Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government

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e a rliest ye a r s’ 1 , is the children themselve sand effe ct i ve pra ct i ce, this is what weh ave focused on in the rev i ew of re s e a rc hl i te rat u re.The re s e a rch re po rts used arel a rg e ly, though not exc l u s i ve ly, f rom theU K , No rth Am e ri ca ,Au s t ralasia and otherEu ro pean co u nt ri e s, (in other wo rds thei n d u s t rialised and info rm ation societies ofthe Mi n o ri ty Wo rl d ).In all we have prov i d e dre fe re n ces to more than 500 re s e a rc hre po rts and books about childre n’s learn i n gand deve l o p m e nt be tween birth and thre eye a r s. Our search of the data bases yieldedthousands of studies, m a ny of which wehad to eliminate (see Ap pendix ).Th u st h e re is a huge body of wo rk which co u l dh ave been included, but be cause of timeand space co n s t ra i nts some aspe cts we red e l i be rate ly eliminated and some art i c l e sl e ft to one side be cause their messageswe re alre a dy loud and clear from otherwo rk – we apo l ogise in adva n ce to thosewhose wo rk would have been includedg i ven more time. In addition, the focus hasbeen on the children themselves andalthough articles about po l i cy, for ex a m p l e,discuss issues which impinge on the live sof the childre n , these have not be e ncove re d, nor some of the more spe c i a l i s e dre s e a rc h ,such as that pe rtaining top a rticular medical co n d i t i o n s. Even someof the areas included could have be e nco n s i d e red in gre ater depth but we hopereaders will appre c i ate that each to p i ccould be – and often is – the focus of awhole book in its own ri g ht. As ex p l a i n e de a rl i e r, the sources of the lite rat u reincluded in the rev i ew we re larg e ly: -published boo k s, re fe reed pro fessionaland academic journ a l s, we b s i tes and someunpublished re po rt s, which can be fo u n dby sco u ring data bases in libra ri e s.The other main source of info rm ationwas co nt a ct with colleagues in the UKand abroad who have wo rked in the fieldfor many years (see Ap pendix 1).Following this introductory chapter, thesecond highlights some of the influentialresearch and theories concerned withearly childhood which have informedresearch and practice in England over thelast hundred years.In the third chapter of the review, A StrongChild, we present some of the thinkingand research findings related to a child’sgrowing awareness of self; recognitionof personal characteristics, preferences andcapabilities; the need for recognition,acceptance and comfort, and being ableto contribute to secure attachments; beingspecial to someone and exploringemotional boundaries; developing selfreliance as well as self confidence; andhaving a sense of belonging. The conceptof A Strong Child is one which runsthroughout the Framework ‘Birth to ThreeMatters’. We all want children to be strong,capable, confident and self-assured. Thevery early years are extremely importantfor babies and young children as theybegin on a journey of self-discovery from1The Framework in ContextIt is important that the Framework is considered within the context of the National Standards for Under Eight’s Day Care andChildminding (DfEE 2001) together with the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (DfES/QCA,2000) More detailedinformation about the nature of these links can be found on the CD ROM in the pack ‘Birth to Three Matters’ .19
a base of secure relationships with parentsand key persons. The beginnings ofautonomy can be seen in the relationshipswhich exist as babies and young childrenplay and explore in the context of a close,attentive and emotionally present adult.In order to become strong, the baby needsa nurturing environment in which theirkey person plays an essential role.By encouraging and supporting decisionmaking,empathising and providingopportunities for children,the key personhelps them grow emotionally and respondto successes and challenges. In theFramework, A Strong Child explores theways in which both the significant adultsand the physical environment have animpact upon children's developing senseof themselves and their group identity,their affective world and theirrelationships with others.The fourth chapter provides researchinformation and ideas about the babyand child as A Skilful Communicator.This includes:- being a sociable andeffective communicator; listening andresponding appropriately to the languageof others;and making meaning.To become skilful communicators babiesand children need to be together with akey person and with others in a warm andloving relationship. Being together leads tothe wider development of social relationswhich include friendship, empathy, sharingemotions and experiences and becominga competent language user. Early attemptsat finding a voice are rewarded in a varietyof ways, thus increasing babies’ and youngchildren’s confidence and encouragingthem to extend their range and increasetheir skills. Part of that, but by no meansall,is simply learning to make sense of thesounds around them. This is not a simpletask,as they have to begin to distinguishbetween the sounds of the language,including intonation patterns and widerenvironmental sounds. From as early asseven months, a baby responds differentlyto some sounds over others and is ableto distinguish sound patterns. Babies usetheir voices to make contact, let peopleknow what they need and how they feel.They are also starting to learn about‘conversation’. This requires the abilityto listen and respond appropriately,understanding the importance of payingattention to sounds and language,interpreting non-verbal signals, imitating,repeating and mirroring others. Babiesand young children also learn the ‘rules’of communication through makingmeaning with their key person and withother supportive adults and older childrenin relationships in which their earlyattempts to converse are interpreted,responded to and valued.In the chapter A Competent Learner,making connections (for example, throughthe senses) and developing the abilityto compare, categorise and classify; beingimaginative and creative; and being ableto use symbols to represent thoughts andlanguage are the foci. Babies only a fewhours old gaze at patterns which resemblethe human face in preference to randompatterns.This shows that they are able to20 EDUCATION ANDSKILLS B I RT H T O T H R E E M AT T E R S
Page 2: AcknowledgementsThe authors and pub
