'In not replying, we leave ourselves open to being given a curriculum which may not be appropriate for young children,' said early years and literacy specialist Helen Bromley.
The EYFS consultation document extends the areas of learning to birth and presents them in a grid format.
Planning, said one leading academic, will be 'through tick lists rather than informed observations' and will become even poorer once the current documents, Birth to Three Matters and Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, are phased out. 'It is important that practitioners realise that the EYFS guidance will be the sole document on which settings are inspected,' she added.
There is also unease about the QCA consultation on teaching early reading, which recommends rewording an early learning goal from 'Hear and say initial and final sounds in words and identify short vowel sounds' to 'Hear and say sounds in words in the order in which they occur'.
The revised goal is, says Helen Bromley, 'more appropriate for the end of Year 1 and could force practitioners into adopting inappropriate teaching methods and routines.'
The Early Years Foundation Stage: Consultation on a single quality framework for services to children from birth to five ends 28 July (see www.dfes. gov.uk/consultations); Consultation: Implications of the Rose review of early reading ends 31 July (see www.qca.org.uk).
