The early years are critical in shaping a child's foundation of learning that will support their attitude to learning for life. By age five, a child's brain is already approximately 90% developed. Therefore, this time is a rapid and crucial growth period. A wide range of skills and aptitudes take root during these formative years. These years create the child's blueprint for future success. Early experiences not only influence immediate developmental milestones but also have long-term effects, including improved academic performance, better decision-making, and more significant life opportunities.

Early years education centres on building firm foundations. These foundations are essential because they support academic achievements, emotional resilience, social relationships, and a love of learning. Research consistently shows that children who thrive in their early years are likelier to excel in their GCSEs, A-levels, and higher education. The foundation skills gained during the early years support the ability to think critically, solve problems, and regulate emotions as adults.

Play is essential for scaffolding children's learning, providing opportunities to explore, experiment, and practice new skills while engaged in natural scenarios. An intentionally organised developmentally appropriate environment supports the process as it allows children to engage and extend their abilities actively, particularly when organised specifically for the individual child's needs. For example, the water tray set up with measuring jugs, funnels, and cups or a range of puzzles of different complexity enables children to solve problems, use their hand-eye coordination, and interact socially in meaningful ways. The environment encourages exploration, allowing educators to observe and step in with appropriate guidance when necessary. When planning play opportunities for individual children, the purpose behind the play can be more specific. For example, providing thin cards for children to snip with scissors makes the skill easier to achieve. Their learning fosters creativity, critical thinking, and independence as they play, making each experience a building block for future learning.

Scaffolding a child's learning ensures the child is challenged just beyond their current abilities. It is a method that facilitates learning and provides children with the proper support to help them learn new things while encouraging their independent achievement. This concept is based on Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory, which identifies the gap between what a child can do by themselves and what they can do with a little help. Educators fill this gap by providing just enough support, like showing them how to do something or giving them hints, to help the child learn and grow.

For instance, imagine a child interested in dinosaurs. A practitioner might set up an activity outside in the sandpit and guide the child to talk about colour, size, and weight. These small, incremental challenges not only build on the child's existing skills but also prepare them for more complex problem-solving tasks in the future.

Developmentally appropriate learning means offering learning opportunities that match their age and stage of development. For example, children need to have good control of their hands and fingers to use tools and other skills before they can write with correct formation. So, activities like threading beads, using tweezers, or painting with brushes help them build the strength and control they need for writing. Focusing on writing too early can lead to bad habits that are hard to fix and can slow down future learning.

Similarly, scaffolding is essential in literacy and numeracy. Instead of asking a child to recognise and write numbers before they understand quantity, practitioners might use hands-on activities, such as sorting objects or playing counting games, to develop pre-numeracy skills.

Despite its effectiveness, scaffolding presents challenges:

• Staff Knowledge: Many trainee practitioners need a deeper understanding of child development. Even qualified staff may need help to break long-term goals into manageable steps.

• Parental Expectations: Parents often focus on visible academic progress, such as writing or counting, before their children have developed the underlying skills required for these tasks.

• Consistency Across Teams: Children attending irregular sessions require all staff members to maintain continuity in learning.

• Parent Communication: Educators may need help before explaining how children develop to parents to ensure their expectations are developmentally appropriate. This will ensure that their child can succeed, managing the parents' expectations.

Having run nurseries for over 31 years, I have encountered these challenges first-hand and set out to design software (spark™) that would support educators (and parents) in focusing on helping children succeed easily by enabling adults to follow the child's learning needs rather than their personal preferences. To think about the learning first and find creative ways to facilitate these in a way that is appropriate for each child. Equally important is guiding parents to appreciate the value of developmental milestones, even when they are not immediately visible. For example, helping parents see the connection between a child's ability to balance on one leg and their readiness to write can be transformative.

Parents are not just observers in the scaffolding process; they can be integral to it, especially when encouraged. Home environments provide natural opportunities to extend learning through everyday activities. For example, sorting socks by size or colour develops categorisation and organisational skills. Cooking at home will introduce concepts of quantity, measurement and sequencing.  

