Green

‘I went to observe a fantastic session of our Peep Little Rangers programme which is run in our local park in Aberdeen. This is an early nature/outdoor programme which is delivered by Peep-trained park rangers.

The session focused on Mud Glorious Mud! The activities included songs about mud, and a story about getting stuck in the mud, which really set up the outdoor activity.

Before going outside the children were able to investigate the mud utensils, which were a collection of large spoons, tattie mashers, fish slices, flower pots, etc. These had been put into a treasure box, which created a sense of excitement when the children had to open it to find out what was inside, and it then started a discussion with parents on using everyday utensils.

The outdoor mud play was really fun, with big holes ready to fill with water from watering cans and spray bottles to make a big muddy puddle, which all the children and adults eventually went into and then made mud footprint pictures. A variety of mud pies were also made, with children adding bark chippings, sticks, stones and a special ingredient of sparkly water! Truly great fun had by all!’

Jill Mennie, Peep Co-ordinator and Trainer, Aberdeen

Transition Peep is a great way for schools, nurseries and pre-schools to enhance school-readiness and engage parents, by:

• welcoming and preparing parents and children for the transition from home to the setting - introducing them to the activities and routines of your setting (linked to relevant early years frameworks, such as the EYFS - Early Years Foundation Stage)
• sharing ideas from the Peep Learning Together programme, about how parents can support their child's play and learning at home
• improving parents’ confidence and ability to support and value their child’s learning and development - valuing and building on what parents already do
   
• enabling parents, children and staff to get to know each other:
  • helping children to settle in more quickly
  • providing the opportunity for families to raise and discuss common concerns, reducing anxiety
  • providing opportunities for staff to identify, and informally discuss with parents, any additional needs or potential referrals to other services
  • improving two-way support between parents and staff
  • helping families get to know each other, and develop local peer support networks.
     
• increasing staff skills and understanding of the value of parental involvement, contributing to statutory requirements
• helping parents identify their own learning and development needs and potential pathways (e.g. signposting to relevant courses or services).

related case studies:

>  Transition into school reception class in Hampshire - case study

>  Transition from nursery into school in Edinburgh - case study

> Preparing and sharing mealtimes in nursery and home in Highland

If you're a Peep-LTP-trained practitioner -  in the log-in Members Area you can find session plans and resources for a Transition Peep course, which you're welcome to use or adapt.

> Early Years Pupil Premium funding can be used for Peep Training and/or delivery to help narrow the gap for 3-4 year olds - find out more

Peep groups are for mums, dads, carers and their children together, and aim to support families with their children's early learning in a simple and enjoyable way. The Learning Together Programme is intentionally flexible, enabling Peep-trained practitioners and/or families to choose the range of child development topics, and the number of sessions, that they want.  Groups can be for babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers or mixed age. They can be hold indoors, outside or virtually online. 

An important part of Peep groups are the relationships that develop. There are usually up to a dozen families in a group. The welcoming approach and group agreement developed by all the families creates a safe space, where a sense of trust and security can develop. Parents and carers become confident in sharing their own experiences, challenges and ideas that they have tried at home. Groups can be open to all families in an area, or targeted to meet particular needs or interests - see examples below.

Peep practitioners (if appropriately qualified) can offer parents and carers the opportunity to complete an NOCN or SQA credit-rated unit as part of the Peep Progression Pathway, over at least a dozen sessions. This can contribute to parents' confidence as a learner, and to their employability.

what happens in a peep group?

The different elements of a Peep group provide opportunities to have fun together and to share the key ideas that support children's development. Peep sessions include:

• songs and rhymes
• joint play activities
• a talking time for adults (chatting about an aspect of children's development)
• story and book-sharing time 
• ideas for families to try at home.

Adults do not need to read or write during a Peep group. Everyone is invited (but not pressured!) to join in during singing and talk time.

targeted peep groups

Peep groups may be targeted to meet the needs or interests of families. Parents/ carers and their children can attend universal Peep groups (open to everyone), but sometimes prefer, initially at least, to attend a group with people that they have more in common with.

These have included groups for young parents, dads, foster carers or kinship carers, parents with post-natal depression or low mood, families whose children have additional needs or disabilities, children with speech and language delay, expectant parents with substance dependency issues, traveller families, families with English as an additional language, child-minders, parents/carers with low literacy levels, etc.

The menu on the left includes a few examples of how Peep programmes have been used around the UK and beyond.

