Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

Lifestyle Health & Fitness
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I’m glad that I made a right choice by home educating my kids.

**· Children to be monitored from birth to age five in England
· New curriculum **[from september 2008] sets 69 ‘early learning goals’

Babies will be assessed on their gurgling, babbling and toe-playing abilities when they are a few months old under a legally enforced national curriculum for children from birth to five published by the government yesterday.
Every nursery, childminder and reception class in Britain will have to monitor children’s progress towards a set of 69 government-set “early learning goals”, recording them against more than 500 development milestones as they go.
At five, each child will be assessed against 13 scales based on the learning goals and their score, called an early years profile, must be passed to the Department for Education and Skills.
When children enter compulsory schooling, they should be able to read simple sentences using a phonics-based approach, count reliably up to 10 and sing simple songs from memory, as well as respecting others’ beliefs and learning to share and take turns.
The Early Years Foundation Curriculum, which comes into effect from September 2008, replaces non-statutory guidance already in place. If nurseries or other care providers want to opt out of the new requirements, for example because they follow an educational philosophy that introduces reading at a later age, they will have to apply for an exemption, and would have to forfeit any state funding.
The Department for Education and Skills’s framework immediately came under attack from the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA) and from the Tories for taking an excessively prescriptive approach and targeting children far too young.
Margaret Morrissey of the NCPTA said: “I think it’s really sad that we have reached the point now where instead of reducing children’s stress we have increased it … It worries me that we are expecting children to reach these targets when they have not even had their first birthday.”
Anne McIntosh, shadow minister for children, condemned the framework as “formalised learning for very small children” that risked damaging youngsters’ development. She said: “It is inappropriate to have such detailed inspection of children this young. We should leave it to the professional judgment of teachers. These new targets mark an unprecedented supervision of children from birth to primary school, and I do not think that they are necessary or will work. Every child is different and develops at different stages in different ways.”
The DfES says the framework is a means of ensuring high standards of early education and care that will reassure parents that their child’s development is being supported, no matter what form of childcare or pre-school education they use.
Beverley Hughes, the children’s minister, denied the goals would lead to a “tickbox approach” to assessing children, though she acknowledged this had happened under the previous system. She rejected suggestions that a 92-page set of practice guidance featuring 513 skills and attitudes children should acquire which accompanies the framework was excessively detailed.
“I don’t think it is prescriptive. I think the examples we have got in there are really what brings it to life for practitioners.”
She said the framework document was intended for nursery staff to make sure they adopt a “rigorous approach”.
“The children’s experience will be free, it will be based on play, it will be rich,” Ms Hughes said. “But the professionals behind that are required to have a thinking approach to the care of other people’s children.”
Scrutiny
According to the practice guidance, babies from birth to 11 months should be assessed for “the different ways babies communicate, such as gurgling when happy”. As they begin to scrutinise the skills children need for writing, carers should note the interest infants show in “the marks they make when they rub a rusk round the tray of a feeding chair”.
In preparation for learning about numbers, babies will be monitored on whether they enjoy “finding their nose, eyes or tummy”.
Childcare groups broadly welcomed the framework but warned that moves to support children’s development by close observation could be jeopardised by government rules stating that one member of staff can look after up to 13 children aged three and over.
Steve Alexander, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, the country’s largest voluntary provider of childcare said: “We retain our strong view that the staff to child ratio of 1:13 … is too low and should be 1:8. This point has particular pertinence given the framework stipulates that assessments through the foundation stage take the form of observation via ‘look, listen and note’.”
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association, said: “We question how practitioners will be able to give children the right support they need to progress in their learning and development with such a high ratio.”
Now pay attention: What your offspring should be doing - and when
**Birth-11 months **
· Communicate in a variety of ways including crying, gurgling, babbling and screaming
· Play with their own fingers and toes and focus on objects around them
· Discover mark-making by chance, noticing, for instance, that trailing a finger through spilt juice changes it
**Eight-20 months: **
· Become absorbed in putting objects in and out of containers
· Get to know and enjoy daily routines, such as getting up time, meal times, nappy time and bed time
**16-26 months: **
· Begin to move to music, listen to or join in with rhymes or songs
· Express feelings within warm, mutual, affirmative relationships
· Make random marks with their fingers and some tools
**22-36 months: **
· Have some understanding of the numbers one and two, especially when the quantity is important for them
· Show increasing control in holding and using hammers, books, beaters and mark-making tools
30-50 months
· Be able to use simple statements and questions often linked to gestures
· Form friendships with other children
40-60+ months
· Understand what is right, what is wrong and have a conception of why this is
· Complete a simple program on a computer
· Value and contribute to own well-being and self-control
· Begin to use talk to pretend imaginary situations

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

Hmmm. Interesting.

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

Maybe I missed it in the reading; does this also apply to children who are mentally challenged? Not all kids are born normal. Are the parents of these special children considered 'exempt'?

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

I think the focus of all the assessment is to identify children who are challenged. With the explosive increase in learning delays and diagnoses of Autism in the recent decade have also come studies which show very definitively that the earlier a learning disability is identified and addressed, the better the outcome is for the child. As early as 6 months old, a professional may be able to uncover difficulties and begin to work on them. And the earlier this happens, the better the child will do.

