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How I make the most of early years (1):

Everyday talk
E
very Child a Talker (ECAT) is a National Strategies programme in England to support staff in the Early Years Foundation Stage to develop childrens speaking and listening skills. Local authorities are employing Early Language Consultants to work with lead practitioners in targeted settings. Their role is a practical one; as explained in DCSF (2009), they are expected to: share understanding about how language develops from 0-5 interact with and talk to children effectively regularly monitor how children's language is developing support identification of children who might be falling behind consider how to get parents more involved design, plan and lead on language activities. As an Early Language Consultant in Hackney, an inner city London borough, I am charged with putting these ECAT principles into practice. I share my post with Sheila Harrison from the local education department (The Learning Trust), and benefit from her long experience in early years teaching and training. This collaboration has worked really well as we have been able to pool our knowledge and experience. Sheila is familiar with application of Early Years Foundation Stage principles in preschools, and with issues around early years education in general, such as managing outside time and snack time with large groups of children. I bring my knowledge of early language, help teachers identify children having difficulty with communication, and advise on strategies to develop communication skills. Many boroughs have decided to use this joint model for ECAT consultants. Being seconded to the education department in Hackney has resulted in lots of joint planning and training with other education staff working in early years posts. We have also provided very successful training to childminders, and Sheila is participating in a baby room training project across the borough to promote good communication skills with the very youngest children. This includes training staff in using Treasure Baskets (for children up to 1 year old), and in encouraging heuristic play (for the 1-2 year olds) (Goldschmeid & Jackson, 2003; Hughes, 2006).

Cynthia Pelman finds the Every Child a Talker programme a mine of practical resources for therapists working with the universal child in collaboration with early years practitioners.

Read this if you are interested in A collaborative approach Group work Evaluation tools

Cynthia and Sheila

Education-speak

The principles of ECAT are familiar to speech and language therapists, but the challenge is to transmit this to teachers in a way which is relevant and acceptable. One of the main benefits of the programme is that it is couched in education-speak rather than in speech and language therapy jargon. The ECAT guidance notes are situated within the framework of the four principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage: the unique child; positive relationships; enabling environments; learning and development (DCSF, 2008a). This makes the rationale behind each activity immediately recognisable for teachers and teaching assistants and is the key reason why they have adopted it enthusiastically. The ECAT programme is full of many useful resources for the speech and language therapist working with the universal child in

collaboration with early years practitioners. The ECAT guidance manual (DCSF, 2008b) includes a section on Making the most of everyday activities. This means we are not asking teachers to change their daily routine, or to learn and apply new programmes. Instead, we are simply asking them to expand on activities which are already happening in early years settings, extending them to promote language development. The ideas in this section are suitable for group work, as the children can all join in the discussion. This overcomes another of the hurdles which arises when trying to achieve collaborative work between teachers - who work with groups and classes - and speech and language therapists, who are more focused on individuals. Some examples of everyday activities which can be expanded for language development include water play, sand tray play and making a camp:

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a) Water play
Most children love to play with water and it offers endless opportunities to develop language concepts. With a bit of lateral thinking you can create variations in the water itself, as well as varying the objects you put in the water. Changes to the water itself: change consistency (add cornflour) change colours using food colouring (make bottles of different colours and then mix them to see what happens) add glitter; add oil (will it mix? will it float?); slowly add warmer or colder water for discussion and comparison (too cold, a bit warmer, very warm, too warm); add a large block of ice and see how long it takes to melt (what makes it melt faster?) Find an ice tray which makes fish-shaped ice cubes; get the children involved in making the ice cubes, waiting until they are frozen (how long? is it hard yet?) and then watching them melt in the water and disappear. What you put in the water: Get the children to help you create scenes from nature, such as The sea (miniature world fish, shells, octopus, seaweed); A beach (sand, miniature chairs, balls, dolls, bits of fabric for towels, miniature boats) A polar icecap (large blocks of ice, miniature polar bears and penguins) Scientific concepts: Number, capacity: use containers of different sizes and shapes (how many little cups will it take to fill up a bottle with water? which one has more water in it, the tall thin one or the short fat one? more/ less, full/empty) Motion and flow: containers of different sizes and shapes, some with big holes, some with tiny holes; looking at how fast the water comes out of different openings (fast/slow, little/lots); making waves by gently tipping flat icetrays to make big waves at each end; moving water from one container to another; using plastic tubing (catheter tubes!) to transfer water from one place to another (concepts of speed, direction, capacity, full/empty, fast/slow) Water and its power (water wheels and pumps) Floating and sinking (bits of wood, metal, sponge) and, of course, bubbles!

