Nursery World - Home and away (1)

Talk is not the only way to communicate with nursery newcomers finding themselves in an adult-led world, says Dr Rosie Flewitt It has long been recognised that while children are competent communicators in their own homes by the age of three, they talk far less when they join an early years setting. However, the reasons for their comparative silence are not fully understood.

It has long been recognised that while children are competent communicators in their own homes by the age of three, they talk far less when they join an early years setting. However, the reasons for their comparative silence are not fully understood.

While the quality of early years provision has undoubtedly been raised in recent years, practitioners say they feel under increased pressure to provide evidence of delivering the curriculum, to help children achieve higher scores in early years assessment and to focus on children's ability to talk.

For my research, I tracked the experiences of three-year-old children during their first year in a rural playgroup. By video recording each child at home and in pre-school at four- to six-week intervals, my study revealed how and why three-year-olds use combinations of communicative 'modes', such as talk, body movement, facial expression, gaze direction and the manipulation of objects to explore and express meanings at home and pre-school.

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