were asked to respond to a series of “good” (fun, happy and nice) and “bad” (mad, mean and yucky) words from a loudspeaker by pressing buttons. This procedure measured how closely the children associated the “good” words with the “me” flags.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108720/original/image-20160120-26089-1eb0gli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108720/original/image-20160120-26089-1eb0gli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108720/original/image-20160120-26089-1eb0gli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108720/original/image-20160120-26089-1eb0gli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108720/original/image-20160120-26089-1eb0gli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108720/original/image-20160120-26089-1eb0gli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108720/original/image-20160120-26089-1eb0gli.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A five-year-old tested at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Copyright (2011) University of Washington.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This procedure is a variation of the adult <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/agg/pdf/Gwald_McGh_Schw_JPSP_1998.OCR.pdf">Implicit Association Test</a>, a social psychology measure widely used to reveal <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blindspot-Hidden-Biases-Good-People/dp/0553804642">hidden biases</a> in adults about race, religion, self and other topics by asking participants to quickly categorize words from different categories.</p>
<p>We found that more than 90 percent of five-year-old preschoolers linked themselves with the “good” words, which indicated positive self-esteem. It also showed us that most kids develop a measurable sense of self-esteem by age five. </p>
<p>Our test provides researchers a reliable way of examining the earliest glimpses of how preschoolers develop a sense of their self-worth.</p>
<h2>People with high self-esteem more resilient</h2>
<p>So, why is self-esteem important for children?</p>
<p>A healthy self-esteem can provide an emotional buffer to setbacks and enable children to develop resilience toward failures. In adults, self-esteem has been shown to predict an individual’s <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/articles/The%20Thrill%20of%20Victory.pdf">reactions to success and failure</a>. People who have high self-esteem persist more after experiencing a setback than do people who have low self-esteem. </p>
<p>In young children, such a relationship between resilience and self-esteem may be especially important to early learning and education.</p>
<p>For example, few first graders consistently score 100 percent on all tests, and few preschoolers are as skilled as their older siblings. We believe that such micro-setbacks can be buffered by positive self-esteem. </p>
<p>Because self-esteem tends to remain <a href="http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/emot/robins_trz.selfesteemdevel_curidr2005.pdf">relatively stable across one’s lifespan</a>, its early establishment could potentially provide a lifelong emotional buffer in the face of everyday failures and challenges.</p>
<h2>The importance of self-esteem</h2>
<p>How do children develop their sense of self-esteem?</p>
<p>Young kids care a lot about others <a href="http://ilabs.uw.edu/meltzoff/07Meltzoff_Like_Me_Theory.pdf">“like me,”</a> and this may even start in infancy. We also know from <a href="http://ilabs.uw.edu/sites/default/files/13Meltzoff%20Self_Other%20Theory%20chapter.pdf">other research</a> that infants and toddlers can judge the extent to which others are like them along several dimensions. </p>
<p>This lays the foundation for developing social relationships and a sense of belonging. These feelings, combined with warm and consistent care, help children develop <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2008-13837-016">feelings of attachment</a> to their parents, which may further pave the way for the development of positive self-esteem. We found <a href="http://ilabs.washington.edu/kuhl/pdf/2009_Meltzoff_etal.pdf">the first five years</a> to be critical in laying the foundation for this social-emotional development.</p>
<p>Positive self-esteem can help in other ways as well.</p>
<p>For preschoolers, it is important to feel that they are part of a group. In this way they can navigate the social world more easily. Children, just like adults, tend to prefer those groups to which they belong.</p>
<p>Scientists call this an in-group preference. In-groups in adults can be based on race, nationality, religion, etc. In children, we found a strong in-group preference based on gender, and it was linked to self-esteem.</p>
<p>This shows that self-esteem is systematically related to other fundamental aspects of one’s personality very early in development. We believe that self-esteem is one of the mental tools children use to create a sense of identity and belonging with social groups. In other words, at an early age, children mirror <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/agg/pdf/UnifiedTheory.2002.pdf">adult patterns of psychological organization</a>. This is something they bring to kindergarten with them and don’t learn in school.</p>
<p>Giving kids a good start in life may be one of the most important gifts that parents can provide to their child: children who feel loved by others will likely internalize this love to love themselves.</p>