Sand variations: Dry sand and damp sand create many different possibilities for pouring and building Mixing the sand with pretty pebbles (easy to remove and provide scope to talk about concepts of texture and weight) What you can put in the sand: Besides the usual sieves, buckets and other containers, you can hide things in the sand, for example Diggers and trucks (moving sand from one place to another, loading, emptying) Miniature world objects in the sand and in the diggers (concepts of place and position: under, on top) Create scenes from nature: * A desert using dry grass, twigs, snakes and insects which live in deserts * An oasis in the desert (palm trees, camels, a bottle top with some water in it) * Fossils (can lead to a fossil hunting trip at the beach) * Bury miniature world monsters and dinosaurs to discover Imaginative play: Buried treasure: shiny things which can then be put in treasure boxes - each child gets a matchbox to decorate, using glue, glitter and sequins; a treasure map can show spatial reference points such as top left corner / next to the tree / under the rock. Scientific concepts: Concepts of shape and size: such as round things vs. square things (bury marbles, small balls, blocks, bottle tops, the spheres from roll-on deodorants), which can then be sorted into two piles, round or square. You can do the same with long things vs. short things including ribbons, toy snakes Making marks, lines and patterns in dry or slightly damp sand: concepts such as straight / crooked / curved / wavy lines

Many settings tend to have the water and sand trays set out before the children arrive, but it always generates lots of conversation when we get the children involved in creating the scenes (what else do we need for a beach?) When teachers make changes to the layout of the nursery, it is a good idea for them to talk to the children about why they are doing it and to ask them what they think about it, and whether they think it is better this way. This kind of group planning and evaluation can stimulate social skills, creativity and imagination as well as language. Another useful resource in the ECAT manual is its evaluation tools. One of these is the Enabling Environment audit, which requires teachers to draw a plan of their setting, marking each activity area (such as role play / dressing up area, mark-making area, sand play area, book corner) on the plan, and then evaluating in which spaces lots of talk takes place, and in which areas little talk takes place. Areas which are then found not to be conducive to talking can be changed by very simple means, for example by moving the mark-making table to a better-lit space, or by moving the reading area away from the noisy play.

Areas which are ... not conducive to talking can be changed by very simple means, for example by moving the mark-making table to a better-lit space
The ECAT tool which has had the biggest effect in my experience is the individual child language audit. Teachers are trained to use a four-strand framework (listening and attention, understanding language, speech sounds and talk, social skills and play) and each child is monitored four times (once every school term). The effect of this has been to clarify for teachers what is actually expected of a child at each stage of development. One of our teachers said in her feedback to us: For the first time I actually know what to look for in a childs communication and can give parents specific and accurate reports. No amount of theoretical training on the stages of development can improve on the year-long, hands-on experience of making judgments about the stages and achievements of each individual child in the classroom, and watching them progress from one level to the next. Surprisingly, this audit format is not available in the ECAT guidance, but you can access it via the members area of www.speechmag.com.

c) Creating a camp
Children love to hide away in small secret spaces. Many Early Years settings have high ceilings and too much activity, clutter and noise for really good conversations to take place. You can buy inexpensive pop-up tents, or better still provide blankets, sheets, big boxes, tables, broomsticks stabilised in buckets of sand, and pegs so that the children can make their own camps and secret hiding places. Camps can be indoors or outside. Take the reading corner outside the classroom and have a story session inside a tent; make snack time a picnic in the camp. Elizabeth Jarmans website on Communication Friendly Spaces is full of ideas for what to put inside the camps, and how to use interesting lighting and soft finishes to make them really inviting.

b) Sand play
As with water, you can vary both the sand itself, and what you put in the sand.

