Nurseries should teach children conversational skills, say parents

In a follow-up to its parents’ survey in 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) interviewed a total of 876 parents of birth- to five-year-olds about home-learning activities.  

Of the respondents to the follow-up survey, one in seven (14 per cent) felt it was the responsibility of schools and childcare providers, rather than parents, to help children aged five and under to learn to speak and hold conversations.

However, the majority nonetheless agreed they spoke to their children ‘a great deal’ during family-based activities, while over half played pretend games with their child every day.

Source: Childcare and early years survey 2018, follow-up survey, DfE

Key findings from the survey included:

• 79 per cent of parents said they chatted with their child ‘a great deal’ when they were out at the shops, while their child was getting dressed in the morning (68 per cent), and at shower or bath time (66 per cent)
• Very few parents said they did not chat with their child very much, or at all, in these three scenarios (1 per cent, 5 per cent and 5 per cent respectively)
• Over half (52 per cent) of parents said they played pretend games together or took turns in fun activities with their child every day
• 37 per cent said they played pretend games with their child several times a week
• A quarter of parents said they often struggled to fit learning and play activities with their child into their daily routine

The DfE has approved six educational apps for parents to use at home with their children, chosen by an expert panel.

The survey found that currently, most children (81 per cent) had used an app on a smartphone or tablet in the last six months, while 75 per cent had used an app either associated with, or explicitly focused upon, learning and development.

Meanwhile, around one in six (17 per cent) parents had used a parenting app. The most commonly used parenting apps were Mumsnet, parenting groups on Facebook, and BabyCentre.