<p>Jessica from the YouTube video is but one compelling reminder of just how inspiring a young child’s positive self-view can be. And it is the foundation for so much more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dario Cvencek receives funding from NSF and UW Ready Mind Project</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew N. Meltzoff receives funding from NSF and UW Ready Mind Project</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony G. Greenwald is affiliated with Project Implicit, Inc. (non-profit)</span></em></p>Parents take note: most kids develop a sense of self-esteem as early as age five.Dario Cvencek, Research Scientist, University of WashingtonAndrew N. Meltzoff, Professor and Co-Director, Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of WashingtonAnthony Greenwald, Professor of Psychology, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/516462015-12-04T11:10:17Z2015-12-04T11:10:17ZHere’s how screen time is changing the way kids tell stories<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104316/original/image-20151203-22452-671u3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much screen time should kids get?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ticoneva/5581238453/in/photolist-9vciKc-czxg1y-cNCt2f-cEdiHw-9vfjhG-d8xR6q-cFoHN1-cFizYW-8HHKcW-8h3VKq-oHHVrV-9vfjn3-psg5Zp-dGhh3n-9vfjpb-9vciQ4-b9wfxp-pPqUYq-oaR3RE-rNwbmw-rwtr7X-ryff9m-rwubKt-b9wcMV-b9wY7D-b9wzna-adf5Rs-b9wzc2-b9wCVn-b9ws7r-b9wdHv-b9wofn-b9wWhM-b9woPx-b9wrUg-b9wA7n-b9wBVF-b9wzyB-b9wXWn-b9wTRZ-b9wbFz-b9w7TH-b9wBHa-b9wKde-b9wYic-b9wXAc-b9wAhT-b9waAB-b9wCJD-b9wejM">Yan Chi Vinci Chow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently, at a child’s birthday party, I overheard a conversation between parents discussing their concern about “screen time.” </p>
<p>Phones, computers, iPads and the good old television are all around us. And this can be a source of anxiety for parents, caregivers and teachers. A recent <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx">report</a> from the <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx">American Academy of Pediatrics</a> suggests the amount of time young children spend viewing television and movies and playing on handheld devices is increasing. </p>
<p>As an early childhood media researcher, an early childhood teacher educator and a parent, I understand these concerns. But, I believe, it is equally important that we consider how children are learning from the time spent in front of the screen. </p>
<p>My research shows that children are creating complex oral stories through the characters they see on screen.</p>
<h2>Educational opportunities in “screen time”</h2>
<p>A number of <a href="http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9780805839364/">studies</a> show how viewing television and other media can contribute to children’s learning. Children have been known to improve their math and literacy skills from watching “educational” shows such as Sesame Street. </p>
<p>When children watch educational programs and interact with apps that promote learning, they make gains in literacy, numeracy and vocabulary. A <a href="http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201205/McManis_YC0512.pdf">recent article</a> in Young Children, a publication of the <a href="http://www.naeyc.org/">National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)</a> (a nonprofit organization that works to promote early learning), shows how children can gain several skills through experience with computers and handheld devices. </p>
<p>These devices can facilitate better language and literacy outcomes, such as letter recognition, listening, comprehension and vocabulary. When children play games that link letter sounds to written letters, it can increase their ability to hear and identify individual sounds – skills children need in order to read.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How are children interpreting television show characters?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/208917634/in/photolist-jsKWb-8wTXNJ-iHbn7m-8vw4mN-8vsCQR-8vwHnS-8vugpH-8uYX9q-aPFrM4-dUBkDB-8vvoaR-8vv6gX-8wQWZn-8wTXJy-dEQpbD-8w36Fd-8vsUSp-8vsJTt-8vupkr-hE5oza-bzDq69-am7ALL-9ozHnq-8vuFTD-8vvfSM-auo7zn-9JutQm-8vta3M-8vsETH-8vwNRd-8vt3Rn-6Kathh-aJPPrK-kBySf8-9eNTXx-8vyodS-8vxQn7-8vuJWV-8vxHZ5-8vtBUp-8vyoRj-8vydqG-8vv83p-8MK4qC-8wQXkB-57XARs-cRXbMd-bsexcT-8vtyRx-8vtw32">woodleywonderworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers <a href="http://www.readinghalloffame.org/sites/default/files/yokota__teale-rt_may_2014.pdf">show</a> that children learn from both print and digital picture books. Digital storybooks (e-books) that pair spoken word with pictures and print text can enhance vocabulary. </p>
<p>Apps that allow a “read-along” experience, for example, can help children develop a <a href="http://www.literacyandtechnology.org/uploads/1/3/6/8/136889/jlt_v15_3.pdf">better understanding</a> of concepts about stories and print, especially if they have printed text that children can see. E-books that highlight words as they are read, help young children learn that print is read from left to right in English.</p>
<h2>Children learn from superheroes as well</h2>
<p>But it is important to realize that it is not just “educational” television and media from which children learn. Children pick up ideas from television (even television not considered “educational”) and use them to enhance literacy.</p>
<p>Children can learn from superheroes, too. Researcher on early childhood learning <a href="http://education.illinois.edu/faculty/ahdyson">Anne Haas Dyson</a> found that <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807736392.shtml">seven- to nine-year-old children</a>] took the superheroes they watched on cartoons and brought them into their fiction writing and dramatic play. </p>
<p>Her research shows children, like adults, often use media and media characters as tools. With the help of their teacher, children brought their home life and interests into school to make their writing come to life. </p>
<p>Dyson’s research demonstrates that when allowed, children <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807742805.shtml">use media</a> – songs, characters from their favorite shows and movies – as a way to enhance their “school learning.” </p>
