From England

Too much, too young?

Child psychologists are challenging the latest guidelines on learning goals for toddlers. Janet Murray reports

Tuesday January 29, 2008
The Guardian


Nursery - a good time to develop 'mathematical ideas'? Photograph: Alix/Phanie/Rex


Comment: I think this is interesting. It seems that somebody is not quite sure what a child is supposed to do. Don't worry; it's on its way here!

What did your child do at nursery today? Dressing up? Messing around in the sandpit? Perhaps baking fairy cakes? Or was he or she learning to read and write?

Under new government guidelines for early-years education, three- and four-year-olds should be taught to "form simple sentences, sometimes using punctuation", and write in different forms such as "lists, stories and instructions". Meanwhile, they should also be "developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems".

Dubbed "the national curriculum for babies", the early-years foundation stage (EYFS) is a merger of the Birth To Three Matters framework, introduced in 2003 to support early-years practitioners working with nought- to three-year-olds and the foundation stage of the national curriculum, aimed at three- to five-year-olds. From September 2008, delivering the early years foundation curriculum (EYFC) will be a legal requirement for every nursery, childminder and reception class in England.

Early-years practitioners will have to monitor children's progress against no fewer than 69 "early learning goals" and more than 500 development milestones. At five, each child will be given a score, which will be passed on to the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

A group of academics, led by leading child psychologists Richard House, Penelope Leach and Sue Palmer, are campaigning for an independent review into the EYFS, claiming such a regime may harm children's development. The Open Eye campaign was launched in November 2007 with a letter to the Times Educational Supplement that claimed this so-called headstart to literacy was "known to precipitate unforeseen difficulties later on, sometimes including unpredictable emotional and behavioural problems". While the children's minister, Beverley Hughes, claims she has the "wholehearted backing of the majority of early-years specialists", the group claims that there was little consultation over the EYFS.

Top of the list of concerns are the prescriptive learning goals. According to House, senior lecturer at the Research Centre for Therapeutic Education at Roehampton University, the idea that children of this age should be taught to read and write is "symptomatic of an increasing obsession with childhood development".

Leach, author of the parenting book Your Baby and Child says: "I think the government has confused aspirations with goals. Yes, some children will be reading and writing comfortably before the end of the foundation stage, but the majority won't."

Sue Palmer is a former headteacher and author of Toxic Childhood, which claims childhood creativity is being stifled. Up until the age of seven, she says, all children need is "love, play, talk, song and stories". In fact, there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that introducing children to formal education too early can be damaging. "Forcing children to write before they are physically able means many fall at the fence ... they can be put off writing for ever."

Then there is the exhaustive assessment process, increasingly commonplace in education. "I know of children being tutored at the age of two or three to get into a particular nursery," House says.

Another concern is the effect on early-years practitioners, particularly childminders. My own childminder, who provides fantastic care, says the new guidelines have made her think seriously about retirement. Another childminder, who doesn't wish to be named, says: "Most childminders work alone, so how the government expects them to do all this paperwork while looking after the children is a mystery to me."

The National Childminding Association acknowledges that some childminders are worried, but says that the requirements of the EYFS are not radically different from what registered childminders already do.

"What are we going to get next," asks House, "a national curriculum for parents to follow in the home?"

A meeting with the education select committee chair, Barry Sheerman, last Thursday brought promising news. "From the meeting, it is clear our concerns are being taking seriously," says House. "Sheerman was sympathetic to our concerns and invited members of Open Eye to participate in further discussion with the select committee."

In the meantime, the campaign continues to gain momentum. A Downing Street petition has gained more than 4,000 signatures and a conference is being held in London in February. "What we want to avoid is creating 'mini adults' in nursery education, bringing them into adult consciousness well before they are ready," says House. "In the early years, all children need is a healthy, nourishing and loving environment."