Counting the Costs of Childcare

The affordability of childcare has been a hot political topic in recent years and now a new report is adding to the debate by claiming that the high cost of childcare means that it is often <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/oct/27/soaring-cost-childcare-parents-work" target="_blank">not worthwhile for a family's second earner to work</a> at all. The report is entitled <i>Counting the Costs of Childcare</i> and has been authored by the Resolution Foundation thinktank - you can read it in full by <a href="http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/media/downloads/Counting_the_costs_of_childcare_1.pdf" target="_blank">clicking here</a>.

Counting the Costs of Childcare

The affordability of childcare has been a hot political topic in recent years and now a new report is adding to the debate by claiming that ...

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Social and Emotional Wellbeing

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has just published a guidance document entitled <i>Social and Emotional Wellbeing: Early Years</i>. The document describes itself as "for all those responsible for ensuring the social and emotional wellbeing of children aged under 5 years", and examines how early intervention programmes can ensure that vulnerable children are given a good start in life.<br /><br />To read the guidance, <a href="http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/13941/61149/61149.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a>.

Social and Emotional Wellbeing

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has just published a guidance document entitled Social and Emotional Wellbe...

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Children & Media

Ofcom has just published <i>Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes</i>, which examines how young people interact with different media types, such as television, the internet and smartphones. The report is wide ranging, examining the habits of children aged 3 right up to 15, and also how parental attitudes can impact upon media usage. It also tells us that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/23/teenage-girls-send-220-texts-week" target="_blank">teenage girls are apparently the UK's texting champions</a>!<br /><br />You can read the full text of the report by <a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/oct2012/main.pdf" target="_blank">clicking here</a>.

Children & Media

Ofcom has just published Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes , which examines how young people interact with different media types...

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International Education

If you're looking for information on education in other countries, a really good starting point is the <a href="http://libguides.ioe.ac.uk/inted" target="_blank">International Education</a> Libguide from the IOE. The site serves as a gateway with links to useful education websites all around the world, and while some of the content is specific to users of the IOE Library, there is still plenty here to make it worth bookmarking for when you're researching an assignment on learning in Finland... or Singapore... or Angola...<br /><br />Don't forget that you can view previous posts on here relating to international issues by clicking on the 'International Resources' link in the Hot Topics menu on the right. I also have a collection of <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/davidrenfree/international" target="_blank">bookmarks on international education</a> which you may find useful.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeD95C5DQkXNUZx3OX_DHtGjJnvLVlmw1GTGusKRvFGQZcYQabuF5joUMLJeYoZ0fN9LMGNz0lQXwyWXtI-z6aYj30a7qzfqASM6RciDJwccoA1MNn73cEzaPN3kmDYTXRzDm_JiAzA/s1600/GlobePic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeD95C5DQkXNUZx3OX_DHtGjJnvLVlmw1GTGusKRvFGQZcYQabuF5joUMLJeYoZ0fN9LMGNz0lQXwyWXtI-z6aYj30a7qzfqASM6RciDJwccoA1MNn73cEzaPN3kmDYTXRzDm_JiAzA/s200/GlobePic.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />

International Education

If you're looking for information on education in other countries, a really good starting point is the International Education Libguide...

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Child Protection in Birmingham

Birmingham City Council is unfortunately in the headlines for the wrong reasons after a recent surprise Ofsted inspection <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-19993994" target="_blank">judged their child protection procedures as "inadequate"</a>. You can read the full inspection report by <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/local_authority_reports/birmingham/051_Inspection%20of%20local%20authority%20arrangements%20for%20the%20protection%20of%20children%20as%20pdf.pdf">clicking here</a>.

Child Protection in Birmingham

Birmingham City Council is unfortunately in the headlines for the wrong reasons after a recent surprise Ofsted inspection judged their child...

