Sometimes It's Just a Slinky

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2rYqQI4bO8mdyXlRjQWWXVr0gZ8P3LcSY4PVlo0b2LZvyCISKum1Icd0EwhprdXARpKjwe8K3SouNK1Hj3QhvGHaHAxhS2ZY1de8hooD-mPCtDnkuS8AULkCMQUJQyAKN71huqGVs-U/s1600/Hollister+6-11+004.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624219276455032498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2rYqQI4bO8mdyXlRjQWWXVr0gZ8P3LcSY4PVlo0b2LZvyCISKum1Icd0EwhprdXARpKjwe8K3SouNK1Hj3QhvGHaHAxhS2ZY1de8hooD-mPCtDnkuS8AULkCMQUJQyAKN71huqGVs-U/s200/Hollister+6-11+004.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" /></a><br />A group of us were looking at new early childhood product possibilities recently and we saw this large, colorful slinky. Everyone was so excited and thought it was so cool. A product developer said, "Yes, everyone thinks it is great. But what do you do with it?" That became the big question. They gave me the slinky to try out with my grandchildren to see if we could think of activities to do with the slinky. This was a difficult assignment. Because the slinky is prone to knot and bend and really was too big to do the token 'walking down the stairs.' We did have fun shaking it up and down like a parachute, but beyond that there wasn't much to do with it. I certainly realized I couldn't write an activity guide to accompany the slinky. It was a lesson learned about how sometimes things are cute and attractive, but not very useful in building skills. I see early childhood products like that occasionally. Sometimes they're just a slinky.

Sometimes It's Just a Slinky

A group of us were looking at new early childhood product possibilities recently and we saw this large, colorful slinky. Everyone was so exc...

Read more »

One Million Reasons for Reform

Similar to my <a href="http://bcftcschildhoodeducation.blogspot.com/2011/06/children-and-big-society.html">last post</a>, todays post also deals with a report looking at the Big Society agenda and children's services. <span style="font-style: italic;">One Million Reasons for Reform: Unleashing the Potential of the Voluntary Sector in Early Years Services</span> has been published by <a href="https://www.acevo.org.uk/">ACEVO</a>, and examines the future role of voluntary services within the early years sector. Among the recommendations are calls for the government to <a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/rss/1077635/Call-closer-links-voluntary-sector-Government-enable-charities-run-early-years-settings/">create a level playing field between charities and the public sector</a> when bidding for services.<br /><br />To view the full report, <a href="http://www.acevo.org.uk/document.doc?id=1575">click here</a>.

One Million Reasons for Reform

Similar to my last post , todays post also deals with a report looking at the Big Society agenda and children's services. One Million Re...

Read more »

Children and the Big Society

A recent report from the Respublica thinktank examines the potential impact of the government's Big Society and localism agenda on the lives of children and their families. The publication notes that while progress has been made in family policy during the past two decades, there is a need to protect parks, play schemes, community projects and other services from closure.<br /><br />The full text of Children and the Big Society is <a href="http://www.respublica.org.uk/sites/default/files/ResPublica%20Children%20and%20the%20Big%20Society.pdf" target="_blank">online now</a>.

Children and the Big Society

A recent report from the Respublica thinktank examines the potential impact of the government's Big Society and localism agenda on the l...

Read more »

Free Nursery Education

New figures from the Department of Education show that more than 86 per cent of all three- and four-year-olds who are entitled to free nursery places are <a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1076513/Number-children-free-nursery-education-rises/" target="_blank">taking up the full 15-hour offer</a>. Well, their guardians are taking up the offer on their behalf, but you know what I mean...<br /><br />A detailed breakdown of the statistics is <a href="http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001009/index.shtml" target="_blank">available online</a>. Definitely one for the numbercrunchers among you :-)

Free Nursery Education

New figures from the Department of Education show that more than 86 per cent of all three- and four-year-olds who are entitled to free nurse...

Read more »

