‘Everything is learning for a baby,’ says Mandy Cuttler, head of pedagogyat London Early Years Foundation (LEYF). ‘That means everything is a potential learning opportunity.’
In the baby room, particularly, this means learning and care are inextricably linked.
‘They have to be integrated,’ explains Cuttler. ‘If you’re changing a child's nappy and having a conversation with them, or singing, that's learning. When they are weaning, they’re starting to discover solid foods and learning about different textures, or developing fine motor skills by starting to hold a spoon or cup.
‘A child who is not well cared for can't really be taught because their basic needs are not being met. And a child who isn't being given experiences that stimulate and support their learning and development is not well cared for.’
TUNING IN
The three Prime Areas act as a solid basis for monitoring development, with theBirth to 5 Mattersguidance helping toguide practitioners in tracking developmental milestones.
Caroline Guard, senior lecturer in education at Kingston University, explains, ‘The Prime Areas are the focus in the baby room, and you would always want to closely monitor them.
‘There are certain developmental milestones that you would want to see before the age of one year or 18 months. From a communication point of view, you would want to see them showing engagement, eye contact, sustained response to an adult and vice versa.
Physically, you want to make sure a child is able to hold their head up, that tummy time is effective, and then sitting up, for example.’
Focusing on these areas will help practitioners monitor for any concerns or delays in progress, and should inform and guide observations.
‘First and foremost, observations should be looking at how the babies respond to their environment and people in it,’ says Cuttler. ‘That's applicable to all young children, but with babies more so, because they can't tell you what they like or how they are feeling. Teachers really need to be tuned in and able to read nonverbal cues. Responsive pedagogy is vital.’
She says questions to ask include:
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Is the baby engaged?
- Do you see signs of secure attachment?
- Is the baby becoming upset and then being reassured by an adult that they’re comfortable with?
- Is the baby doing something new or unfamiliar and turning to an adult that they trust?
- Do you see the baby looking for reassurance from people in the environment? Or are they reluctant, or hiding away in the corner?
Physical development
- Is the baby picking things up?
- Is the baby banging blocks together?
- Is the baby trying to pull up?
- Is the baby using furniture to cruise?
Communication and language
- Is the baby making vocalisations or babbling to engage adults?
Guard cautions against being too driven by targets and goals, however. ‘I think we have to be cautious because we always want to look at the child as a unique individual, and know what's typical and normal for them. You don't want to panic if they’re not sitting up at six months old, because it's all part of a developmental trajectory that'svery personal to that child.
‘It's more about learning about that particular child in a very close and attentive way, your child development knowledge, and working collaboratively with parents and other practitioners in the setting.
‘Birth to 5 Matters has been really helpful for practitioners in that respect because it's taken away the expectations of age bracket, and tried to refocus on looking at the child themselves and where they are developmentally.’
IDENTIFYING DELAYS
Birth to 5 Matters and Development Matterscan help to monitor development, but a practitioner's own knowledge is vital for identifying delays and providing support, says Cuttler.
‘There are usually a lot of different types of development required for those milestones to happen,’ she adds.
‘For a child to be able to walk, they need to have developed the core strength to be able to sit up. Development Matters might talk about starting to sit up, crawling and rolling over, but won't discuss the muscle development that has to happen behind that. They are really helpful documents for flagging whether a child is in the right bracket, but actually, if they are not, your knowledge of child development is really important to be able to hypothesise why.’
‘You do get some babies who might not develop how the others are developing,’ acknowledges Hannah Saunders, manager at Snapdragons in Keynsham. ‘That's usually absolutely fine. Every child is different.’
Guard says monitoring is vital. ‘In some ways, I would be inclined to agree that we are monitoring all the time. But equally, if there is something that is an alarm bell, in terms of development, that you’ve observed for a period of weeks or months and is still an issue, you have to seek additional support. The main thing is working collaboratively with others, whether that is health professionals, if needed, definitely parents, and fellow practitioners too.’
ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENT
Activities in the baby room should also prioritise communication and responsive interaction.
‘Lots of singing,’ recommends Cuttler. ‘Apart from the fact that singing is fun and nice and creates a good atmosphere, it's really good for communication and language development, because you’ve got rhythm, repetition and lots of different words. Talking in general is really important, narrating what babies are doing and using that high-pitched, sing-song tone to hasten communication development. Serve and return interactions are really important, talking and then stopping, waiting, and letting them respond, then giving your response.’
Heuristic play and treasure baskets allow babies to explore open-ended resources and lead their own play, while messy play helps introduce sensory experiences that parents may be less likely to provide at home, and fold-up tunnels and strategically placed furniture to create an obstacle course allow them to make the most of a larger space and aid physical development.
At Snapdragons, activities are tailored to cater for the wide range of ages that can be present in the baby room.
‘You have nearly two-year-olds that are very active, but also little ones who mostly just want someone to be with them,’ says Saunders. ‘But they’re all constantly learning new skills. Everything is a new experience really, even when they’ve done it before, because when they do it again, they might have a new skill.
‘For example, we give babies lots of garden time, so the youngest babies might be sat exploring leaves, and then they might start to pick them up, or crawl through them, while the older ones can run around. Everything is new, so they are always learning, and that makes it so special.’
LEARNING VERSUS CARE
When it comes to activities, however, sometimes less can be more.
Early language and behaviour consultant Debbie Brace says caregiving interactions should be the top priority with babies.
‘Sometimes, if practitioners have come from pre-school into a baby room, they can be very activity- and education-outcomes-focused, as if they have missed a section in their training about the importance of responsive caregiving,’ she says.
‘You need to wear a very unique pair of glasses in a baby room to really respond to a baby's emotional state. That work might happen at a nappy change or a mealtime, it doesn't have to be in a planned activity like a sensory tray full of lentils. When observing practice, I am less interested in activity like that in a baby room. I’m much more interested in the detail of a caregiving interaction and how the baby and key person can be involved in this care together. I think we need to get that bit right first.’
She adds that a truly responsive caregiver will then quite easily be able to provide learning opportunities based on the secure relationship they have built.
‘The role of a practitioner working in a baby room should always be about micro-interactions. Then, as soon as the baby shows they want to engage in the lentils, the practitioner will be attuned to that and respond, and the baby can have an absolutely fantastic time in this exploratory play.’