England - Preschoolers "speaking American" and "can’t climb stairs" - Too Much Screen Time

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Some reception age school kids are "unable to climb a staircase", while others use Americanisms in their speech due to excessive screen time, a survey of teachers revealed.

The pandemic has long been cited as a reason for the decline in school readiness among reception-aged children, but some teachers participating in one annual poll believe the "Covid baby" explanation is becoming an excuse.

The survey, conducted by market research group Savanta on behalf of early years charity Kindred2, involved 1,000 primary teachers in England and Wales. It found that 49% of teachers believed the problem had worsened over the past year.

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The government has prioritised school readiness, aiming for 75% of children to reach a good level of development by the time they join reception – an increase from the current 68%. Felicity Gillespie, director of Kindred2, stated that 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".

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Equally, one in four kids who began reception last September were not toilet trained – and children with poor basic motor skills and underdeveloped muscles, which they associated with excessive screen use. "I’ve got two children who physically cannot sit on the carpet. They don’t have core strength," a reception teacher in the north-west told researchers.

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A deputy head in the north-west reported an uptick in "delayed walkers" exhibiting "clumsy movements, dropping things, unable to climb a staircase", while a reception educator noted pupils adopting Americanisms such as "trash" and "vacation" learnt from online content. Nearly two in five (39%) educators attributed "less time spent in early childhood education due to lockdown restrictions" as a major contributor to school readiness issues, yet a senior leader from the East Midlands stated: "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."

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Less than half (44%) of the 1,000 parents with reception-aged children surveyed acknowledged the importance of their young ones knowing how to handle books correctly, flipping through pages instead of swiping or tapping like on electronic gadgets. Three quarters (76%) recognised toilet training as an essential preschool skill.

While nine out of ten parents felt their child was ready for school, teachers observed that one in every three was not.

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