<p>My own <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540253.2014.949634">research</a> demonstrates how preschool children take unlikely characters in popular television shows and movies and blend them together to create complex oral stories. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children bring what they learn from superheroes into fiction writing and dramatic play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrtea/572531978/in/photolist-4hFBue-f8kESr-7p34Lx-4VMBYX-dXWT7r-qHP1EX-7z3mTX-5WgaCb-SAnP1-8k5ddv-7y4AZN-LTBoH-9ZVsTq-o2JbF-4iAQTq-7uqB8b-96Vp7M-6cksVM-6fSaKB-xLDeCZ-5QTVF">Stephen Train</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I spent nearly a year in a preschool to observe how three- to five-year-old preschool children talked and thought about television, movies and handheld devices. These preschool children often talked about characters from a wide range of television shows and movies.</p>
<p>For example, one preschooler, I observed, “borrowed” <a href="http://disneychannel.disney.com/hannah-montana">Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana</a>, a tween rockstar, as the protagonist in her tale. After introducing Hannah Montana, she brought Boots (the monkey from <a href="http://www.nickjr.com/dora-the-explorer/">Dora the Explorer</a>, a preschool cartoon) into her story. She spun a story in which Hannah Montana and Boots battled and ultimately defeated a villainous monster from a movie. </p>
<p>Preschoolers took ideas from shows such as Sesame Street, Mickey mouse Clubhouse, cartoons featuring Spiderman, Tinkerbell and Spongebob. Some combined these with shows that older siblings and family members watched such as action movies, professional wrestling and even monster movies.</p>
<p>Rather than repeating what they saw on television, they brought ideas from their own community to make new stories. </p>
<p>The stories children saw and the characters they knew from television also allowed them to relate to other children. Superheroes, characters from Frozen and other popular culture characters can give children from diverse backgrounds a common (and exciting) topic in which to <a href="https://rowman.com/isbn/9781475807967">create play scenarios</a>.</p>
<p>And this play involves negotiating and talking with other children about characters and plot, which in turn enhances oral language. Oral language is a crucial aspect of literacy for young children. </p>
<h2>How should adults monitor screen-time?</h2>
<p>Although research shows the way in which children learn from media, there are also legitimate concerns about what children see on these screens. </p>
<p>Media is created from viewpoints and stances that may not always be acceptable to parents and teachers. Media can show people in inaccurate and stereotypical lights. </p>
<p>So what should adults do with all of the media content coming into their children’s lives?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415539517">Research</a> with preschoolers has shown that conversations allow a child to examine who is being shown in media and the way they are being shown. And it is important to note that <a href="http://cie.sagepub.com/content/14/2/138.abstract">children’s</a> view of these stereotypes often depends on their home lives and environments. These conversations are important for children. </p>
<p>Adults also need to recognize that screen time is one way for children to learn. It is certainly not the only way. The American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx">suggests</a> that children should engage with entertainment media for no more than one or two hours per day. </p>
<p>As they note, it is important for kids to spend time on outdoor play, reading, hobbies and using their imaginations in free play. Children need rich experiences in their lives and <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/ve/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/sociolinguistics/words-work-and-play-three-decades-family-and-community-life">interactions</a> with other people. Screens cannot make up for this.</p>
<p>Children need a healthy balance. While we should be careful in flinging open the gates of media, we should be equally concerned about chaining them shut.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison S Henward 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 shows that preschool children take characters from popular television shows and movies and blend them together to create complex oral stories.Allison S Henward, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/426142015-06-24T20:15:21Z2015-06-24T20:15:21ZHow do you know when your child is ready for school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83484/original/image-20150601-17793-1j8ip7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do you want your child to be the oldest or youngest in the class?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The move from preschool to primary school can be a daunting experience for many children. A child’s success or failure in adapting to primary school has the potential to shape their educational, social and emotional futures. As such, it is important that every child has the best possible chance of adjusting successfully during this important transition in their early life.</p>
<p>One of the most hotly debated issues at this time in a child’s life is the age of entry into the first year of primary school. There is no national standard school starting age. Every state of Australia has its own process for transition from preschool to primary school, although there are similarities. </p>
<p>In Victoria, for example, children are accepted for their first Foundation year of school if they turn five by April 30 of the year of enrolment. That means, and is also the case in other states, that in the Foundation classroom there are likely to be children who turn five and others who turn six in that year. </p>
<p>It’s no wonder parents often ask whether to hold back their child so they are one of the oldest children in the class, not one of the youngest.</p>
