Wherever you are with children, you need to walk a fine middle line between two equally unhelpful extremes. Adults can be so detached from children's play that they cannot suitably extend their learning. On the other hand, the unwise can behave in such a directing way that they interfere in the enjoyable flow of play for the children.
Recently there has been a great deal of discussion about the best role for early years practitioners and the proper balance between child-initiated and adult-initiated experiences. The EPPE research identified that the best nursery practice with children from about three years of age worked out with at least a 50-50 split between such experiences. (Find out more on www.ioe.ac.uk/cdl/eppe). Any such opportunities occur with the backdrop of a well-resourced indoor and outdoor learning environment that children can access in their own time and their own ways.
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