Early Years Matters - For everything that matters in early years Homeschool Preschool Curriculum Need a homeschool preschool curriculum? Have you thought about homeschooling your child – but aren’t sure you have what it takes to persevere? Homeschooling during the preschool ages is a great way to try everything out and see if it’s going to work for your family. Homeschooling preschool children also has many side benefits. It gives you something constructive to do during those long daytime hours while your husband is at work. And it will help you bond with your children in a way that nothing else will. You can purchase a great homeschool preschool curriculum that is all ready to go, if that’s what you’re interested in doing. Later on, we did work through the Bob Jones 3-year-old preschool program and also the Bob Jones 4-year-old preschool program. Below is a list of fun preschool activities for you to try with your child. Preschool Fine Motor Skills: Let your child play with pattern blocks. Lincoln logs are another fun activity – especially when dad can also be involved.
School starting age: the evidence In England children now start formal schooling, and the formal teaching of literacy and numeracy at the age of four. A recent letter signed by around 130 early childhood education experts, including myself, published in the Daily Telegraph (11 Sept 2013) advocated an extension of informal, play-based pre-school provision and a delay to the start of formal ‘schooling’ in England from the current effective start until the age of seven (in line with a number of other European countries who currently have higher levels of academic achievement and child well-being). This is a brief review of the relevant research evidence which overwhelmingly supports a later start to formal education. This evidence relates to the contribution of playful experiences to children’s development as learners, and the consequences of starting formal learning at the age of four to five years of age Studies have compared groups of children in New Zealand who started formal literacy lessons at ages 5 and 7.
The Impact of Early Years Professionals Research team: Michael Jopling, Mark Hadfield, Martin Needham, Tim Waller, Liz Coleyshaw, Mahmoud Emira & Karl Royle Overview The Longitudinal Study of Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) was a three-year study commissioned by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) in 2009. View the full report and video case studies We have a dedicated website to host the resources and videos relating to this project allowing you to explore the report in detail. Impact This study is cited on the Dept for Education website in their announcement to continue the EYPS qualification, as delivered by CWDC.
Compulsory age of starting school in European countries The table is also available to download as a pdf: Compulsory age of starting school in European countries The ages given are those at which children must commence primary education (ISCED 1), understood by UNESCO's International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) as the phase that is designed to give a sound basic education in reading, writing and mathematics, along with an elementary understanding of other subjects. In a number of countries, pre-primary education (ISCED 0) is compulsory and/or most children start school before it is compulsory. In these cases, more information is provided in footnotes. Explanatory notes1 Northern Ireland: has the lowest statutory age of entry to school. 2 Cyprus: Compulsory school age is reached by children who are five years eight months old before 1 September. 3 England: Children reach compulsory school age at the start of the school term following their fifth birthday, which may be in September, January or April.
14 Blokes Who Blog About Early Childhood – make that 26! | Child's Play Music Males who work in the early childhood field are rare. I mean, really rare. Under 2% of the workforce seems to be the generally accepted figure. And males who blog about ECE and/or childhood seem to be even rarer. When I started researching this post I knew of just 7. The standard is astonishingly high. This was originally going to be a really long post describing each blog, with links to favourite posts, & photos, bios, yada, yada. So here in random order are the 14 29 blogs (no, really random, I used this random list generator, at least for the first 14 – the rest are in the order I became aware of them). Males in Early Childhood You can also find Greg on Facebook at his Males in Early Childhood Education Page. ABC Does You can also find Alistair on Facebook on his ABC Does Ltd Page. Rethinking Childhood You can also find Tim on Facebook on his Rethinking Childhood Page. Brick by Brick You can also find Scott on Facebook at his Brick by Brick Page. Literacy, Families and Learning Marc Armitage
how-young-is-too-young-ofsted-inspector-suggests-children-should-start-school-at-two-8921281 Baroness Morgan, who chairs the education standards watchdog, called for a network of academies for two to 18-year-olds to be set up around the country so that children from poorer homes were ready for school at the age of five. At present, they are already 19 months behind their more affluent peers when they start compulsory schooling at the age of five. She chose an event staged by the ARK academy chain to mark 10 years of the academies movement, to set out her vision for the future, saying targeting disadvantaged under-fives had to be “the next big, bold, brave move” in the education agenda. “Poor under-fives are still 19 months behind their affluent peers when they start school at five,” she said. “What a dire start to their educational lives. “They have low level skills, they’re not ready to learn at school. Baroness Morgan said the education system collectively “haven’t really taken a grip of this problem”. “We have got to learn from the lessons we now have in London,” she added.