<h2>So what are the signs of being ready?</h2>
<p>A school-ready child is likely to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>have a positive school attitude (like going to preschool)</p></li>
<li><p>participate willingly in classroom activities</p></li>
<li><p>actively engage in their learning (as opposed to being passive and having to take direction from the educator all the time)</p></li>
<li><p>have good social and emotional skills – can make friends and most of the time play cooperatively, follow simple instructions and rules, show empathy, manage strong feelings like frustration and disappointment without becoming aggressive or withdrawn, and separate from parent without distress (are able to start the day at preschool and continue through the day with a level of confidence)</p></li>
<li><p>be able to concentrate adequately when completing classroom tasks or activities and can move from one activity to the next as needed</p></li>
<li><p>have adequate physical health and motor development.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Often parents feel the pressure for their child to know all the letters of the alphabet, to be able to read and write letters and simple words, and to know their numbers and be able to count. However, there is no mention of being able to read and write in the description of the “school-ready” child – and that was not a mistake.</p>
<p>While the natural curiosity of a child may lead a child to this learning prior to school, it’s okay if it doesn’t. All children are ready to learn from birth – it’s just a matter of what they are ready to learn. </p>
<p>Forced learning that is not fun for children should be avoided. If this means a child starts school not knowing all their letters, or not knowing how to draw human figures, or read simple words, that’s not something to be concerned about: they will learn that at primary school. </p>
<p>On the other hand, parents are wise to pay attention to the social and emotional skills that build resilience in children and make them competent “social beings”. </p>
<p>These help children transition to the new, large and sometimes challenging social environment of school. Being able to manage that transition so it is enriching rather than daunting for the child is important for longer-term educational outcomes.</p>
<h2>Is the school ready for the child?</h2>
<p>School readiness needs to be considered from a broader family context. Parents need to consider family circumstances, including any special needs such as illnesses or losses, or occurrences such as relocation, that may influence their child’s emotional start to school.</p>
<p>When children or families have special needs, it’s important to be confident their school can accommodate special circumstances and support the needs of the child. </p>
<p>If parents are in doubt about whether their child is ready for school, the best person to talk to is their preschool teacher. There are child development experts who can be consulted but your child’s teacher will know your child best.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Skouteris receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and Rotary. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer McIntosh receives funding from The National Health and Medical Research Council.
In addition to her position with Deakin University, she is Director of Family Transitions, a private psychology clinic, and of the Children Beyond Dispute online program.</span></em></p>There’s no national school starting age in Australia, so how do you know when to send them to school?Helen Skouteris, Professor, Deakin UniversityJennifer McIntosh, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/350332015-03-05T19:26:52Z2015-03-05T19:26:52ZWhy Swedish early learning is so much better than Australia’s<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73865/original/image-20150304-15267-136xjvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A combination of education and care makes Sweden's early childhood education so much better than Australia's</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ebba Dahlqvist</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most people have heard that Finland leads the world in education, but fewer have heard that Finland’s neighbour, Sweden, is the international leader in early childhood education and care. </p>
<p>In 1999, when Sweden was inspected by a group of international experts appointed by the OECD, the group <a href="http://www.buv.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.44671.1320915819!/OMEP_Brno_0504.pdf">concluded in their report</a> that early childhood education and care in Sweden are of high quality, and in many areas the very best. The system is called “<a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001879/187923e.pdf">EDUCARE</a>”, and the name itself may hold the key to Sweden’s success.</p>
<h2>Education and care go together in early childhood</h2>
<p>In the picture below, taken at a Swedish preschool, you see a warm and loving interaction between a teacher and young child who are exploring the world together through a digital camera. They are both enjoying themselves and they are both learning. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&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="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Swedish EDUCARE is a way of respecting young children as full human beings. While the <a href="http://www.government.se/content/1/c6/09/10/62/322638cd.pdf">benefits of this system for Swedish society</a> are certainly impressive, the success of the system rests on a firm belief in the human right of every child to be given the very best care, upbringing and education that the nation can offer.</p>