Peep practitioners, working alongside health staff, began to provide an informal Peep session in two child health clinics in Oxford in 2009. These Peep drop-in sessions are known as Early Explorers. The Peep-trained practitioner spends time with families while they are attending the child health clinic or waiting to see a health visitor. They set up a play space on a quilt on the waiting area floor, with treasure baskets and picture books. The practitioner greets all families as they come in, and engages with as many as possible. This includes talking with families about parent-child interaction, child development and ideas to try at home, inviting and encouraging parents/carers to play with their baby or child, and sign-posting families to other local provision.

The Peep-trained practitioner could be someone who already works in the child health clinic such as a nursery nurse, or from elsewhere in the community, such as a children’s centre worker. A follow-on Early Explorers group can also be useful, inviting families who are hesitant or reluctant to access other services.

benefits of partnership work

A two-year research project on Early Explorers, led by Professor Jane Barlow and Chris Coe at the University of Warwick (2009-2011), identified various benefits from this joint working approach. The health and early education/family support elements complement each other. The joint working offers opportunities to get to know families who have not accessed other services. Families can be offered 1:1 support or a place at an Early Explorers group, or be signposted on to other services, as appropriate.

The development of such partnership working between health and the voluntary sector can contribute effectively to delivery of the Healthy Child Programme and similar programmes. It may also help to change public perspectives about the role of child health clinics, from an emphasis on physical well-being to a focus on the development of the ‘social baby’. It enhances the opportunity for early intervention, during the crucial first months of life, to foster parent-baby responsiveness and interaction, leading to positive attachment. For many families these clinics represent a real opportunity to get to know others in a similar situation in their own locality, to develop friendship and support, and thereby to increase social capital, factors that are not only important for healthy families but also for healthy communities.

feedback from parents

Parent attending the clinic drop-in session:

• ‘The first time when I walked in there, there were two other babies and [the Peep Practitioner] was showing them books, baby books and those bottles with shiny stuff in it with glitter and so on. And they were so like very… curious what’s there and so on. So I just went wow that’s really good. I wouldn’t think about that. Because she’s my first child and to be honest with you I didn’t know what to do with her. Like how to play with her and what to show her, how to develop her thinking.. you know...stimulate her brain. I do remember she was quite...crying... and [the Peep Practitioner] showed me the movement, how to calm her down, it was really good, I took a lot from the group and the approach of the staff.’

Parents attending the Early Explorers group:

• During interviews with parents attending an Early Explorers group, nine of the ten said they would not previously have accessed any other group provision. They found the sessions supportive, confidence-building and enabling.

feedback from health visitors

The child health clinic offers a unique opportunity to meet and forge relationships with parents in a non-stigmatising, non-threatening environment, where families already choose to go. Using a universal approach where all families are welcome, vulnerable and unsupported parents can be identified and offered more targeted services.

• ‘More vulnerable families do come to clinic, they are not regular attenders to clinic but they do come, say for a vaccination and that’s when we can direct them to Peep ....and Peep is so approachable and non-threatening that we have actually engaged some of our more difficult and harder to reach families with Peep. So I really think that it’s a harmonious relationship that benefits the mother and child.’ (Health visitor)
   
• ‘Peep complement our service and I feel we complement Peep’s service. I find when I do clinic that some Mums come just to come to Peep which I think is wonderful and we have been able to introduce parents to the concept of Peep, something that they didn’t know about. Some Mums were unaware of the need to communicate with their baby, even thought they were not verbally communicating back so you know, it’s been a revelation to some Mums, just how important it is to stimulate your baby.’ (Health visitor)

Drop-in sessions, such as 'Stay and Play' or 'Parents and Toddlers', are a great way for families to meet each other and have a change of scene and activities. They are more flexible than a group - there is no expectation that parents/carers attend every week or get there for the start time. They can provide a relaxing way for mums, dads and carers to chat together, while their children play with other children and toys, as well as joining in some of the activities with their child, with practitioners and parents sharing information about how it helps children's development.

Drop-in sessions also offer a great opportunity to share ideas with parents and carers in bite-size chunks, about how they can support their children’s learning through everyday activities, singing, stories and play. Peep can be used in new or existing drop-ins, or run in places where families already go, such as a local shopping centre, library or child health clinic, as well as in Family Centres or Hubs, Children’s Centres or early years settings. They can also act as a stepping stone for families to go on to attend a Peep group.

