At our nursery, we hope to take some of the disadvantaged two-year-old children to benefit from the extended free entitlement programme. What preparations should we make?
Remember that these children are two. You can create an environment that supports a child of two: check infant/toddler environment rating scales for more ideas.
Get some advice from a speech and language therapist about what level of vocabulary, language and comprehension they should be aiming to meet. The risk with two-year-olds, especially those identified as coming from disadvantaged homes, is that we may set our ambitions too low and assume they have learning needs or developmental delay. Get the assessment right and take your time observing them.
Also, many parents struggle to understand two-year-olds, so build in some learning sessions for parents to help them. The best thing you can do is let the two-year-olds have time to revel in their excitement as they become confident walkers, talkers and explorers. Enjoy them.
June O’Sullivan, chief executive of the childcare charity and social enterprise, the London Early Years Foundation
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