All children are born with emotional talent. But if left untended, those talents can wane during the first five years of life. Children are sensitive and social beings from birth, exhibiting an innate enthusiasm for communication that must be satisfied for healthy development. If their feelings, agency, and motivations are met with affection, if they are respected and nurtured, then children will respond creatively and that inherent desire for companionship will flourish.
However, with the recent changes in political and educational systems, early years education has seen a decline in focus on the emotional wellbeing of children and the development of their creativity. Those systems need to adapt if educators are to bring out the best in our future generations. By nurturing creativity and emotional wellbeing in the first five years of life, long term social benefits can be wrought.
The book focusses on children's readiness for learning. It addresses the natural joy explicit in children's early conversations and engagement with music and their development through play with both adults and other children. This kind of education allows children to develop their bodies and skills, accept and understand their feelings, build relationships, and progress both their imagination and their problem solving skills. In this way, play with others drives development.
With contributors from the fields of psychological, educational, and political spheres, this book will be of interest to anyone concerned for the future of our children.
1: Colwyn Trevarthen, Aline-Wendy Dunlop and Jonathan Delafield-Butt: Defining the Child's Curriculum, and its role in the life of the community
2: Colwyn Trevarthen: What young children give to our learning
3: Tina Bruce: The Importance of Play
4: Jonathan Delafield-Butt: The emotional and embodied nature of human understanding: Sharing narratives of meaning
5: Chris Miles: Access to Enriching Environments in Early Childhood: Paradise lost?
6: Angela M. Kurth and Darcia Narvaez: The Evolved Developmental Niche and Children's Developing Morality
7: Pauline von Bonsdorff: Children's Aesthetic Agency: The pleasures and power of imagination
8: Rebecca Nye: The Spiritual Strengths of Young Children
9: Alan Sinclair and Tam Baillie: Early human relations set the foundation for adult health and working life
10: Kenny Spence and Gary Clapton: Gender balance in the childcare workforce: Why having more men in childcare is important
11: Robin Duckett and Catherine Reding: The Courage of Utopia
12: Aline-Wendy Dunlop: Child's Curriculum as a Gift: Opening up the early level curriculum in Scotland
13: Ingela K. Naumann: Early childhood education and care policy: Beyond quantity and quality, for human development
14: Joshua Sparrow: Communities Raising Children Together: Collaborative Consultation with a Place-Based Initiative in Harlem
15: Cath Arnold and Tracy Gallagher: Involving Parents in Their Children's Learning
16: Sally Peters, Keryn Davis, and Ruta McKenzie: Children's 'working theories' as curriculum outcomes
17: Colwyn Trevarthen, Aline-Wendy Dunlop, and Jonathan Delafield-Butt: The spirit of the child inspires learning in the community: how can we balance this promise with the politics and practise of education?