Observation is vital to enabling effective scaffolding learning. Through observation, educators can understand a child's strengths and interests, how they like to learn, and where they need extra opportunities or interventions. Observations permit practitioners to offer engaging and challenging learning experiences tailored to the child's needs.  For example, if a child enjoys making marks, the educator will introduce different markers, appropriately sized for their development, starting with thick crayons and moving on until a pencil can be manipulated accurately on paper. Activities using large pieces of paper in different scenarios, on the floor, on the table or the easel, with crayons, chalk, felt-pens, or paint, possibly adding stencils and templates, refine fine motor skills and enhance storytelling and communication abilities.

Observation also helps identify repeated behaviour patterns and schemes (or schemes) that show how a child learns. For example, children may choose to transport objects and could be encouraged to build railway tracks and transport Lego bricks from A to B. This links the learning opportunity to problem-solving and creative thinking. Understanding and facilitating these schemes can significantly enhance the scaffolding of the child's experiences and learning.

spark early years software has a history of playing a crucial role in supporting educators and overcoming many of the challenges associated with scaffolding. spark™ software enables adults to securely log observations, track developmental progress, and generate personalised suggestions for learning activities. This technological support helps the whole team to be involved consistently, making educators feel more confident and valued in their role.

spark™ bridges the gap between home and the setting, creating a cohesive approach that benefits the child, makes educators feel more confident and valued in their role, and makes a bridge for the child through a consistent approach.

Many early years educators feel they need more clarification about explaining developmental concepts or the next steps to parents. spark early years alleviates this by providing clear, research-backed insights into child development. This increases support and tools to assist with conversations with parents and external professionals. For example, suppose a parent is concerned about their child's progress in numeracy. In that case, spark™ can highlight the pre-numeracy skills the child has already achieved. For example, the child may count objects successfully and suggest practical ways to build on this skill. This conversation will reassure parents and help them understand how stage-appropriate learning increases success.  

Birth to five/six is not just a phase of education but the foundation upon which all future learning is built. Effective scaffolding techniques help children develop skills and confidence, spurring them to master more to navigate their surroundings and the wider world.  

Working with parents, observing children so they and the setting are all joined up, and providing consistent expectations will undoubtedly support building the child's brain connections. Watching each child grow and develop as an individual will also inspire all the adults involved to provide a rich, supportive environment to thrive.  

Final Thoughts

In my years of running nurseries, I have seen how small changes in approach can make a significant difference in a child's development. We can give every child the best possible start by prioritising stage-appropriate, play-based interest-led learning and fostering strong partnerships between educators and parents. A tool like spark early years software is invaluable in offering practical ways to support educators and parents alike.

The early years are an irreplaceable period of growth. By focusing on scaffolding, play and creating meaningful connections, we can ensure that every child builds the strong foundations they need to succeed in school, work, and life.

About the Author - Catherine Lyon

Catherine has over 50 years of experience in early years education, and the child is always at the centre of her practice.

Award-winning 'Outstanding' provider of nursery education sites including an NMT award for Staff Training and Development encompassing her Training and Assessment Centre that delivered Cache qualifications. A software designer of early years programmes, also finalised many times and Internationally. Catherine's an experienced Ofsted Inspector and Quality Asurance Assessor and continues as an EYFS Consultant in the UK and internationally.

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早期教育的角色

早期教育对儿童学习基础的形成至关重要，这将影响他们一生的学习态度。在五岁时，儿童的大脑已经大约发育了90%。因此，这一时期是一个快速且关键的成长阶段。在这段形成期，广泛的技能和能力开始扎根。这些年奠定了儿童未来成功的蓝图。早期的经验不仅影响即时的发育里程碑，还对长期效果产生影响，包括提高学术表现、更好的决策能力以及更广泛的人生机会。

早期教育的核心是建立坚实的基础。这些基础至关重要，因为它们支持学术成就、情感韧性、社交关系以及对学习的热爱。研究持续表明，在早期阶段表现良好的儿童更有可能在GCSE、A-level及高等教育中取得优异成绩。早期获得的基础技能支持他们在成年后进行批判性思考、解决问题并调节情绪的能力。

