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To ensure that the correct messages are being given, these two films have been made in association with child psychologist and early years expert Jennie Lindon. Excerpts from an interview with Jennie accompany the sequences in the documentary film, Firm Foundations for Early Literacy and she has written the support materials for both DVDs.
Firm Foundations for Early Literacy illustrates the important events in early childhood that create the sound foundations of early literacy skills. The film is divided into three sections covering children aged 0-24 months, and 20 months to three-and-a-half years, and three to five years. The viewer is taken on a journey tracking the development of young children's speaking and listening, pre-reading and pre-writing skills, with the purpose and relevance of each stage clearly explained. Viewing this film will help practitioners and parents to see the importance of focused on-to-one interaction with young children form birth onwards to build their communication skills. The explanations that Jennie provides throughout the film help the viewer to focus on the different developmental stages that children go through as they progressively build their expertise as successful communicators. She takes every opportunity to highlight the essentials of good early years practice in both group and home-based care situations and the importance of consistency between the experiences a young child has at home and in their early years setting.
The observation sequences in Supporting Early Literacy 0-5 addresses the key aspects of developing young children's communication skills in a slightly different and more structured way. It consists of a series of short observation sequences with accompanying notes and questions designed to act as prompts for discussion and reflection.
The DVD is divided into five sections: talkers and listeners; a love of books; drawing and mark making; rhymes and songs; pretend play; and story telling. Each contains short sequences featuring children of different ages showing progression in skills development.
Both films are sensitively made and the content of the support materials is outstanding. The materials are accessible and suitable for any audience, making them excellent value for money, even though they may appear at first to be rather expensive. Having viewed a number of Siren Films productions, I am now very attached to the children we see in the films. It is a privilege to be allowed to follow the journey of learning and development of these children and their families in such an intimate way. Our heartfelt thanks to the families concerned for allowing us to share in and learn from their experiences.