Parents who are actively involved in their child’s learning and
development before they start school can boost their progress by 5
months, according to evidence summarised in the Early Years Toolkit, a new resource launched by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) this week.
The Toolkit, developed by Durham University, states that there is
‘clear evidence’ that engaging parents with their children’s learning
and development in the early years is valuable and will likely have a
positive effect on later academic success. Whist the impact of different
parental engagement approaches will vary, effective strategies can be
as simple as encouraging parents to read with their child at home, or as
structured as providing training in parenting skills or adult literacy
support.
Parental engagement is one of 12 topics covered in the Early Years
Toolkit, an accessible summary of evidence aims to help nurseries and
pre-schools get the most out of their resources, including the Early
Years Pupil Premium, and improve the learning of three and four year
olds from disadvantaged homes. Government statistics found that less
than 50% of children from low income families had achieved a ‘good level
of development’ by age 5 - the Toolkit aims to help early years
professionals address this.
Of the strategies covered by the Toolkit, self-regulation is shown to
have a particularly positive average effect on children’s progress. The
evidence suggests that teaching children to self-regulate, for example
by improving their capacity to plan and review their progress, can
increase learning by seven additional months on average. Moreover,
helping children to develop this in the early years can benefit reading
skills, maths and problem-solving and is likely to have a lasting
positive impact on later learning.
However, nurseries and pre-schools should be wary of assuming a
simple link between extra hours of education and increased learning. The
evidence in the Toolkit suggests that the high-costs associated with
providing a full-day of early years education over a half-day may
indicate that improving the quality of provision is a better bet than
extending the length of time in nursery or reception.