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

Then this is a good idea. This way kids with developmental issues can be taken care of early enough.

Is UD Naked Palette enough for shadi eye shadow collection?
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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

If a child gets all the 69 goals at 5 he will be normal, if he doesn't he will be called ' special '....

mama0f3

don't you think that by taking a note of every action of a 6 months old and kids of other ages under 5 would make them restricted?

A kid learns reading at 4 other at 9, by the age of 13 you won't be able to tell who learnt reading first.

7

You hit on the right note. The needs of a child will develop but again, every child is born and raised different, and when compared to other kids of their own age, a child will feel isolated if he/she is not up to the 'recommended' national level.

Also, it is thought-out and the ratio of a teacher dealing with each child is appropriate, but I wonder if it would be enough from the long-term perspective.

"We retain our strong view that the staff to child ratio of 1:13 ... is too low and should be 1:8. This point has particular pertinence given the framework stipulates that assessments through the foundation stage take the form of observation via 'look, listen and note'."

Most importantly, what if a child is categorized as special just because he/she doesn't fit the National scale but is learning at the right pace? That is more discouraging than having to scale the curriculum better to fit the child's needs.

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

^It will even difficult for boys to catch up with governments standards as young boys are atleast one year behind in progress compare to the young girls.

Teachers including Sue Palmer did speak against the new curriculum and removing the options for parents by implying in on state funded schools as well as private nurseries and childminders.

๑۩ﺴ ☞ My Golden Jubilee ☜ ๑۩ﺴ
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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

I think some of the intent is being missed here. When a child does not reach some or all of the basic goals at the specific age, its time to take a little closer look. Is the child potentially autistic? Potentially delayed? Or just simply a "late bloomer"? There are specialists who can determine which and also recommend whether some interventions such as speech therapy, OT or PT may help the child.

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

here's the list i found for the requirements from 5 year olds...

Personal, social and emotional development

**Educational programme
**Children must be provided with experiences and support which will help them to develop a positive sense of themselves and of others, respect for others, social skills and a positive disposition to learn. Providers must ensure support for children's emotional well-being to help them to know themselves and what they can do.
**Early-learning goals
**By the end of the EYFS children should:

  • continue to be interested, excited and motivated to learn
  • be confident to try new activities, initiate ideas and speak in a familiar group
  • maintain attention, concentrate, and sit quietly when appropriate
  • respond to significant experiences, showing a range of feelings when appropriate
  • have a developing awareness of their own needs, views and feelings, and be sensitive to the needs, views and feelings of others
  • have a developing respect for their own cultures and beliefs and those of other people
  • form good relationships with adults and peers
  • work as part of a group or class, taking turns and sharing fairly, understanding that there needs to be agreed values and codes of behaviour for groups of people, including adults and children, to work together harmoniously
  • understand what is right, what is wrong and why
  • consider the consequences of their words and actions for themselves and others
  • dress and undress independently and manage their own personal hygiene
  • select and use activities and resources independently
  • understand that people have different needs, views, cultures and beliefs, that need to be treated with respect
  • understand that they can expect others to treat their needs, views, cultures and beliefs with respect.

Communication, language and literacy

**Educational programme
**Children's learning and competence in communicating, speaking and listening, being read to, and beginning to read and write must be supported and extended. They must be provided with opportunity and encouragement to use their skills in a range of situations and for a range of purposes, and be supported in developing the confidence and disposition to do so.
**Early-learning goals
**By the end of the EYFS children should:

  • interact with others, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation
  • enjoy listening to and using spoken and written language, and readily turn to it in their play and learning
  • sustain attentive listening, responding to what they have heard with relevant comments, questions or actions
  • listen with enjoyment, and respond to stories, songs and other music, rhymes and poems and make up their own stories, songs, rhymes and poems
  • extend their vocabulary, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words
  • speak clearly and audibly with confidence and control and show awareness of the listener
  • use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences
  • use talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events
  • hear and say sounds in words in the order in which they occur
  • link sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet
  • use their phonic knowledge to write simple regular words and make phonetically plausible attempts at more complex words
  • explore and experiment with sounds, words and texts
  • retell narratives in the correct sequence, drawing on language patterns of stories
  • read a range of familiar and common words and simple sentences independently
  • know that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and top to bottom
  • show an understanding of the elements of stories, such as main character, sequence of events and openings, and how information can be found in non-fiction texts to answer questions about where, who, why and how
  • attempt writing for different purposes, using features of different forms such as lists, stories and instructions
  • write their own names and other things such as labels and captions, and begin to form simple sentences, sometimes using punctuation
  • use a pencil and hold it effectively to form recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.

Problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy

Educational programme
Children must be supported in developing their understanding of problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy in a broad range of contexts in which they can explore, enjoy, learn, practise and talk about their developing understanding. They must be provided with opportunities to practise and extend their skills in these areas and to gain confidence and competence in their use.
**Early-learning goals
**By the end of the EYFS children should:

  • say and use number names in order in familiar contexts
  • count reliably up to ten everyday objects
  • recognise numerals one to nine
  • use developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems
  • in practical activities and discussion, begin to use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting
  • use language such as 'more' or 'less' to compare two numbers
  • find one more or one less than a number from one to ten
  • begin to relate addition to combining two groups of objects and subtraction to 'taking away'
  • use language such as 'greater', 'smaller', 'heavier' or 'lighter' to compare quantities
  • talk about, recognise and recreate simple patterns
  • use language such as 'circle' or 'bigger' to describe the shape and size of solids and flat shapes
  • use everyday words to describe position.
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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

Knowledge and understanding of the world

**Educational programme
**Children must be supported in developing the knowledge, skills and understanding that help them to make sense of the world. Their learning must be supported through offering opportunities for them to use a range of tools safely, encounter creatures, people, plants and objects in their natural environments and in real-life situations, undertake practical ‘experiments’, and work with a range of materials.
**Early-learning goals
**By the end of the EYFS children should:

  • investigate objects and materials by using all of their senses as appropriate
  • find out about, and identify, some features of living things, objects and events they observe
  • look closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change
  • ask questions about why things happen and how things work
  • build and construct with a wide range of objects, selecting appropriate resources and adapting their work where necessary
  • select the tools and techniques they need to shape, assemble and join materials they are using
  • find out about and identify the uses of everyday technology and use information and communication technology and programmable toys to support their learning
  • find out about past and present events in their own lives, and in those of their families and other people they know
  • observe, find out about and identify features in the place they live and the natural world
  • find out about their environment, and talk about those features they like and dislike
  • begin to know about their own cultures and beliefs and those of other people.

Physical development

**Educational programme
**The physical development of babies and young children must be encouraged through the provision of opportunities for them to be active and interactive and to improve their skills of coordination, control, manipulation and movement. They must be supported in using all of their senses to learn about the world around them and to make connections between new information and what they already know. They must be supported in developing an understanding of the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices in relation to food.
**Early-learning goals
**By the end of the EYFS, children should:

  • move with confidence, imagination and in safety
  • move with control and coordination
  • travel around, under, over and through balancing and climbing equipment
  • show awareness of space, of themselves and of others
  • recognise the importance of keeping healthy, and those things which contribute to this
  • recognise the changes that happen to their bodies when they are active
  • use a range of small and large equipment
  • handle tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with increasing control.

Creative development

**Educational programme
**Children’s creativity must be extended by the provision of support for their curiosity, exploration and play. They must be provided with opportunities to explore and share their thoughts, ideas and feelings, for example, through a variety of art, music, movement, dance, imaginative and role-play activities, mathematics, and design and technology.
**Early-learning goals
**By the end of the EYFS children should:

  • respond in a variety of ways to what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel
  • express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings by using a widening range of materials, suitable tools, imaginative and role-play, movement, designing and making, and a variety of songs and musical instruments
  • explore colour, texture, shape, form and space in two or three dimensions
  • recognise and explore how sounds can be changed, sing simple songs from memory, recognise repeated sounds and sound patterns and match movements to music
  • use their imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role-play and stories.

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

Peace Mamaof3

This is actually the process of making of drones. The process will as you say identify which children are likely to be 'bad' drones, but the 'good' drones will be super ones and the 'bad' drones will not be that bad. You are right there is a basic focus over the issues you talk about, BUT there is a lot more at steak than just not being high achievers.

Scenario
If a monkey has been trained to respond to stimulus in different ways but a child has not, then possibly rather probably if that child and the monkey take the same test the monkey will get better marks.

Education is being replaced by indoctrination and human programming. Over-prescription makes humans 'work', makes us batteries, part of the capitalistic machine, and it takes away our souls in the process. The focus is not on our soul it is only on our achievements.

Soldiers are taught to obey instructions.

Freedom to grow and develop is an ethos which can best gauged by the words of Plato ...
Do not train a child to learn by **force* or harshness but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.*

This amusing of the minds is a kin to learning by play, and play is a kin to love. Teaching by love is as per the hadith of the prophet for the first 7 years and thus we already have the best 'prescription' for teaching. Education should be about giving the child the confidence and desire to learn.

Then the later years will be a breeze, but the more we try to cram into the childs mind information we will only be able to make record players and hard disks out of them ... that's only if they don't rebel in the process.

Most Evil Women in History
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Peace Sister

If radicalising the schooling system is the best thing for it, then I propose the for the first six years it is made compulsory to teach parents in the first few years of the child, how to be education-orientated. To look for

active engagement as the key or only criteria for success in children and the prescriptive list can be better reserved for the parents.

It is us as parents who are starving for information on how to best raise our children, it is not our children who need greater and greater restricted controlled development. To take care of developmental issue very early is to address new parents or even expecting parents with a philosophy that they aught to adopt for raising their children with a desire for learning.

Only after a good 7 to 10 years would it be worth putting a child to tests and those tests need to focus on things like morals, emotional disposition and effort as well attainment.

14

i dont how much pressure it ll put on children but surely it will turn parents psychotic

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Re: Is your baby playing with its toes yet? If not the government wants to know why

more info on wiki