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Double Dutch

Today the <a href="http://www.ippr.org/" target="_blank">Institute for Public Policy Research</a> (IPPR) has published <i>Double Dutch: The Case Against Deregulation & Demand-Led Funding in Childcare</i>. This paper is partly a response to <a href="http://www.centreforum.org/assets/pubs/affordable-quality.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Affordable Quality: New Approaches to Childcare</i></a> which was published in May and argued that the childcare structure used by the Netherlands should be adopted in the UK. In contrast, the new report suggests that there should be a <a href="http://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/1075025/report-advocates-universal-national-entitlement-care?WT.rss_f=News&WT.rss_a=Report+advocates+universal+%27national+entitlement%27+to+early+years+care" target="_blank">universal 'national entitlement' to early years care</a>, modelled more closely on the <a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/rss/1154989/Denmark-holds-key-affordable-childcare-think-tank-argues/" target="_blank">Danish model</a>.<br /><br />To read the full text of <i>Double Dutch</i>, <a href="http://www.ippr.org/images/media/files/publication/2012/10/double-dutch-childcare_Oct2012_9763.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a>. You may also want to listen to <a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1007972-17-160-a-year-just-so-i-can-go-back-to-work" target="_blank">this snippet</a> from yesterday's World at One programme, which examined the costs of childcare.

Double Dutch

Today the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published Double Dutch: The Case Against Deregulation & Demand-Led Funding in...

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Research for Teachers

One for the PGCE students today... Back when the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) was still around, they published a series of research summaries entitled <i>Research for Teachers</i>. Each summary was around 20 pages long, and approximately 60 were published in total - the idea behind them was to provide a quick guide to a particular educational topic, and to help teachers make links between theories and their own classroom practice. Hopefully that's clear as they could be very useful - if it isn't, then just <a href="http://www.tla.ac.uk/site/Pages/RfT.aspx" target="_blank">click here</a> to view the full list with links to the full text of each one.

Research for Teachers

One for the PGCE students today... Back when the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) was still around, they published a series of re...

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Helping Children Bloom

We are getting ready to say goodbye to our flowers for the season.  In our area, flowers disappear with the first frost.  Although a little early, we lost a few vines this past week, but we are still enjoying the flowers.  However, I understand that we must enjoy them today because they will be gone tomorrow.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsLx17JNl28XOD079yfRs0J62Xjlu1uLhU53nII_hmYWU1z4yMMjPdHfcV9Blc5zNcBzjiYKaSQWjIchmY6J2dsDA-gsWjumkuRXp6ktujVZ5asrBzRTlEnvDq0pp6t325_mjfeXmXO1o/s1600/geraniums.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsLx17JNl28XOD079yfRs0J62Xjlu1uLhU53nII_hmYWU1z4yMMjPdHfcV9Blc5zNcBzjiYKaSQWjIchmY6J2dsDA-gsWjumkuRXp6ktujVZ5asrBzRTlEnvDq0pp6t325_mjfeXmXO1o/s320/geraniums.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I was looking at my geraniums and thinking how different each plant can be.  Not only are the colors of the flowers different, the leaves and the plant patterns vary from mound to mound.  It is like having different children in our classrooms.  If we are working with 5 year olds, they are all 5 year-olds.  Fortunately, they all have different patterns, different leaves, and variegated colors.  Like all of my geraniums, children need different things to flourish and make the most of their development and accomplishments.  I had a geranium this season that needed constant monitoring with additional plant food and water.  Because I took the time to do this, that plant did well and provided many beautiful blooms during the summer.  Other plants seemed to grow like weeds, without much additional care.  The children in our classrooms are so much like that.  Some need extra care and consideration to make the same progress other children seem to make automatically.  The key is to provide that extra nourishment.  Children who need extra care are sometimes the ones that fight it and seem to rebuff that extra attention.  That means we teachers must make it  a priority to provide the necessary care.  If the child is going to bloom, we must be willing to provide the necessary support. As early childhood community, we need to work to make sure every child blooms.

Helping Children Bloom

We are getting ready to say goodbye to our flowers for the season.  In our area, flowers disappear with the first frost.  Although a little ...