Through attending Peep drop-in sessions, dads, mums and carers are supported to enhance their understanding about:

• how adults can use the ORIM framework (Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction, Modelling) to support babies’ and young children’s learning
• the importance of developing conversation, of talking and listening to babies and young children, and how adults can help
• how to provide play opportunities which help babies’ and young children’s learning
• how positive relationships help babies and young children feel good about themselves and want to learn
• using numbers in everyday situations with babies and young children
• how babies and young children make sense of their world through exploring and making choices
• how the whole family can help babies’ and young children’s developing reading and writing skills through play and everyday activity together
• how to share books, stories, rhymes and songs with babies and young children.

Stay and Play session example - early maths

activity on the floor: posting things into a box

Families are encouraged to post items (e.g. socks, toy cars, pegs) into a posting box (a cardboard box with holes cut in the top and sides) and find them again when the lid is lifted.

Sharing a key idea: The practitioner talks with the parents/carers about matching things into pairs and counting 1, 2, as they are posted in the box. Counting an object in each hand is helpful for very young children.

activity at the table: feeding porridge to the three bears 

Families are encouraged to feed the small, medium and large sized bears (made from shoe boxes), thinking about which size bowl and spoon (small, medium or large) each bear should have.

Sharing a key idea: Chat about how adults can help their children’s understanding of size, by talking about different sizes and pointing them out in everyday life.

sharing messages

As well as conversations, Peep practitioners also share these messages with parents through the use of short signs next to each activity, handouts, and cued modelling (explaining why and how they are doing something, as they are doing it). Peep Stay and Play sessions also have a singing and story time, so a relevant story (e.g. Goldilocks and the three bears) and songs (e.g. 5 little ducks went swimming one day) can link to the activities.

A Peep session with an individual family can happen anywhere and at any time, either virtually /online or face-to-face.

home visits

Peep home visits tend to happen when a family has a new baby or moves into the area, or when their child is due to start attending an early years setting or school. Some Peep-trained practitioners focus their visit on introducing the family to the Peep programme, while others incorporate Peep into their usual health, nursery or family support visit.

Visits aim to:

• start getting to know the family
• provide information about Peep and other local groups or services
• discuss and model a simple activity and book-share, involving everyone
• offer follow-up contact, or put the family in touch with other relevant services.

A few resources might be offered to the family, such as:

• leaflets about local services - including times, locations and contact details for Peep and other local groups
• Learning Together leaflet/s with information and ideas about aspects of child development that were discussed (e.g. sharing books or treasure baskets with babies, or mark-making with toddlers)
• a Peep Singing Together CD/ MP3/ songbook
• a picture book and/or home-made book (made during the visit)

on-going outreach

Sometimes a practitioner and parent/s agree that the family would benefit from a few 1:1 Peep sessions, around parent-child interaction and supporting the child's learning and development. The practitioner and parent/carer agree on the focus of the sessions, based on the family’s needs and interests. The practitioner can use relevant Learning Together topics to plan future visits. Families often go on to attend Peep and/or other local groups or drop-ins, as well as gaining confidence and ideas for supporting their children’s learning in day-to-day life.

Peep sessions are designed to be delivered flexibly by Peep-LTP-trained practitioners, to meet local needs. The examples below illustrate some of the different formats for delivering Peep - such as 1-to-1, in drop-in sessions or in group sessions - face-to-face or online, indoors or outdoors. Sessions can be universal (open to all families in the area) or targeted, focusing on parents, carers and children with a particular need or interest. Peep delivery happens in family centres, children's centres, family hubs, schools, nurseries and pre-schools, health centres, families' homes, drop-in sessions, libraries, swimming pools, outdoors - wherever families are!  

Peep delivery formats:

• Outreach/ 1-to-1/ in the home - one or several sessions. Home visits can explore how parents and carers enhance their child’s early learning at home, and share information with families about local Peep sessions and other groups and services. 
• Drop-in sessions might be occasional 'pop-up' sessions, or a regular Stay and Play session. They enable families to get a taster of the Peep programme, and to drop in when they can. As the sessions are open access, they can happen anywhere that families go, including shopping centres or health centres.
• Peep group sessions are generally run weekly for parents and carers to attend with their young children. The number of sessions in a course can vary to suit local needs. 

Parent case studies

Stories from individual parents, including those who have gone on to further training or work through Peep.

