In an extract from her latest book, Reducing Educational Disadvantage, Penny Tassoni explains how varied positive, adult-supported experiences can boost children’s learning and development

We can help to close the gap and support children who are at risk of disadvantage by providing them with a wide range of experiences inside and outside the classroom.

‘Lucky’ children often have access to varied experiences that are accompanied by adult involvement. They may have been taken to a museum or art gallery or have fed the ducks in a park. They may have gone for a walk in the woods or travelled in the car to a wildlife park. ‘Lucky’ children may also have been involved in some everyday activities such as making biscuits, planting seeds or posting a letter. Such activities are often taken for granted by families, but the reality is that they are all potentially rich learning opportunities for children, that enable them to forge new thoughts as well as to develop high levels of vocabulary.

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