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Sadly, the budget for ECAT is finite and the formal programme ends this year. Sheila and I have been frantically pushing for sustainability of the wonderful ideas in ECAT by offering training to a wide range of education and speech and language practitioners, by producing manuals and writing this article. We hope many people will access the materials online and make good SLTP use of this wonderful resource. Cynthia Pelman is an Early Language Consultant with The Learning Trust in Hackney, e-mail cynthia@cynthiapelman.com.

Reader offers
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Are you looking for a practical guide to caring for children with cerebral palsy or any other neurodevelopmental disability? Mac Keith Press is giving away a FREE copy of the book Feeding and Nutrition in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disability to THREE lucky readers of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice. Written by a team of paediatricians, dietitians, a speech and language therapist and a clinical nurse specialist, and edited by Peter B. Sullivan, the book would normally cost you 20. It aims to provide an up-to-date account of the practicalities of assessment and management of feeding problems in children with neurodisabilities, with the emphasis throughout on the importance of multidisciplinary care. To enter this FREE prize draw, all you have to do is e-mail your name and address with Sullivan Speechmag Offer in the subject line to natasha@mackeith.co.uk by 25th April 2010. The winners will be notified by 1st May. For more information about this and other Mac Keith Practical Guides, visit http://www. mackeith.co.uk/guides.html.

DCSF (2008a) Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Reading: The National Strategies. Available at http://nationalstrategies. standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/84490. (Accessed 28 January 2010). DCSF (2008b) Every Child a Talker: Guidance for Early Language Lead Practitioners. Reading: The National Strategies. Available at http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov. uk/node/153355 (Accessed 28 January 2010). DCSF (2009) Early Years e-newsletter, Section 3 Every Child a Talker. Available at: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/180409 (Accessed 28 January 2010). Goldschmied, E. & Jackson, S. (2003) People Under Three: Young People in Day Care. (2nd edn) New York: Routledge. Hughes, A. (2006) Developing Play for the Under Threes: The Treasure Basket and Heuristic Play. London: David Fulton.

References

Resources

Win EYBIC Word Pack!

Following their article in our Winter 09 issue, Liz Elks and Henrietta McLachlan of Elklan are offering THREE free copies of their new early years resource. The Early Years Based Information Carrying Word Pack is a resource of pictures and activities on topics including ourselves, clothing, food, toys, home and animals. It aims to promote the vocabulary, comprehension, listening, auditory sequential memory, expressive language and social communication skills of a wide range of children through the principle of Information Carrying Words. As well as careful explanation, home activities and a checklist to monitor progress, the Pack includes material to run a two and half hour training session for parents and early years practitioners. The authors suggest that, in addition to supporting early learning goals and collaborative working, the resource is useful for children learning additional languages. The EYBIC Word Pack normally costs 35. To enter this FREE prize draw, simply e-mail your name and address with EYBIC Speechmag Offer in the subject line to henrietta@elklan. co.uk by 25th April 2010. The winners will be notified by 1st May. For further information about this and other Elklan products and training, visit www. elklan.co.uk/.

Communication Friendly Spaces, see www. elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk/cfs.php ECAT individual child audit form available at www.speechmag.com/Members/Extras

Reflections Do I consider the influence of space, privacy and location on talk? Do I couch the training I offer in meaningful language and frameworks? Do I recognise that, with lateral thinking, the opportunities are endless?
Do you wish to comment on the impact this article has had on you? Please see guidance for Speech & Language Therapy in Practices Critical Friends at www. speechmag.com/About/Friends.

Reader offer winner

Congratulations to Katy Mackay, the winner of the 25 voucher to spend online at wwwthenoveltywarehouse.com, offered in our Winter 09 issue.

SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY IN PRACTICE SPRING 2010

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Every Child a Talker Programme - Individual Childs Progress Monitoring Sheet

Childs name: Date Started in Setting: Has the child an identified SLCN?: Yes/No
Stage and age The early communicator By 12 months Listening and attention Turns towards a familiar sound then locates range of sounds with accuracy. Understanding of language Recognises parents voice and begins to understand frequently used words such as all gone, no and bye-bye. Stops and looks when hears own name. Date:

Childs Date of Birth: Practitioner: First language(s) if different from English:

Speech sounds and talk Initially uses cries to communicate. Gradually develops speech sounds (babbling) to communicate with adults; says sounds like baba, nono, gogo. Date:

Age at first monitoring: Setting:

Social skills Gazes at faces and copies facial movements, e.g. sticking out tongue. Increasingly aware of other people and taking turns in interactions using babble Date:

Date:

The attentive communicator By 18 months

Interested in music and singing. Easily distracted by noises or other people talking

Understanding of single words in context is developing, e.g. cup, milk, daddy. The child can understand more words than they can say. Date:

Progresses from using babble and around 10 single words, although these will often not be very clear

Likes being with familiar adult and watching them. Developing the ability to follow an adults body language, including pointing and gesture.

Date:

Date: .

Date:

The innovative communicator By 24 months

Starting to focus on an activity of their choice, although finds it difficult to be directed by an adult. Using the childs name helps them to attend to what the adult says, e.g. Ben, drink juice,, Aysha, coat on. Date:

By 24 months, understands simple instructions, e.g. get mummys shoes, put your bricks away, Tell dad teas ready.

Using up to 50 words and is beginning to put 23 words together. Frequently asks simple questions, e.g. Wheres my drink?, Whats that? (towards two years of age). Uses speech sounds p, b, m, w. Date:

Gradually able to engage in pretend play with toys. Frustrated when unable to make themselves understood.

Date: Date:

The developing communicator By 3 years

Beginning to listen to talk with interest, however, easily distracted. Listens to talk addressed to self, but finds it difficult if prompts are not provided, e.g. use of name, stop and listen. Date:

Developing understanding of simple concepts including in/on/under, big/little. Understands simple who and what and where questions but not why. Understands a simple story when supported with pictures. Date:

Uses up to 300 different words including descriptive language, space, function. Can link 45 words together. May stutter or stammer when thinking what to say. Finds it difficult to say some speech sounds: l, r, w, y, f, th, s, sh, ch, dz, j. Date:

Holds a conversation but jumps from topic to topic. Interested in others play and will join in. Expresses emotions towards adults and peers, using words and actions.

Date:

The questioning communicator By 4 years

Enjoys listening to stories. Still finds it difficult to attend to more than one thing at a time, so cant easily listen to a speaker while still carrying on an activity. Date:

Understands more complex questions or instructions with two parts get your jumper and stand by the door. Now understands why questions and is aware of more abstract ideas including time in relation to past, present and future Date:

Uses sentences of four to six words, e.g. I want to play with cars,, whats that thingy called? Able to remember and enjoys telling long stories or singing songs. Has problems saying r, j, th, ch, sh Date:

Understands turn-taking as well as sharing with adults and peers and can initiate conversations. Enjoys playing with peers and will argue if they disagree. Date:

The skilled communicator By 5 years

Attention is now more flexible able to understand spoken instructions related to a task without stopping the activity to look at the speaker.

Able to follow a simple story without pictures. Understands instructions containing sequencing words; first after.last. Aware of more complex humour, laughs at jokes that are told. Understands and enjoys rhyme. Date:

Uses well formed sentences and is easily understood by adults and peers. Frequently asks the meaning of unfamiliar words and may use them randomly Only a few immaturities in speech sounds, th, r and three consonant combinations scribble Date:

Chooses own friends and is generally co-operative with playmates. Can plan play activities. Takes turns in longer conversations and uses language to gain information, negotiate, discuss feelings/ideas and give opinions. Date:

Date:

Complete once per term for each child by adding the date into each of the four columns. Use the statements in the boxes to guide you decision about where each child is in their development for each of the four areas. Highlight all the dates in the same colour so that next term when you repeat the process you can use a different colour to see any changes.