Refugee Week

It's <a href="http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk/" target="_blank">Refugee Week</a>, which seems a fairly good excuse to look at resources from recent years which examine various aspects of the experiences of refugee and asylum-seeking children in the UK.<br /><br />Several reports have covered the circumstances of children when they first arrive in the country. The Office of the Children's Commissioner has investigated this topic by publishing <a href="http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/force_download.php?fp=%2Fclient_assets%2Fcp%2Fpublication%2F465%2FLanding_in_Kent_-_The_experience_of_unaccompanied_children_arriving_in_the_UK.pdf"><span style="font-style: italic;">Landing in Kent: the Experience of Unaccompanied Children Arriving in the UK</span></a> in February of this year, and <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.statewatch.org/news/2008/mar/uk-claiming-asylum-screening-unit.pdf" target="_blank">Claiming Asylum at a Screening Unit as an Unaccompanied Child</a> </span>in 2008. Also useful is <a href="http://www.4children.org.uk/uploads/information/Families_New_to_UK.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Families New to the UK: Confident Families in Cohesive Communities</span></a>, a report released by the 4Children charity earlier this year.<br /><br />The body which is responsible for monitoring migration is the <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/" target="_blank">UK Border Agency</a>. In 2009 they published a <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/consultations/closedconsultations/keepingchildrensafe/codeofpracticechildren?view=Binary" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Code of Practice for Keeping Children Safe from Harm</span></a>, which outlines the procedures which are in place to protect children's interests.<br /><br />A number of charities have carried out studies which examine services available to refugee families and the difficulties that they can face in adapting to a new country. Some of these include:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.unicef.org.uk/Latest/Publications/Levelling-the-Playing-Field/" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Levelling the Playing Field</span></a> (UNICEF, March 2010)</li><li><a href="http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/Findings/breaking_the_wall_of_silence_report_wdf66135.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Breaking the Wall of Silence: Practitioners’ responses to trafficked children and young people</span></a> (NSPCC, June 2009)</li><li><a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/rcpp/assets/attachments/738_746_EN_original.pdf"><span style="font-style: italic;">Does Every Child Matter? Children Seeking Asylum in Britain</span></a> (Refugee & Migrant Justice, March 2009)</li><li><a href="http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/tcs/research_docs/Living%20on%20the%20edge%20of%20despair%20-%20Destitution%20amongst%20asylum%20seeking%20and%20refugee%20children.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Living on the Edge of Despair: Destitution Amongst Asylum Seeking and Refugee Children</span></a> (Children's Society, February 2008)</li></ul>Although now a few years old, Jill Rutter's 2003 report <a href="http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/1859351395.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Working with Refugee Children</span></a> still contains plenty of useful information on how immigrant children can be supported. Also worth a read are the OECD's 2009 publication <a href="http://www.bmukk.gv.at/medienpool/18822/eduwhatworksmigrantpolicy.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">What Works in Migrant Education?</span></a> and a report from the CfBT Education Trust entitled <a href="http://www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/PDF/91097_AsylumRefugee_NFERReport.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Supporting Asylum Seeker and Refugee Children</span></a> which was published in 2007.<br /><br />Finally, for a more local flavour, in February 2009 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published <a href="http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2193-migrants-policy-engagement.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Empowering Birmingham's Migrant and Refugee Community Organisations</span></a>, with a view to influencing future policy in this area.

Refugee Week

It's Refugee Week , which seems a fairly good excuse to look at resources from recent years which examine various aspects of the experie...

Read more »

Childcare for Working Parents

Finding childcare outside of the typical working day is becoming a greater problem for working parents, according to a new report from the <a href="http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Resolution Foundation</a>. At present, many nurseries are open from 8am - 6pm, which creates a <a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/rss/1075698/Nursery-opening-hours-no-match-24-7-culture/" target="_blank">problem for parents who work at weekends or during the evenings</a>.<br /><br />The full text of <a href="http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/media/downloads/Chilcare_Report_June_2011.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Childcare: Failing to Meet the Needs of Working Parents</span></a> is now available online. A further, more detailed report will be published later this year.

Childcare for Working Parents

Finding childcare outside of the typical working day is becoming a greater problem for working parents, according to a new report from the R...

Read more »

Spotlight on Kinship Care

Children's charity <a href="http://www.buttleuk.org/" target="_blank">Buttle UK</a> has just published a report entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">Kinship Care</span>, which investigates how many children are being brought up by relatives other than their mother or father. The research is based on data from the 2001 census, and found that many such arrangements between parents and relatives were informal, which meant carers were <a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/rss/1075585/Rise-number-children-cared-relatives/" target="_blank">not entitled to any financial support from social services</a>. The report also explores issues such as the ethnicity of such children, and the areas of the country where kinship is most prevalent.<br /><br />Both the full version of the report and an executive summary are available from <a href="http://www.buttleuk.org/pages/kinship-care-report-june-2011.html" target="_blank">this link</a>.

Spotlight on Kinship Care

Children's charity Buttle UK has just published a report entitled Kinship Care , which investigates how many children are being brought...

Read more »

Never Give Up!

