Working With Children in the Early Years

Working with Children in the Early Years is an accessible introduction to early years theories, policy and practice, offering practitioners in a diverse range of settings the opportunity to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills for working with young children. This fully updated second edition builds on new government agendas and interests in supporting quality provision for young children and their families. Bringing together current research and thinking in a broad range of areas, it covers:



the diversity of practitioner roles and multi-agency working


working with families


listening to children


observing and assessing


developing professional roles


health and well being


curriculum and pedagogy


the importance of play and learning in the early years
All contributions are strongly practical and underpinned by relevant theory, and will support students and practitioners studying in the field of early years and early childhood studies as well as those aiming to achieve Early Years Professional Status. The book will also appeal to training providers, equipping them with a valuable and unique source to support a range of early years courses.

Carrie Cable is Senior Lecturer in Education at The Open University and Director of a DCSF funded research project into language learning in primary schools.
Linda Miller is Emeritus Professor of Early Years at The Open University.
Gill Goodliff is Senior Lecturer and Head of Awards for Early Years at The Open University.

Acknowledgements Introduction Carrie Cable, Gill Goodliff and Linda Miller Part 1 Roles, provision and practices Carrie Cable Introduction 1. The roles and responsibilities of leaders Caroline Jones and Linda Pound 2. A day in the life of a bilingual teaching assistant Carrie Cable, Rose Drury and Leena Robertson 3. Developing professionalism in the early years: from policy to practice Sue Owen and Gill Haynes 4. Working in teams in early years settings Mary Reed and Mary Rees 5. Professional roles in the early years Linda Miller 6. Leadership in a multi-agency context Caroline Jones and Linda Pound 7. Approaches to curricula in the early years Linda Miller, Jane Devereux, Alice Paige-Smith and Janet Soler Part 2 Children’s lives Gill Goodliff Introduction 8. Modern Childhood: contemporary theories and children’s lives Tim Waller 9. Health Inequalities in early childhood Angela Underdown 10. What’s it all about? – how introducing heuristic play has affected provision for the under-threes in one day nursery Ruth Holland 11. Exploring the great outdoors Ian Shirley 12. ‘Hi Granny! I’m writing a novel.’ Marian Whitehead 13. Creativity across the curriculum Bernadette Duffy 14. Children growing and changing: the interpersonal world of the growing child Patti Owens 15. Promoting Healthy Eating in Early Years Settings Deborah Albon and Penny Mukherji 16. Playing with Song Susan Young 17. Young children, learning and ICT: a case study in the UK maintained sector Mark O’Hara Part 3 Listening to children and adults Introduction Linda Miller 18. The challenges of starting school Hilary Fabian 19. Listening to young children: multiple voices, meanings and understandings Elizabeth Wood 20. The role of grandparents in children’s learning Charmian Kenner, Tabera Arju, Eve Gregory, John Jessel and Mahera Ruby 21. What can we learn from listening to girls and boys talking about their play? Naima Browne 22. Watching and listening; the tools of assessment Cathy Nutbrown 23. ‘It’s not like anything Joe and I have experienced before’: family workshops at Tate Modern Roger Hancock with Alison Cox and Synthia Griffin 24. Parents and practitioners: sharing education Vicky Hurst and Jenefer Joseph 25. Working with Parents Lucy Draper and Bernadette Duffy