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Three- to five-year-olds are putting in place the foundations for learning, including self-confidence, resilience, problem-solving and the ability to take in new information. Our behaviour as adults can help or hinder them in that cognitive journey.
‘Unspoken messages can lay the foundation for fear and lack of confidence, or equally for mastery and resilience,’ says early years consultant Kathryn Solly. ‘A parent may be holding a child’s arm when he or she is balancing on a low wall, and the child says “let go”, but the parent is hanging on for dear life. If this behaviour continues, then the child accepts this as the status quo – “when I walk on a wall I must have my hand held”.’
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