A useful learning tool for you

An observation journal

Pearltrees or Evernote 

Resources for using with children

Learning Time with Timmy classes, Englishcourses.

 educational apps 

Learning Time with Timmy educational series that helps children learn

their first words in English on YouTube or Netflix (ages 2-6) is inspired
by the curriculum designed by British Council early years experts and
each episode has specific learning outcomes.

You can also visit our LearnEnglish Kids website which has lots of

resources to help children learn English. You’ll find stories, songs,
games and hundreds of learning activities.

What are community events?

YouTube .

You can find a full calendar of teacher events here on the

TeachingEnglish Website.

These frameworks emphasise that each child is unique, and the way
they engage with the people around them and their environment
deeply affects learning and development. All children are born curious
and active learners and they need what is described in Development
Matters as Characteristics of Effective Learning:

 playing and exploring

 active learning
 creating and thinking critically
The development statements are an important part of the EYFS
framework. They are a useful guide as they describe what children
can typically be expected to do at different ages. They are divided into
six age groups (which can also overlap), starting at birth until 5+ years
(60+ months).

16-26 months

 Copies familiar expressions, e.g. Oh dear! All gone!

 Explores and experiments using senses and whole body.

22-36 months

 Listens with interest to the noises adults make when they read
stories.
 Is interested in others’ play and is starting to join in.
 Runs safely on whole foot.
 Is aware that some actions can hurt or harm others.
 Repeats words or phrases from familiar stories.
 Recites some number names in sequence.
 Experiments with blocks, colours and marks.

30-50 months

 Responds to simple instructions, e.g. Put your toys away.

 Can catch a large ball.
 Notices what adults do, imitating what is observed and then
doing it spontaneously when the adult is not there.
 Can play in a group.
 Holds books the correct way up and turns pages.

40-60+ months

 Uses a pencil and holds it effectively.

  Extends vocabulary by grouping, naming, and exploring the
sounds of new words.
 Writes own name and other things such as labels or captions.
 Constructs with a purpose in mind, using a variety of resources.
The Development Matters document warns not to use these statements as checklists. It states:
“Children develop at their own rates, and in their own ways. The development statements and
their order should not be taken as necessary steps for individual children. They should not be
used as checklists. The age/stage bands overlap because these are not fixed age boundaries but
suggest a typical range of development.”

Here are some of the problems with using the development

statements as a checklist.

 Focus on a limiting generalisation rather than individuals.

 Negative observations of what each child can’t do rather than
what they can do.
 Goals become time driven as though learning is a race, when
the child needs more time to develop.
 Observations become judgemental and can lead to unjustly
labelling or comparing children and children pick up on this. It
inhibits learning.
 Undermines self-esteem and confidence, and can lead to a cycle
of underachievement.
 Parents become anxious about developmental delays and
potential special educational needs.
 Focus on separate skills instead of looking at whole child
development.

the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum from England

(Development Matters) but there are many frameworks around
the world with similar approaches.

Here are some examples:

  Early Years Curriculum Framework (Aistear) Ireland
 Early Learning Framework Ontario Canada
 Early Years Learning Framework Australia

 Babies understand language about twice as fast as they speak.

 Children can really learn a language if they are playing.

 a three-year-old child’s brain is twice as active as an adult brain.

 Child’s vocabulary at 30,42,52 months is influenced by what they

heard a year before.

 Very young children love playing with sounds.They are not afraid
to play with language

 Constant repetition of language helps them to hardwire their

brain

 Children need time to process the language. It might be involved

going through a silent period to understand what is going on , to
tune into the language, and make sense of it.

 Children learn best when they are interested in something.

 Children pick up languages best if there is a context and reason

to use it.

 Never force a child to speak. They will speak when they are
ready.

Recommendations and advice

Based on what we’ve seen this week, here is some advice for
parents and educators.
  A child who is not speaking may be actively listening and may
need time to process what they are hearing before saying
anything. It is important to value listening as well as speaking by
giving the child lots of exposure to the language.

 Non verbal responses from young children are perfectly

acceptable. They show that the child has understood the
message.

 Don’t force a child to speak, they will when they are ready.
Forcing a child to speak before they are ready could actually
delay language development.

 Be genuine in your interactions with young children.

 Use mime and gesture as you would if you were talking to the
child in their home language.

 Value the home language. The skills that children develop while
learning their home language are transferable to an additional
language.

ACTIVE EXPERIMENTATION

We named this step Active Experimentation, inspired by the American

theorist David Kolb, who constructed the theory of experiential learning
(1984). This states that successful learning comes from four
sequential processes where the fourth one, Active Experimentation,
is about using what you have discovered and applying it in your life.

Here there are some videos and links to explore this topic, how
children learn and how they acquire language. Choose one or two
resources below to look at in more detail and note your ideas and
reflections in your observation journal. This will help with the peer
graded assignment later on in the course.

 Read this article on how to help young children learn English as

another language.

 Watch What do babies think? by psychologist Alison Gopnik.

 Watch The linguistic genius of babies by professor of speech and
hearing sciences Dr Patricia Kuhl.

 Read this article about how talking to babies and young children

builds their brains.