Pestalozzi realised that children feel safe and secure at home and that it was this atmosphere that was most conducive to learning. However, he founded a number of educational establishments as he was aware that not all children could spend time lear…
Rousseau's understanding of the early years of child development as being a profound time in our lives is still relevant today. His appreciation of how much a child learns through finding things out for themselves, and of the role of observation and …
Knowledge about child development is an important tool which enables practitioners to make appropriate provision for young children; but if we are not careful it can also be a dangerously limiting illusion that may actually hamper practice.
In our third of four articles looking at recent Ofsted reports, we outline those issues that have appeared frequently over the last three months. Here we examine the recommendations and descriptions of good practice within the EYFS theme of Enabling…
Peer observation can be such a useful tool in developing the skills of all members of staff, and if introduced correctly, can be instrumental in building a supportive practitioner learning community, striving to improve provision.
This is a great book for looking at things under the ground. The children's interests might take you down a number of different avenues - buried treasure, tunnels, animals that burrow or people who work underground. The story lends itself to lots of …
Donald Winnicott was a psychologist and psychoanalyst who worked predominantly with children and families.In 1957 he wrote that 'the nursery school is probably most correctly considered as an extension 'upward' of the family, rather than an extensio…
The final part of our series on recent Ofsted reports. In this article we look at inspectors' recommendations and judgements around the EYFS theme of Learning and Development.
This is the second in a series of articles looking at recent research into how young children learn. Here we examine how a better understanding of brain development can enrich early years practice.
What have recent OFSTED reports focused upon? In a two-part article we summarize over fifty childminders' reports from April and May 2010. How does your setting measure up?
