Further to Helen Penn's column ('To the point', 13 September), she writes so much that most early years practitioners and experts would agree with and continually shout about - but nobody in authority seems to be listening.
If under three years of age is the most critical time for brain development and the foundations for future functioning, then why do we not respond appropriately? We know that love matters and that strong bonding at this stage is crucial and that damage caused by lack of it cannot be remedied at a later stage. We also know that with the best will in the world, most early years settings cannot respond to this need. Paediatric research backs up our views of the importance of this stage of development, but somewhere up there somebody doesn't seem to be getting it.
International research vindicates Helen's comment, 'We let stressed children get bundled into school at a ridiculously early age, instead of thinking through what good nursery education might offer'. It is a sentiment clearly illustrated in the ATL document Inside the Foundation Stage (2004).
We all want an economically strong country with opportunities for all, but I believe that this necessitates celebrating childhood and not re-inventing it for ulterior motives.
- Marie Charlton, Lancashire.