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4APW1PnzS16m6jXENIPStV3jwUN6ytHm40jGlLlfIW0GQkAlRqyhIrPUO7DvbBXuDdykWg67BOGOJVKejQLh221YMsnKUdRvMM9vpuLCXZV5OloKHYl6nZ2YiBvr-Hl2YgSHu2Yl5c10/s1600/Pride+6-11.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617425318032016146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4APW1PnzS16m6jXENIPStV3jwUN6ytHm40jGlLlfIW0GQkAlRqyhIrPUO7DvbBXuDdykWg67BOGOJVKejQLh221YMsnKUdRvMM9vpuLCXZV5OloKHYl6nZ2YiBvr-Hl2YgSHu2Yl5c10/s200/Pride+6-11.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 120px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 120px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><br /><br /><div>I ran a half-marathon yesterday and was suffering the last few miles. I had purchased running shoes which had been 'fitted by experts' that did not provide the support that I needed to run 13 miles. I broke my foot in a car accident in 1996 and that old injury came back yesterday at about mile 9 because the shoes I was wearing did not provide enough cushion to run that distance. I regularly considered stopping to walk, even though I knew that I was running a very fast race (for me). I tried running with my foot at a different angle, lengthening my stride, shortening my stride, running on a different part of my foot, etc., until I finally found a way to make the discomfort bearable. I finished the race well ahead of my usual running time. </div><br /><br /><br /><div>I was thinking about this yesterday, as I was trying to recover, and I thought of the number of classrooms I had been in this year that experienced discomfort, gave up and started to walk. I know that we have very challenging behavior issues today in our school classrooms. However, I do get frustrated when I see the teacher has 'given up' because 'nothing works.' It is my belief that a teacher should never 'give up' on helping a child achieve acceptable behavior in the classroom. The teacher needs to try difference angles, maybe lengthen or shorten the stride of what is happening. But, continuing to do the same unsuccessful intervention is fruitless and may lead to reinforcing the negative behavior. If I choose to run another race in the very same shoes I used yesterday, the same thing will occur and will probably eventually lead to an injury or weakness. Why do some teachers think that if they continue to use an intervention that does not work, it will eventually work (the big culprit here is 'time out')? </div><br /><br /><br /><div>My student teachers this last year will tell you that I continually reminded them that they might have to try 20 intervention ideas before they find something that works for a child that is disruptive. When a teachers tells me that 'nothing works,' I tend to think that she just doesn't want the child to comply bad enough. If the teacher did, she would continually be trying new things or looking for additional resources. </div><br /><br /><br /><div>I'm glad I persevered enough and found a way to make it to the finish line yesterday. It wasn't easy, but at the finish line it certainly was rewarding. Helping a child curtail disruptive behavior isn't easy, but it can provide long-lasting rewards.</div>

Never Give Up!

I ran a half-marathon yesterday and was suffering the last few miles. I had purchased running shoes which had been 'fitted by experts...

Read more »

Poor Kids

A lot of the chatter on Twitter today among the various children's organisations revolves around <span style="font-style: italic;">Poor Kids</span>, a documentary which was shown last night on BBC1. The film follows different children who live in poverty in different parts of the UK, and they talk to the camera about their experiences of their home lives and issues such as food and money.<br /><br />You can <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011vnls/Poor_Kids/" target="_blank">watch the documentary</a> on iPlayer for the next seven days. <a href="http://endchildpoverty.org.uk/" target="_blank">End Child Poverty</a>, the <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/" target="_blank">Child Poverty Action Group</a> and the <a href="http://www.jrf.org.uk/" target="_blank">Joseph Rowntree Foundation</a> are all websites which can provide further infomation on the issues raised.<br /><br />For previous posts linking to child poverty research (and there's been plenty in recent years), click on the 'Child Poverty' link in the 'Hot Topics' column on the right hand side of this page.

Poor Kids

A lot of the chatter on Twitter today among the various children's organisations revolves around Poor Kids , a documentary which was sho...

Read more »

Technology in the Early Years

A new study from the Open University claims that many nursery staff and parents are not allowing preschool children to engage with ICT, believing that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/07/early-years-anxiety-digital-technology" target="_blank">"new technologies might damage children's wellbeing, social interaction and learning."</a> However, Dr Rosie Flewitt, the lead researcher for the project, argues that "If early years education <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>continues to focus exclusively on traditional forms of literacy, then it will be failing to provide all children with the skills they will need at school and in their future lives."<br /><br />More information about the research can be found at the website of <a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/multimodalliteracies/" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Multimodal Literacies in the Early Years</span></a>. The very latest output is available in the June 2011 issue of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Qualitative Research</span> journal, which UCB students can access in full via the Sage Journals Online site in Athens.

Technology in the Early Years

A new study from the Open University claims that many nursery staff and parents are not allowing preschool children to engage with ICT, beli...

Read more »

National Literacy Trust First Annual Survey

The <a href="http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/" target="_blank">National Literacy Trust</a> has just released the results of its first annual online survey, which was carried out during November / December of last year with young people aged 8-17. The survey focused on young people’s attitudes towards reading, writing and communication skills as well as technology use, and also included a question about book ownership.<br /><br />Among the key findings were a strong link between literacy skills and educational attainment, and the statistic that three in ten UK children <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/01/three-in-10-uk-children-own-no-books" target="_blank">do not own a book of their own</a>. To read the survey in full, <a href="http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/9502/Book_ownership_2011.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrgwPAgOCWYEXz4bsa85o6JeQHVtZC8xbMoh_3fMfoFyYtzUnHg90fx4iStZ97PlsFJtt6PsRCeGGTpanSYKeDS1tv9qfMFpauih0JvN41kHIp-qrYm5EFLlm0scfFKXcyrOz9ZvmG9A/s1600/ChildReading.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613262981293326050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrgwPAgOCWYEXz4bsa85o6JeQHVtZC8xbMoh_3fMfoFyYtzUnHg90fx4iStZ97PlsFJtt6PsRCeGGTpanSYKeDS1tv9qfMFpauih0JvN41kHIp-qrYm5EFLlm0scfFKXcyrOz9ZvmG9A/s200/ChildReading.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 142px;" /></a>

National Literacy Trust First Annual Survey

The National Literacy Trust has just released the results of its first annual online survey, which was carried out during November / Decemb...

Read more »