It's easy to believe that listening to children should be a central part of the nursery philosophy, but much harder to ensure that this happens in practice. When consultation with young children works, the results can be inspiring and ground-breaking - it's a matter of knowing how to do it. So our eight-page pull-out this week on consulting with children will be essential reading for everybody in early years settings. As well as Peter Moss's thoughtful look at the principles and pitfalls of listening to children, three different organisations explain their approaches to involving children in decisions about their lives and their care, with practical examples and case studies to help you incorporate listening into your setting.
It's easy to believe that listening to children should be a central part of the nursery philosophy, but much harder to ensure that this happens in practice. When consultation with young children works, the results can be inspiring and ground-breaking - it's a matter of knowing how to do it.
So our eight-page pull-out this week on consulting with children will be essential reading for everybody in early years settings. As well as Peter Moss's thoughtful look at the principles and pitfalls of listening to children, three different organisations explain their approaches to involving children in decisions about their lives and their care, with practical examples and case studies to help you incorporate listening into your setting.
A consultation of a different sort pops up in our news section (see page 4), as the Government announces that it is to consult in the autumn on the Foundation Stage and the transition into school. Wouldn't it be great if three-to five-year-olds got a chance to have their say on how they would like this to be handled and could give their opinions on whether the reception class is the place for a literacy hour?
