Clause 41 - The learning and development requirements
Childcare Bill
9:45 am
Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland, Labour)
The word “mastered” is a rather old-fashioned and sexist word to use when we are talking about small children.
My concerns are strengthened in respect of communication, language and literacy, which is one of the areas of learning and development. Perhaps the Minister will say something about that. There is a risk, with taught literacy for children under the age of five, that some people will push children to read and recognise letters a long time before they are ready to do it.
It is good if children know how to handle a book. Once they recognise that a book is not just an object, but is representational in that it contains pictures of things in the real world, and once they know that stories come from books, that is the beginning of their becoming an active learner. However, if we concentrate on taught literacy, we risk turning off small children. It is a mystery how children learn to read.