We watched the first episode of a new television series called Babies: Their Wonderful World on BBC Two this week.
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Hearing children’s voices
Did you do anything special to celebrate Universal Children’s Day on 20th November this week? Here is a short piece of writing we were asked to compose around listening to the child’s voice... In times gone by, when we wanted to find out about children we had to draw on research conducted on them. This positioning …
Introducing Research in Early Childhood
This week’s post is slightly different to usual because we are celebrating. Our first book, Introducing Research in Early Childhood, has been published by Sage Publications.
Children’s digital footprints
Yesterday Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, released a report called Who knows what about me?.
Is this really the end of the era of austerity? What will this mean for children?
Thank you Dr. Paula Stone for once again giving us lots to ponder on in this week's post. Austerity is a term often bandied about in politics and the media; over recent years it seems to represent ‘a difficult economic situation caused by a government reducing the amount of money it spends’ i.e. not an economic …
Continue reading Is this really the end of the era of austerity? What will this mean for children?
Boys’ toys and girls’ toys; why does it really matter?
It’s half term already and finally it’s beginning to feel like autumn. A quick stroll into town reminds us of all the celebrations that happen at this time of year; the shops are full of Halloween paraphernalia, there are reminders it is nearly Bonfire Night, and of course, the countdown to Christmas has already …
Continue reading Boys’ toys and girls’ toys; why does it really matter?
Social media; are the fears surrounding children using social media limiting the positive benefits for young children?
A great post this week from Harriet Smithers who is an Early Childhood Studies student. Children’s social media use is growing. This has been highlighted in Ofcom’s annual Children and Parent’s Media Attitudes report. The report highlights that 74% of children aged between 12 and 15 have a social media profile. As well …
To share or not to share?
This week’s post has been written by Karen Matthews, an early years practitioner who has recently completed an MA in Early Childhood Education. Karen is sharing a thought-provoking reflection on how we teach children to share. Imagine this, you have been fitting together different shaped magnets to create a model; you have been at this …
Play, talk, read, write, repeat
Did you see the new Literacy Trust report ‘Mental wellbeing, reading and writing’that came out this week? The research that underpins it looked to explore any links ‘between mental wellbeing and reading and writing enjoyment and attitudes’ (p. 25). It referenced other studies such as the Millennium Cohort Study which has found parallels between reading …
Sugar and spice…rats and snails
Do you remember the nursery rhyme ‘What are little boys made of?’I’m pretty sure that it won’t be recited in early years settings today but I do remember it was a common rhyme in my own childhood. It demonstrates how deeply ingrained the desire to differentiate between the sexes, or genders, is. I was …
Contemplating Childhoods 