|
|
|
|
Parents who are actively involved in their child's learning and development before they start school can boost their progress by 5 months, according to evidence summarised in the Early Years Toolkit, a new resource launched by the British Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).
The tool kit was developed by a team at Durham University and Professor of Education Steve Higgins said the tool kit was written to improve access to important information for early childhood professionals.
"We think evidence can help early years professionals with the important decisions they make every day, but know that it is often locked away in journals, or written in inaccessible jargon. We hope that the Early Years Toolkit helps bridge the divide between research and practice and leads to more effective early years provision for all children."
The tool kit covers 12 topics and summarises research from more than 1600 studies including a summary of evidence designed to help early childhood providers maximise their resources and improve the learning and development of three and four year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Statistics from the British Government found that less than 50 per cent of children from low-income families had achieved a 'good level of development' by age 5 and resources offered in the new tool kit aim to help early years professionals address this gap.
In line with existing evidence the toolkit says it is clear that engaging parents with their children's learning and development in the early years is valuable and will likely have a positive effect on later academic success.
The tool kit says that while the impact of parental engagement approaches will vary, effective strategies can be as simple as encouraging parents to read with their child at home, or as structured as providing training in parenting skills or adult literacy support.
Of the other strategies covered by the tool kit, self-regulation is shown to have a particularly positive average effect on children's progress. The evidence suggests that teaching children to self-regulate, for example by improving their capacity to plan and review their progress, can increase learning by seven additional months on average.
Moreover, helping children to develop this in the early years can benefit reading skills, maths and problem-solving and is likely to have a lasting positive impact on later learning.
Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, Dr Kevan Collins said he hoped the tool kit would be used as the evidence base to support decision making in early childhood settings.
"The tool kit doesn't attempt to tell people what to do it summarises research from England and around the world to provide information about the cost, evidence strength and average impact about a wide variety of approaches," he said.
The 12 topics covered in the Early Years Toolkit are: Communication and language approaches, Digital technology, Earlier starting age, Early literacy approaches, Early numeracy approaches, Extra hours, Parental engagement, Physical development approaches, Physical environment, Play-based learning, Self-regulation strategies, Social and emotional learning strategies.
View the tool kit |
|
|
|
|
