The quality of a child’s early experience is vital for their future success. It is shaped by many interrelated factors, notably the effects of socio-economic status, the impact of high-quality early education and care, and the influence of ‘good parenting’ – what parents and carers do on a daily basis with their children is important.
Early years educators who forge strong partnerships with parents and carers and work to develop the home learning environment help these significant adults to improve their child’s progress to make a better start at school. The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE 2004), a study of 3,000 three- to seven-year-olds in their homes and early years settings, found that the quality of the home learning environment is the most important factor affecting a child’s outcomes. This effect continues through to the age of seven. What parents do at home has more impact than their occupation, income and education levels.
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