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Education on the Web

I normally try very hard to stay impartial when posting information here, by just describing what an item is and posting a link to it, and then leaving it to the reader to decide whether or not it's useful or accurate in what it says. That said, today's post deals with a new publication which I really think is excellent, and should be of use to any education student or professional who is carrying out research.<br /><br /><i>Education on the Web: a Tool-Kit to Help you Search Effectively for Information on Education</i> is a new publication from the <a href="http://www.nfer.ac.uk/" target="_blank">NFER</a> which describes itself as "an essential companion for any busy education professional undertaking their own research." The 7 chapters of the book cover topics such as how to carry out your literature search, the top websites in different areas of education, advice on using Web 2.0 to further your research, and there's also a glossary and advice on how to plan your searches. If I was to write an in-depth guide for students on how to carry out online research, I hope it would end up looking something like this!<br /><br />That's the sales talk over... You can access the book in full by <a href="http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/SERC01/SERC01.pdf" target="_blank">clicking here</a>.<br /><br />If you find the NFER's toolkit useful, two other publications which you may also like are the National Children's  Bureau's <a href="http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/434791/guidelines_for_research_with_cyp.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Guidelines for Research with Children and Young People</i></a>, and BERA's <a href="http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1t9gr/BERAEthicalGuideline/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.yudu.com%25252Fitem%25252Fdetails%25252F375952%25252FBERA-Ethical-Guidelines-2011" target="_blank"><i>Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research</i></a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0CJXgeiKFqvVXMdG5utsfXOr2rbsGWdyxJfJ47i8hSPiMhyrpw7ADXXaM-3y1WFgpnpksQdU82xuuFh5NrHfEROToyus6pyX-cnKKNq-15uCkoII9xRzqe3fzinesHQSZMq5U6Mr9A/s1600/InternetResearchPic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0CJXgeiKFqvVXMdG5utsfXOr2rbsGWdyxJfJ47i8hSPiMhyrpw7ADXXaM-3y1WFgpnpksQdU82xuuFh5NrHfEROToyus6pyX-cnKKNq-15uCkoII9xRzqe3fzinesHQSZMq5U6Mr9A/s320/InternetResearchPic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />

Education on the Web

I normally try very hard to stay impartial when posting information here, by just describing what an item is and posting a link to it, and t...

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Suggested Reading for Students (again)

