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   The Dread Slender Gnome (gnomeshatecheese@spinster.xyz)'s status on Monday, 17-Feb-2025 07:08:16 JST The Dread Slender Gnome

   in reply to

   • HebrideanHecate
   @HebrideanHecate

   some teachers who took part in the annual poll said the “Covid baby” explanation was starting to feel like an excuse.

   I've said it before.
   When the lockdowns etc. happened, who were these kids left to spend their time with?

   It sure as hell wasn't early educators.

   And since the issues persist, I'm feeling even more confident in my opinion on what I think is a key factor.

   • Embed this notice
     EatKnitSleep (eatknitsleepagain@spinster.xyz)'s status on Monday, 17-Feb-2025 07:08:16 JST EatKnitSleep

     in reply to

     • HebrideanHecate
     @Gnomeshatecheese @HebrideanHecate Kids shouldn't have to be spending their time with qualified educators in order to arrive at school knowing how to use a toilet, hold a pencil, look at a picture book etc. They should be learning that at home. Trouble is, adults who were not parented well themselves do not know how/why to do all this. I think we are seeing the results of generational neglect here.
     
     Getting rid of parenting classes and health visitors was a big mistake. All we have now is social services who can only intervene when things get really bad.
     KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Monday, 17-Feb-2025 07:08:17 JST HebrideanHecate

     😳

     https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jan/30/some-children-starting-school-unable-to-climb-staircase-finds-england-and-wales-teacher-survey

     Some children are starting reception school “unable to climb a staircase”, while others use Americanisms in their speech because of too much screen time, according to a survey of teachers.

     The pandemic has been blamed for a decline in school readiness among reception-aged children, but some teachers who took part in the annual poll said the “Covid baby” explanation was starting to feel like an excuse. The survey of 1,000 primary teachers in England and Wales, carried out by the market research group Savanta on behalf of the early years charity Kindred2, found 49% of teachers thought the problem had got worse over the past year. The government has made school readiness one of its core missions, with an ambition for 75% of children to reach a good level of development by the time they join reception – up from the current level of 68%. The Kindred2 director, Felicity Gillespie, said the report’s findings suggested “too many parents are failing to support the development of their children, in spite of – we know – having their best interests at heart”. As well as children arriving at school in nappies – one in four who began reception last September were not toilet trained – teachers reported children with poor basic motor skills and underdeveloped muscles, which they linked with excessive screen use.

     “I’ve got two children [in my class] who physically cannot sit on the carpet. They don’t have core strength,” a reception teacher in the north-west told researchers. A deputy head in the north-west reported an increase in “delayed walkers” with “clumsy movements, dropping things, unable to climb a staircase”, while a reception teacher said pupils were using Americanisms such as “trash” and “vacation” that they had picked up online. Nearly two in five (39%) staff said “less time spent in early childhood education due to lockdown restrictions” was a key factor of school readiness, but one senior leader in the East Midlands said: “There’s only so long you can blame Covid for that. I’m sorry, but a lot of it comes down to parenting as well.”