Family learning aids children's development Friday, September 24, 2010 - 12:08

The Tickell Review of the Early Years Foundation Stage, is looking at how best to protect young children's safety and welfare and support their development and learning.

NIACE's response focuses predominantly on answering the review's following question:

• Parents have the biggest influence on their children's learning and development. Do you think there's a role for early years practitioners to work with parents to help improve children's learning and development at home?

Carol Taylor, Director of Operations at NIACE, said:

"The central role of parents and carers on children's learning and development is now beyond doubt and should underpin all work to improve children's learning and development in the early years. Research shows that parental involvement is absolutely central to giving children the best start in life and positively affects the child's academic performance in both primary and secondary schools."

Parents are a child's first teacher, so let's enable them to carry out this role as effectively as possible, with support from the professionals.

Carol Taylor, Director of Operations at NIACE

"The family is an important catalyst for providing a practical informal learning place to reinforce formal learning in schools and early years settings. Parents may need support to develop the skills to support their children's learning, but it is known that parents who are engaged in learning, offer important role models for their children. Parents who have poor literacy skills themselves, or who are less confident than others will need support to enable them to know how best to support their children."

"There is also a role for early years practitioners to support parents and children by joining up different agendas which affect family life. Those with poorer skills tend to also have multiple disadvantages such as poorer health, fewer employment opportunities and less chance to participate in their community. These are exactly the sort of people that the Big Society will help."

"The number of Nursery Rhymes a child knows on starting school is known to have an effect on Reading Age at 7. Parents are a child's first teacher, so let's enable them to carry out this role as effectively as possible, with support from the professionals."