<p>The Swedish government and public alike consider EDUCARE essential, but it took decades of political work to become the <a href="http://www.government.se/content/1/c6/09/10/62/322638cd.pdf">well-established system that it is today</a>. Historically, EDUCARE began in much the same ways that early childhood education systems began in many other countries.</p>
<p>The child Crèche, designed to keep poor children off the streets, and the Kindergarten, for wealthy children, merged and expanded in the 1970s and 1980s in the hope this would improve <a href="http://www.government.se/content/1/c6/09/10/62/322638cd.pdf">economic, social, political and educational situations in the nation</a>. </p>
<p>A primary cause of the change was the fact that women wanted to be more involved in the labour force. However, when this transition occurred in Sweden, people took to the streets to fight for the right of <em>all</em> children to a good and stimulating play and learning environment, not just the children of professional women.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer?id=2704">first national Swedish preschool curriculum</a> was accepted <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer?id=2704">in 1998</a> and became an essential resource for early childhood educators and policy makers worldwide.</p>
<p>The Swedish national preschool <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer?id=2704">curriculum</a> has no prescribed goals for individual children to reach by a certain age. Instead, it states “goals to strive for”. Assessments of EDUCARE are not “top down”, but require and value teachers’, parents’ and children’s opinions and experiences. </p>
<h2>What are the benefits of this system?</h2>
<p>This results in a space for every Swedish child in a preschool that is:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>accessible</p></li>
<li><p>high quality</p></li>
<li><p>staffed by teachers with a 3.5-year university education and by educated assistant teachers</p></li>
<li><p>shaped by respect for each child as a competent person in his or her own right, not just a receptacle for knowledge but a contributor and a creator</p></li>
<li><p>in possession of high-quality material conditions: Swedish preschools are remarkably well designed and appointed.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Today <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/37423778.pdf">83% of Swedish children</a> aged one to six are in preschool, and <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/andra-sprak-och-lattlast/in-english">95% of three to six year olds</a> are in preschool. Children start school at the age of seven, as their first year outside of the preschool is in a preschool class that is housed either in a preschool or within a school and is designed especially for children aged six to seven.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/andra-sprak-och-lattlast/in-english/the-swedish-education-system/preschool">Almost all (99%)</a> Swedish children attend high-quality leisure centres during non-school hours. These centres, like the preschools, are open from 6.30am-6pm year round. The preschool fee is 2-3% of a family’s income, before tax, for the first child, and then less for each child after that, with a maximum fee for the first child of 139 EUR a month, for the second child of 93 EUR a month, and for the third child of 47 EUR a month. Fourth children and beyond <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/andra-sprak-och-lattlast/in-english/the-swedish-education-system/preschool">attend preschool for free</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/05_03_01.pdf">International studies</a> have consistently shown that a high-quality preschool experience has a myriad of short-term and long-term positive effects for children, <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/312/5782/1900.short">particularly for children with special needs</a>. </p>
<p>Wider economic benefits have also been proven. <a href="http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/about-us/directory/professor-edward-melhuish/">Research evidence</a> shows that when children have access to quality early childhood education they can expect better school success, a decreased crime rate, less substance abuse and increased long-term employment – <a href="http://heckmanequation.org/content/resource/invest-early-childhood-development-reduce-deficits-strengthen-economy">all positives for the economy</a>.</p>
<p>If not out of consideration for the human rights of children, then out of consideration for the many economic benefits of a good childcare system and the future benefits for children and families, all countries should strive for reform of their early childhood education and care systems. Sweden can provide us with a model and vision for such reform. One of the OECD-appointed researchers of the Swedish system went so far as to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If I were to be a child again, I would like to be raised in Sweden.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>Further reading on what Australia can learn from education overseas:</em></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lesson-from-canada-why-australia-should-have-fewer-selective-schools-35534">The lesson from Canada: why Australia should have fewer selective schools</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/should-aussie-kids-go-on-us-style-summer-camps-35497">Should Aussie kids go on US-style summer camps?</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35033/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>Most people have heard that Finland leads the world in education, but fewer have heard that Finland’s neighbour, Sweden, is the international leader in early childhood education and care.Monica Nilsson, Assoc Professor School of Education and Communication, Jönköping UniversityBeth Ferholt, Assistant Professor, Brooklyn CollegeKarin Alnervik, PhD in Education, School of Communication and Education, Jönköping UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.