'We know that parents are central to children's wellbeing and that children's experiences in their early years have a major impact on later life. It is vital that children have a sound basis on which to learn and develop, as well as enjoying time with their parents.'
Children's minister Beverley Hughes
The World of Discovery project was developed in Thurrock using targeted funds from the Government. The project supported innovative working with vulnerable parents to encourage their involvement in their children's development and learning. This was known as the Parents as Partners in Early Learning (PPEL) project.
I led the project to support parents with their children from pre-birth to up to three years old.
A number of small projects were carried out, one of which was the World of Discovery, facilitated by Ellie Reynish, a community artist who was commissioned to work with the local authority.
The focus of the sessions was to give parents, through a variety of arts and creative investigations, a greater understanding of how babies and toddlers learn and develop. Part of the artist's remit was to provide parents with ideas of how to continue creative learning at home.
The children were introduced to a variety of materials and objects to explore and experiment with in an open-ended manner, extending their vocabulary and language comprehension as well as their mastery of simple instructions.
The parents' interaction and engagement helped the children to understand cause and effect and object permanence, to develop independence, and to increase their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Of interest
The sessions were set up in one of the council's Phase One children's centres in Aveley, Thurrock. The two-hour drop-in sessions ran weekly and attendance grew over time, with 20 parents coming regularly by the end of the project. The sessions became so popular that they were split into two separate one-hour sittings. Each had a different theme, but some aspects were repeated if the artist observed children having particular interests. The sessions included:
- reflection
- sound
- light
- touch
- enveloping
- nature
- smell
- texture
- paper
- black and white.
The artist took photographs of the children exploring the materials. She then provided pictorial documentation, with a small amount of text outlining the learning which took place. The parents looked forward to seeing their child in the pictures and reading the statements each week.
Parents were also given additional hand-outs with suggestions for continuing the learning at home. Weekly dialogue between the artist and parents enabled conversations to take place about what the children may have been experiencing and how this contributed to their child's overall development.
We noticed that the parents who attended regularly would also share their child's personal learning journey with new parents.
The artist documented the children's learning through a beautifully illustrated book, which each parent was given at the end of the sessions. The combination of photographic documentation and written notes, collated ideas from parents and facilitator evaluations all established a baseline for future sessions.
One parent was so inspired by the sessions that she made a sensory area in her shed at home so she could continue the learning with her child. She focused on the ideas from the 'shiny' collection, as she had identified how much her child loved these materials.
Where next?
After the project had finished, the council invited community artist Ellie Reynish to come back for a further eight weeks to give the early years staff and children's centre staff an opportunity to attend the sessions.
As a result of Ellie's inspirational ideas, a further two sessions have been developed, running out of Thurrock's children's centres. The original group that Ellie started has continued to meet and is now led by one of the outreach workers.
I led a manager's session which was attended by senior strategic managers and children's centre teams. A presentation was given to demonstrate the benefits of the exploratory sessions for both parents and children. Delegates experienced a typical session and watched video evidence of the children and parents engaging in previous sessions, followed by discussions of storage, resources and allocation of funds.
It was decided that further exploratory sessions would run across Thurrock in Phase One, Two and eventually Three children's centres, with the aim that all the babies and toddlers in the borough will in time have an opportunity to enjoy this wonderful multi-sensory experience.
Debbie Shepherd is the nought-to-threes development officer at Thurrock Council
PARENTS' COMMENTS
'My baby Jessica seems to get a lot from the exploratory sessions. She loves feeling different textures and hearing the different noises they make. We started at around four to four-and-a-half months old and I feel it has been good for her to discover that household things, and things other than toys can be fun to play with too.'
'We sometimes do this at home, but it is nicer and there is more choice in the sessions. She some times interacts with the other babies but plays mainly on her own or with me.'
'Very good. New things in every session for kids to play with and explore, good ideas for parents to try at home. Very welcoming staff, nice place to be for a few hours.'
FURTHER INFORMATION
- For further information about the project, or to attend one of the sessions, e-mail Debbie Shepherd at dshepherd@thurrock.gov.uk
- Community artist Ellie Reynish can be contacted on 07969 020706 or elliereynish@hotmail.com