Parents can help their child's pre-school learning

Parents can help their child's pre-school learning as well as nursery settings, according to research presented at the British Psychology Society annual conference in Bournemouth. Ruth Krascum, Sine McDougall and Daphne Evans of the University of Wales at Swansea told delegates that early indications from Tandem project data to evaluate the early learning of three-year-olds through enjoyable activities found that the children taught by their parents did at least as well as, if not better than, those in nursery settings. The children in the study came from a wide range of backgrounds and as far as possible the three groups compared were matched in terms of general ability and socio-economic status. The children in the control group receiving no instruction made the least progress, with the group of children taught by their parents doing perhaps marginally better than those in the nursery setting. The Tandem project researchers said they believed the early findings indicate that parents can assist their children to make the transition to formal school if they are given motivation and support.