Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government

eality and join with children in riskyjourneys of the imagination, to land alwayssafely, like Max in Sendak‘s classic tale,Where the Wild Things Are, back home,where his supper is waiting and still hot!It is also important to be aware that ‘inplay (children) can say all they know in anyway they like’ (Meek 1985:49) and oftenthis means that the boundaries ofconvention and appropriateness are oftenchallenged and extended, in terms of bothlanguage and physical behaviour. Theboundaries in play contexts are, by thevery nature of play, broad and fluid,although rules may exist, linguistic orphysical, and are defined and negotiatedby the players, and often renegotiatedduring the drama of play. The very earlycommunications between adults andbabies that often include turn taking andthe beginnings of conversation may beimportant in defining appropriatenessand, later, the development of ‘earlymorality’ as very often ‘as a result of faceto-faceturn-taking behaviour with caregivers, infants learn rules for reciprocity,for give and take, together with the strongmotive for using these rules: “together”is so pleasurable’ (Singer 2001: 4). Singermaintains that such behaviour is ‘basedon a strong motivation to share and toconnect, and to construct shared rules’(Singer 2001: 4).It is important to remember, however,as we discuss in chapter 5, that this kindof involvement in joint play, which requiressharing imagination and communicatingfreely, is extremely limited by the cognitiveprocesses of children with autism (Hobson1993; Trevarthen et al 1998).The role of siblings in supporting babiesand young children in developing andshaping meaning is significant (Dunn1984; 1993). In her research (although witholder children, still important in thiscontext), Gregory describes the potentialfor ‘synergy’ between siblings as they playtogether with younger children imitating,repeating, echoing, listening, challenging,etc; but older children are also learningthrough ‘practising consciously what theyknow and through translating officialmeanings into personal sense and viceversa for the younger child’ (Gregory 2001:313).The relationships here are describedas generally equal and the mutuality of thelearning opportunities is celebrated. This‘personal sense’ develops in families,communities and cultures and it isthrough developing such knowledge andknowledge of language, from ‘exposure tocues and models’ from a range of ‘moreknowledgeable others’ that young childrenlearn how to mean,learn how to makesense of the world (Bruner 1986).MAKING MEANING AND PRINT LITER ACY WITHUNDER THREESDuring the years before they are five or six,children in England are gathering andmaking sense of information about theliteracy-dependent society in which theylive (David et al 2000). Campbell (1999)provides a powerful,in-depth account80 EDUCATIONAND SKILLS B I RT H T O T H R E E M AT T E R S