Credit: Solen Feyissa via Unsplash.

14 November 2024

By Rosa Mendizabal and Viviana Ramirez, UDLAP (Universidad de las Américas Puebla, México)

World Prematurity Day, marked every 17 November, unites families and professionals to raise awareness about the challenges of preterm birth. Global landmarks are lit in purple, symbolising hope, compassion and support, while sock lines with nine full-sized pairs of socks and one tiny one represent the one in ten babies born prematurely. Addressing this issue through improved, holistic neonatal care remains crucial for reducing preventable deaths and adverse outcomes at birth. Despite the various challenges posed by preterm births, it is important to recognise that much has been achieved so far in improving care – in part through allowing children, including the most vulnerable neonates, a voice. (more…)

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28 October 2021

By Rachel Benchekroun and Claire Cameron

Lockdowns and other restrictions in England and around the world since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic have transformed the way parents and early childhood practitioners communicate. This is having significant implications for children’s development, learning and wellbeing.

Two linked studies at the UCL Social Research Institute examining environmental changes for children, parents and practitioners, in England, New Zealand, Senegal and Italy have been uncovering the multi-faceted and evolving roles of early childhood provision in supporting children and families.

Through interviews with practitioners and parents from a top-rated early childhood setting in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of London, we were able to identify shifts in the way communication took place during lockdown. Practitioners provided support to families through weekly phone calls to parents, Zoom calls to engage with the children and sharing ideas for activities at home on the ‘parent app’. One practitioner explained: (more…)

1 May 2020

By Sara Kalantari

Parents and children have been telling each other stories from time immemorial. In the extraordinary days we are living through, storytelling could take on increased importance, as families spend more time at home together seeking ways to make sense of this strange new world.

Studies have found that storytelling is embedded in family life from toddlerhood into adulthood. It strengthens the way children and parents jointly understand their culture and identities while introducing children to concrete and abstract concepts, relationships and information. In school it supports children’s verbal and listening skills, active participation and cooperation, imagination and creativity.

In the DROPS project our UCL team is designing a tablet-based app supporting oral (more…)