Editor's view

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Although we all need a few festive treats, however, the excessively commercial nature of Christmas celebrations does leave many families feeling uncomfortable. The latest in our series of parents' guides has lots of ideas for bringing out the caring side of Christmas and promoting altruism and empathy in children (see pages 16-17). This week's project outline, too, focuses on sharing, with activities based on a popular children's book, You Can Do It, Sam (see pages 20-21).

There's much more in this week's issue of the magazine. The new series from the Foundation Stage team at the Department for Education and Skills looks at Zaynah, the first child from the Celebrating Young Children project to be featured (see pages 14-15). We follow Zaynah's journey from stay and play sessions to starting school, and see how she has been supported by her family and practitioners. Our well-received inspection series reaches outcome 4 (pages 24-25), plus there are articles on child behaviour and Reggio Emilia, and lots of activities.