Professional love with Dr. Peter Elfer

How do you ensure that you are providing a warm, nurturing environment for children and adults alike?…

Setting up a Forest Nursery – Free videos

We recently met up with Leanna Barrett at one of her Little Forest Folks settings in Wimbledon Common. She contacted us after…

Free video clip – Tristan goes for a walk

Tristan’s Mum has a strong commitment to ensuring that he spends plenty of time outdoors every day, both as part of their routine…

Free video – Woodbine Place is 30!

Made in the 1980s by Wendy McEvoy (director of Siren Films) for Channel Four , Woodbine Place is more poignant now than ever…

Alison Gopnik on the science of relationships between parents and children

Alison Gopnik talks about the science of relationships between parents and children, how children learn differently from adults and why children play…

Insights into self-regulation

Self-regulation and executive functioning are consistently linked with successful learning, including pre-reading skills, early maths…

Thoughts on early literacy

Early literacy skills of reading and writing develop in parallel and are closely interwoven. They require a slightly different sets of skills…

How important is professional love?

Dr Jools Page, Director MA in Early Childhood Education at Sheffield University, research explores the biggest challenge, that love is…

What’s so important about risky play?

It is an interesting observation that young children clearly appear to derive considerable enjoyment from engaging in risky or slightly…

Face to Face

The importance of reciprocal expressions between a baby and an adult carer, and finding opportunities that enable it, are explored by Anne O’Connor…

How does experience help to shape the brain?

Our brains, at birth, are really a ‘brain in waiting’. Although we are born with all the neurons (the special cells in the brain that communicate…

See young children managing to avoid conflict

Three year old friends Fran and Lauren are playing outside together. Fran upsets Lauren and has to work out how to fix it. Notice what strategies the…

How to support early literacy and emergent writing skills

Three year old Niaz has been playing shops in the home corner. He finds the teacher as he want help to make a shopping list…

Acknowledging the feelings that separation can trigger

Practitioners should acknowledge the feelings that separation can trigger in a young child, a parent and themselves, says Anne O’Connor…

Why crawling is such an important physical stage

Crawling is an important physical stage in its own right which enables babies to break away from their carers for the first time and is significant in reflex development, says Anne O’Connor…

Open-ended resources link well to children’s schemas

Tyres are perfect open-ended resources and link well to children’s schemas, as Anne O’Connor observes…

Tuning in to children’s imaginative play will encourage language development

Tuning in to children’s imaginative play will encourage language development, says Anne O’Connor…

Block play can mix creativity with mathematical problem-solving

Block play allows a child to mix creativity with mathematical problem-solving, says Anne O’Connor…

Benefits of playing in a mixed age group

The benefits for children of playing in a mixed age group are explored by Anne O’Connor, with advice for practitioners on reinforcing it…

Introducing new sights and textures at the beach

New sights and new textures are made familiar for a baby with careful adult interest, says Anne O’Connor…

Messy play has far-reaching benefits for brain development

The sensory experience of messy play has far-reaching benefits for brain development, creativity and risk-taking, says Anne O’Connor…

Tuning in to young children with developmental delay

Young children with developmental delay will benefit from the care of a practitioner who responds to them as they are now, says Anne O’Connor…

How can you encourage dad’s involvement at your setting

The important role men play in children’s lives is increasingly recognised. Anne O’Connor explains how settings can better involve them…

Even very small children can enjoy constructive problem-solving

In a safe environment where they feel secure, even very small children can enjoy constructive problem-solving and concentrate for surprising amounts of time, says Anne O’Connor…

Peek-a-boo games help build up language and brain development

Two-way exchanges between babies and adults help build up language and brain development. Anne O’Connor considers how practitioners can create more opportunities for them…

When friends fall out the skill for adults is knowing when to step in or step back

While children will squabble from time to time, they are usually practising negotiating techniques. The skill for adults is to know when to step in or step back and let them get on with it, explains Anne O’Connor…

How settings can take the tension out of settling in at nursery

Starting daycare away from home can be a daunting experience for a young child – and their parent. Anne O’Connor looks at the case of two-year-old Ava and considers how settings can take the tension out of settling in at nursery…

Time to Talk – How young children acquire language

Young children can acquire more than one language without detriment to learning English and will enjoy greater self-esteem if carers outside the home respect their mother tongue. Anne O’Connor explains why…

Thinking about traditional gender roles and stereotypes

Seeing a young boy do something considered feminine provokes some extended thinking about traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Anne O’Connor explores the issues in practice…

What is social referencing and why you need to understand it

Adults’ facial expressions have a strong impact on very young children learning about social relationships. Anne O’Connor explains social referencing and why early years workers need to understand it…

Read With Me – promote attention, social awareness and a love of books

Sharing a book creates a partnership between a young child and their carer that will promote their attention, social awareness and a habit of reading for pleasure. Anne O’Connor shows why…

How a pretend telephone communication can show a child’s level of thinking

A pretend telephone communication can demonstrate a very young child’s grasp of speaking languages, imitating adult reality and being held in mind, as Anne O’Connor explains…

A sense of security helps young children cope with minor stresses & anxiety

Young children can cope with minor stresses and anxieties if they feel secure in their relationship with their carer, as Anne O’Connor explains…

Shared singing with a close carer is an important learning resource

Shared singing with a carer with whom a child is securely attached is an important learning resource, says Anne O’Connor…

You can learn a lot by observing the level of involvement that children show in their play

Observing the level of involvement that children show in their play can tell you much about their emotional well-being, and about the effectiveness of your provision, says Anne O’Connor…

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