Page 6 and 7: Relationships with other people (bo
Page 8: policies for families. So this lite
Page 12: etween three and nine years old whi
Page 16 and 17: 0 - 8 months: Heads Up, Lookers and
Page 20 and 21: distinguish between things, and tha
Page 22 and 23: Chapter 2Influential research and t
Page 24 and 25: THE ISSUE OF THEORIES AS CULTURALCO
Page 26 and 27: p a rt i c u l a rly in re l ation
Page 28 and 29: developed by Bereiter and Engelmann
Page 30 and 31: familiar settings. By about one yea
Page 32 and 33: child as learning and developing in
Page 34 and 35: are important to them,blanking out
Page 36 and 37: THEORIES ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOODEDUCA
Page 38 and 39: Chapter 3A Strong ChildIn the Frame
Page 40 and 41: A GROWING AWARENESS OF SELF AND THE
Page 42 and 43: ( a d a p ted from Davies 1999 : 12
Page 44 and 45: them with an inadequate modelof rew
Page 46 and 47: However, even sensitive parents and
Page 48 and 49: It is preferable to have stabilityi
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Page 54 and 55: main factors enabling such self-ass
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Page 62 and 63: Attending to external demands (such
Page 64 and 65: Chapter 4A Skilful CommunicatorThis
Page 66 and 67: elationships with close and protect
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adults and siblings around them. Th
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interactions and interchanges depen
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in the first 18 months. Depressed m
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Karmiloff-Smith 2001: 183). Further
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then language grows in a safe and f
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‘language’. However, there is m
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of his granddaughter Alice’s very
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For example, Eliot (just two years
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Chapter 5A Competent LearnerA Compe
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understandings was crucial. They sh
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still gave them biscuits, because t
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The importance of social interactio
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a fast-moving sce n e. When the pro
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exploratory and affective nature of
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with image (the image of a letter)
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in the literacy life of his three y
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Being CreativeYoung babies explore
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Chapter 6A Healthy ChildA Healthy C
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FIGURE 1:SIX ASPECTS OF HEALTH (MEG
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It is only by being given oppo rtun
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developmental psychology and earlye
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f rom such an approach can be t ter
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It has also provided useful insight
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FIGURE 2:SHORE’S (1997:18) CHART
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dysfunction is one of the leadinghy
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memory; synapses associated withexp
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cognitive development of the childr
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ejection - when it is primary - is
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of control through safe exploration
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greater risk) and girls halved betw
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et al 2000). Further, lone mothers,
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ecoming securely attached (Seifer a
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(Whipple 1999);training projects fo
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As we have found over and over agai
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disseminate effective practicerespe
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Chapter 7Conclusions and implicatio
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1996; Pugh et al 1994; Smith and Pu
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Finally, in this review of the rese
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meaning making. Paper presented at
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Pre-school Program on Youths throug
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Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecolo
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for intervention. In B.B. Lahey and
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children. In J. Bruner and H. Haste
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Fawcett, A. (2001) Special Educatio
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Grainger, T. and Goouch,K. (1999) Y
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Howes, C. (1987) Peer interaction o
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months Journal of Reproductive and
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Mandler, J. (1999) Preverbal repres
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Mo r s s, J . ( 1990) The Bi o l og
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Patel, P., Mendall, M.A., Khulusi,
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Roberts, H. (2001a) Fit or fat? Coo
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Singer, E. (1992) Child Care and th
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Teti, D.M.and Gelfand, D.M. (1991)B
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Issues in the Early Years London:Pa
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National Association for SpecialEdu
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PEOPLE FOCUSED continued/setting fo
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BIRTH TO THREE MATTERSPro Forma for
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184 EDUCATIONAND SKILLS B I RT H T
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