Boys targeted in Government push for writing skills
All nurseries and childminders will be sent Government guidance later this month advising them on how to encourage threeand four-year-old boys to write.
Children's minister Dawn Primarolo said the gender gap in development between girls and boys was a 'worrying' problem.
In an interview in The Independent she said, 'There is a gap, and it is a worrying gap. What we can see is that boys, particularly on emotional development, lag behind girls.
'That emotional development is very important in language development through play before they start school and reading and writing. Although that gap between boys and girls is closing, in writing it is still quite wide.'
National Strategies is developing online resources for the EYFS and KS1 to support early writing, with case studies showing how practitioners can use role play and writing outdoors.
The DCSF said, 'Because boys don't seem to be as interested as girls in drawing and mark-making, it is important that practitioners ensure this doesn't then result in limited access to resources such as paper, crayons, paint etc and insufficient opportunities or encouragement for boys to write.
'Some boys are anxious about writing. They may feel they haven't mastered the skills - like phonics and handwriting.'
But early years expert Wendy Scott said her 'heart sank' at these comments, which 'refer to children who may be barely 48 months old. They should most emphatically not be put in the position where they feel they are already failing'.
Ms Scott said, 'I do sigh at yet more guidance designed to distort what all young children (not just boys) choose to do in order to meet arbitrary targets.
'Of course it is well worth ensuring there are interesting, stimulating and motivating opportunities for emergent writing, and models of writing for a purpose in every nursery. It would be nice to think they existed in every home as well.'
She added, 'The best way we can sustain and develop their interest in literacy is to pick up on the times when it is relevant to them, remembering that in most countries, no one expects the levels of achievement we have set for five-year-olds until children are about seven.'
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