It's the first week of teaching, which explains why there's currently a daily stream of students in our office asking what Early Years books they should be looking at! So here's a reposting of a blog post which I originally wrote in June (with hindsight, the timing could have been better...):<br /><br />A regular enquiry from new Early Childhood or Early Years students is what books they should be buying when starting their course. So what follows is a collection of titles that you might want to consider obtaining if you're beginning your studies this September, although purchasing them all may be a little ambitious!<br /><br />This isn't a comprehensive list as students are expected to read around each topic they cover, and also different students will cover different subjects depending on which options they select during their course. The links I've put in all point towards the Amazon website, but other booksellers are available... :-)<br /><br />Some sort of generic early years textbook is usually a good idea as it will be of use to you in most areas that you cover. Two suggestions for useful titles include <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Early-Childhood-Studies-Principles-Practice/dp/140583532X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340806807&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Early Childhood Studies</i></a> (Johnston & Nahmad-Williams) and the similarly titled <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Early-Childhood-Studies-Rod-Parker-Rees/dp/1844453510/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340807449&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Early Childhood Studies</a></i> (Parker-Rees et al).<br /><br />Many of the enquiries that I deal with from first year students are tied up with child development. There are literally dozens of titles available in this area, but some that you might consider include <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Child-Development-Theory-Practice-0-11/dp/1405821272/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340806519&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Child Development: Theory & Practice 0-11</i></a> (Doherty & Hughes), <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Child-Development-Linking-Practice/dp/1444167189/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1340806550&sr=8-4" target="_blank"><i>Understanding Child Development 0-8 Years</i></a> (Lindon) or <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Childrens-Development-Peter-Smith/dp/1405176016/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340806891&sr=8-2" target="_blank"><i>Understanding Children's Development</i></a> (Smith, Cowie & Blades). In particular, students often ask about different theorists who are associated with child development - a very useful book that deals with most of these (Piaget, Vygotsky, Skinner etc) is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifty-Thinkers-Psychology-Routledge-Guides/dp/0415167752/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340806982&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Fifty Key Thinkers in Psychology</i></a> (Sheehy), which gives a brief overview of the ideas of various important figures.<br /><br />Another area that you will be covering is the idea of professionalism in your field - <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-NEW-EARLY-YEARS-PROFESSIONAL/dp/1843124238/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340807260&sr=8-2" target="_blank"><i>New Early Years Professional</i></a> (Nurse) and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leadership-Early-Years-Professionalism-Practice/dp/1444144243/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340807981&sr=1-2" target="_blank"><i>Leadership and Early Years Professionalism</i></a> (Lindon) are two fairly recent titles which contain information that will be useful to you.<br /><br />Recommending books that cover the area of childhood policy is a little trickier as the sector has experienced so many changes in recent times, and is continuing to evolve. However, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Policy-Issues-Early-Years-Critical/dp/0857029630/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1340807125&sr=8-3" target="_blank"><i>Policy Issues in the Early Years</i></a> (Miller & Hevey) and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Contemporary-Issues-Early-Years-Gillian/dp/1847875939/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340807354&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Contemporary Issues in the Early Years</i></a> (Pugh & Duffy) are two titles which are still relatively up-to-date and address some of the current political changes and debates.<br /><br />Regarding child protection and the various processes involved, you could do worse than get hold of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Multi-agency-Working-Early-Years-Opportunities/dp/1847875289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340808258&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Multi-Agency Working in the Early Years</i></a> (Gasper) or the more recent <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Safeguarding-Babies-Young-Children-Professionals/dp/0335234089/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340808577&sr=1-4" target="_blank"><i>Safeguarding Babies & Young Children</i></a> (Powell & Uppal).<br /><br />And a few others that deal with topics that students regularly enquire about: for information on observations, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Observation-Learning-Research-Theodora-Papatheodorou/dp/1405824670" target="_blank"><i>Child Observation for Learning and Research</i></a> (Papatheodorou & Luff) is worth a read, while <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Childrens-Behaviour-Development-Learning/dp/144417097X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1340806550&sr=8-3" target="_blank"><i>Understanding Children's Behaviour 0-11 Years</i></a> (Lindon) is an accessible book covering different behaviour issues. At some point you're certainly going to have to write about play, so try taking a look at the most recent edition of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Excellence-Play-Janet-Moyles/dp/0335240941/ref=pd_sim_b_12" target="_blank"><i>The Excellence of Play</i></a> (Moyles). Books on the brand new EYFS are still a little thin on the ground, but the imminent <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-EYFS-Practical-Students-Professionals/dp/1444157418/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340808725&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i>The EYFS: a Practical Guide for Students & Professionals</i></a> (Hutchin) looks like it'll be very valuable if the summary is anything to go by.<br /><br />Of course, by your final year you'll be thinking about writing your dissertation, in which case <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doing-Early-Years-Research-Project/dp/1849205205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340807524&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Doing Your Early Years Research Project</i></a> (Roberts-Holmes) should be very helpful. Also, while <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doing-Your-Research-Project-Researchers/dp/0335235824/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1340807524&sr=8-3" target="_blank"><i>Doing Your Research Project</i></a> (Bell) is not specifically aimed at early years students, it's still a very accessible, easy-to-use book for undergraduate researchers.<br /><br />That should give you plenty of food for thought! If you think I've missed something, feel free to share your suggestions by leaving a comment. And to find out about useful online information and the latest developments in the sector, you'll just need to keep visiting this site..<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ2u6hdZo-Sg_CJnzzCJily7m_vY7FwdCXFbSh92Vpz6JOH5eEX4Q5K3D71f6-mRMLBlH6WLAyHaYCA7Bwa7pUXpFJX4JND14m7_3F4j15dHFxOzHDo-otjHzrdpsWBhVxtJ8fRHE5SQ/s1600/LibraryPic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ2u6hdZo-Sg_CJnzzCJily7m_vY7FwdCXFbSh92Vpz6JOH5eEX4Q5K3D71f6-mRMLBlH6WLAyHaYCA7Bwa7pUXpFJX4JND14m7_3F4j15dHFxOzHDo-otjHzrdpsWBhVxtJ8fRHE5SQ/s320/LibraryPic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>

Suggested Reading for Students (again)

It's the first week of teaching, which explains why there's currently a daily stream of students in our office asking what Early Yea...

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The Cost of A Child in the Twenty-First Century

I'm about a month behind with today's post, but better late than never... The Child Poverty Action Group recently published <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/sites/default/files/CPAG%20Cost%20of%20a%20Child%202012_0.pdf" target="_blank"><i>The Cost of a Child in the Twenty-First Century</i></a>, a report which examines "how much it costs to provide children with a minimum level of participation in society", by studying issues like cost of childcare, benefits received, and the effects of having multiple children.

The Cost of A Child in the Twenty-First Century

I'm about a month behind with today's post, but better late than never... The Child Poverty Action Group recently published The Cost...

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