Limit children's screen time, expert urges 9 October 2012Last updated at 02:46 ET By Hannah Richardson BBC News education and family reporter Too much TV can change the amount of certain chemicals produced in the brain The amount of time children spend in front of screens should be curbed to stave off development and health problems, an expert says. Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman says children of all ages are watching more screen media than ever, and starting earlier. The average 10-year-old has access to five different screens at home, he says. And some are becoming addicted to them or depressed as a result, he warns. Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, Dr Sigman says a child born today will have spent a full year glued to screens by the time they reach the age of seven. "Children routinely engage in two or more forms of screen viewing at the same time, such as TV and laptop." 'Facebook depression' But he suggests the effects go further than those simply associated with being sedentary for long periods. 'Reduce screen time'
International Education Statistics: Primary school entrance age and duration Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) both aim at universal primary education. All children worldwide should attend and complete primary school by 2015. However, national education systems differ and the meaning of primary education for all children therefore varies from country to country. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) maintains a database with the entrance age and duration of primary education for 204 countries and territories. Table 1: Primary school entrance age Source: UIS Data Centre, May 2010. The geographic distribution of the entrance ages is shown in the map in Figure 1. 6 years is the common primary school start age in most of North and South America, Western Europe, Africa, the Arab States, and East Asia, with some exceptions. 7 years is more common in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. 7 years is also the primary school start age in some large countries: Brazil, China and Russia. Related articles
Are We Over-Stimulating Young Children? The impact of media is a growing topic of research. And for good reason. In 1970, the average age at which children watched television was four years old. Today, the average age is four months. The typical child before the age of five is watching 4 ½ hours of television per day, 40% of their waking hours! Recent studies on the impact of media have linked television to the over-stimulation of an infant’s brain, leading to the development of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in young children. Dr. Impact of Media: The Good News While studies found exposure to rapid image changes harmful to young children, they also found cognitive stimulation to be helpful. The content of what kids watch is key. An excellent source of guidance for parents concerned about the impact of media on their children can be found in the Technology and Media section at Parent Further, a Search Institute sponsored-website. Building Blocks vs. A study on the impact of media conducted in Seattle by Dr.
School enrolment and early leavers from education and training Data from September 2012. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. School helps young people acquire the basic life skills and competences necessary for their personal development. The quality of a pupil’s school experience affects not only their development, but also his or her place in society, educational attainment, and employment opportunities. Table 1: Pupils and students(excluding pre-primary education), 2005 and 2010 (1) - Source: Eurostat (tps00051) and (educ_enrl1tl) Figure 1: Four-year-olds in education, 2010 (1)(% of all four-year-olds) - Source: Eurostat (educ_ipart) Figure 2: 18-year-olds in education, 2010 (1)(% of all 18-year-olds) - Source: Eurostat (tps00060) Figure 3: School expectancy, 2010 (1)(years) - Source: Eurostat (tps00052) Table 2: Pupil-teacher ratio in primary, lower and upper secondary education, 2005 and 2010 (1)(average number of pupils per teacher) - Source: Eurostat (educ_iste) Main statistical findings School enrolment
Social and emotional wellbeing - early years Fast, easy summary view of NICE guidance on 'social and emotional wellbeing for children and young people' This guidance aims to define how the social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable children aged under 5 years can be supported through home visiting, childcare and early education. The term ‘vulnerable’ is used to describe children who are at risk of, or who are already experiencing, social and emotional problems and need additional support. The guidance is for all those responsible for planning and commissioning children's services in local authorities (including education), the NHS and the community, voluntary and private sectors. It also for: GPs, health visitors, midwives, psychologists and other health practitioners, social workers, teachers and those working in all early years settings (including childminders and those working in children’s centres and nurseries). The recommendations cover: Strategy, commissioning and review Early education and childcare Delivering services. Patient
Children are sent to school too young in the UK | Deborah Orr It's an eye-catching statistic. Almost 20% of schoolchildren in the UK are registered as having special educational needs, five times higher than the EU average. The statistic has inspired an eye-catching book title, too. The Tail: How England's Schools Fail One Child in Five is a new tome edited by Paul Marshall, chairman of ARK Schools, which runs a group of academies. It's not a very good title. Nevertheless, despite this specious and illogical leap, the education secretary, Michael Gove, has endorsed the book. But Gove should tread more carefully. Since economic inequality is higher in the UK than in most of the EU, it would be reasonable to suppose that high levels of incorrect special needs diagnosis may indeed be linked to high levels of socio-economic inequality. So, in that respect, Marshall and Gove are right to be concerned. In most European countries, children usually start formal education at six to seven, rather than our four to five. Some children thrive on it.