游戏的重要性
游戏是支撑儿童学习的重要方式，它为儿童提供了探索、实验和练习新技能的机会，同时融入自然场景中。有意安排的、适合儿童发展阶段的环境支持了这一过程，使儿童能够积极参与并扩展他们的能力，尤其是当环境根据儿童的具体需求设计时。例如，在水盘中提供量杯、漏斗和杯子，或者设置不同复杂程度的拼图，这样的活动可以帮助儿童解决问题、使用手眼协调，并以有意义的方式进行社交互动。这种环境鼓励探索，让教育工作者观察并在必要时提供适当的指导。当为个别儿童规划游戏活动时，游戏背后的目的可以更具体。例如，为儿童提供薄纸卡片练习用剪刀剪裁，这种方式更易于掌握技能。通过游戏，他们的学习培养了创造力、批判性思维和独立性，使每次经历都成为未来学习的基石。

什么是“支架式学习”
支架式学习确保儿童的学习挑战略高于他们当前的能力水平。这是一种促进学习的方法，为儿童提供适当的支持，帮助他们学习新事物，同时鼓励他们独立完成。这一概念基于列夫·维果斯基的“最近发展区”（ZPD）理论，该理论指出儿童能够独立完成的任务与需要帮助才能完成的任务之间的差距。教育工作者通过提供适度的支持，如演示或提示，填补这一差距，帮助儿童学习和成长。

例如，想象一个对恐龙感兴趣的孩子。教育工作者可以在沙坑里设置一项活动，引导孩子讨论颜色、大小和重量。这些小而渐进的挑战不仅建立在孩子现有技能之上，还为未来更复杂的任务做准备。

发展适宜性学习的重要性
发展适宜性学习意味着提供与儿童年龄和发展阶段相匹配的学习机会。例如，儿童需要先掌握手指和手部的良好控制，才能用正确的方式书写。因此，像串珠、使用镊子或用画笔绘画的活动，帮助他们建立书写所需的力量和控制。过早专注于书写可能会导致难以纠正的坏习惯，并减缓未来的学习进程。

同样，在识字和算术方面，支架式学习也很重要。与其要求儿童在理解数量之前识别和书写数字，不如通过动手活动，例如分类物品或玩数字游戏，来发展前期算术技能。

支架式学习中的现实挑战
尽管支架式学习效果显著，但也存在挑战：

• 员工知识：许多实习教育工作者对儿童发展缺乏深入了解，即使是有资质的员工也可能难以将长期目标分解为可管理的步骤。

• 家长期望：家长往往关注显而易见的学术进步，例如书写或数数，而忽略了这些任务所需的基础技能。

• 团队一致性：参加不定期课程的儿童需要所有工作人员保持学习的连贯性。

• 与家长的沟通：教育工作者可能在向家长解释儿童的发展过程时遇到困难，这使得他们的期望更加符合儿童的发展阶段。

在运营托儿所超过31年的过程中，我亲身经历了这些挑战，并设计了软件（spark™），以支持教育工作者（和家长）专注于帮助儿童轻松取得成功。通过让成年人关注儿童的学习需求，而不是个人偏好，可以更好地为儿童设计适宜的学习活动。同样重要的是，引导家长认识到发展里程碑的价值，即使这些成果并不立即可见。例如，帮助家长看到孩子单腿平衡能力与书写能力之间的联系，可以带来深远的影响。

家长作为学习的合作伙伴
家长不仅是支架式学习的旁观者，还可以成为其中的重要组成部分，尤其是在受到鼓励时。家庭环境为通过日常活动扩展学习提供了自然的机会。例如，通过袜子按大小或颜色分类可以发展分类和组织能力。在家中烹饪则能引入数量、测量和排序的概念。

通过观察实现有效支架式学习
观察是实现有效支架式学习的重要工具。通过观察，教育工作者可以了解儿童的优势和兴趣，他们喜欢如何学习，以及需要在哪些方面提供更多机会或干预。观察使教育工作者能够为儿童量身定制有趣且具有挑战性的学习体验。

技术在支架式学习中的作用
spark早期教育软件在支持教育工作者并克服与支架式学习相关的许多挑战方面起到了重要作用。spark™软件允许工作人员安全记录观察、跟踪发展进展，并生成个性化的学习活动建议。这种技术支持帮助整个团队保持一致，使教育工作者感到更有信心和价值。

如有进一步问题，欢迎随时联系: [email protected]