• Parent to classroom assistant: Dumfries & Galloway - "I absolutely love my job and wish that I had made the move sooner but without going to the Peep group I would never have been confident enough to do it!" 
• Parent and baby: Birkenhead - the benefits both for her baby's development and the supportive relationships within the group, in mum's own words
• From Peep parent to Peep leader or Childcare and Development worker:  via the Peep Progression Pathway (parent accreditation) - Midlothian

Multi-agency case studies

Local/health authority departments and voluntary sectors organisations have found that using Peep as a common approach is an effective way to engage families:

• Early Help: Nottingham
• Intergenerational: Aberdeen
• Inter-generational: Edinburgh
• Children's centre-led: Liverpool
• Early Years-led: Benalla, Australia
• Education-led: Dundee
• Health/ Community learning and development-led: Edinburgh
• Family support-led: Galway
• Education psychology-led: Stirling
• Peeple Centre-led: Oxford

Health case studies

Peep delivered either in health centres, by health staff or with a health focus:

• Antenatal Peep: Highland
• Mealtimes: Wick
• Outdoor Peep: Aberdeen
• Child health clinics: Oxford
• Health centres: Moray
• Healthy Peep: Midlothian
• Water Peep: Newcastle

Education case studies

Peep in pre-schools, nurseries, transition, schools, colleges and adult learning

• Transition Peep - overview
  • Transition into school: Hampshire
  • Transition into school: Edinburgh
• Developing the young workforce: Moray
• Childcare students: Lancashire
• Early Learning and Childcare students (virtual Peep): Ayrshire College
• Thoughts from an educational psychologist - 20 years of Peep

Employability case studies

Peep supports children's learning through adult (parent and carer) learning; this can be taken a step further through the Peep Progression Pathway (credit-rated units by SQA), work with students in colleges and/or Peep parents becoming practitioners.

• Family learning & employability: Derby
• Peep Progression Pathway: Home-Start

Social Care case studies

A focus on working with parents whose children are looked after, foster carers, kinship carers, etc.

• Children's social care: a city-wide approach
• Foster Carers Peep - with qualification units

Prison case studies

Helping to maintain family relationships, and engage parents in their children's learning and play while they are in prison.

• HM Prison Perth
• HM Prison Inverness
• HM Prison Aberdeen
• HM Prison Winchester

The Peep Progression Pathway offers nationally recognised units to cover three qualification levels for parents and carers as learners. At each of these levels, learners can follow a unit covering:

• any of the five Peep learning strands - Communication and Language, Health and Physical Development, etc, and/or 
• any of the four developmental stages - Babies, Toddlers, Pre-schoolers or Early Childhood - of the Learning Together Programme. 

Join our next free Pathway Information Session for practitioners and managers 
 to find out more about using the Peep Progression Pathway with your local families
Thur 13 June 3.30 - 4.30pm
 > Email us and we'll send you a Teams link for your calendar:  pathway@peeple.org.uk
 

Parents and carers involved in an evaluation of the Peep Progression Pathway reported that they have:

• a greater understanding of their role in promoting their child’s development
• an increased confidence in supporting their child’s learning and development
• more knowledge and ideas for improving the home learning environment
• recognised improvements in their own personal learning and literacy skills
• enhanced aspirations – particularly in relation to their own early years and child development study and work opportunities

The units have been credit-rated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 5  - equivalent to entry level 3, level 1 and 2 equivalent in the rest of the UK. 

The Peep Progression Pathway - as its name suggests - often leads on to parents and carers taking further training or qualifications, or new career opportunities. You can read some of our case studies here:

• from Peep parents to Peep group leaders in Midlothian
• family learning and employability in Derby
• with Home-Start in Edinburgh
• with foster carers in Oxfordshire
• with inmates (and their partners) in HM Prison Inverness
• parent to classroom assistant in Dumfries & Galloway

Read more about: 

>  Peep Progression Pathway delivery for organisations - including how to become a Delivery Centre

>  Pathway training for Peep practitioners

>  Information for learners - parents and carers

benefits for parents and carers

The Peep Progression Pathway units formally recognise the learning which is already occurring within a Peep session. This includes playing, talking, sharing books and stories, and singing with young children, and using ORIM.

The credit-rated units are assessed entirely by portfolio. Through this portfolio, learners recognise and build on everyday learning, reflect on their child’s development, and their own role as first educator. Parents/carers have treasured them, both as a reflection of their own learning and as a keepsake about their child.

Learners who participated in the Peep Progression Pathway pilot found it useful in a range of ways:

Furthering their understanding of child development
‘It’s good to really consider why you do things and how it benefits your child’ (Parent)

Enhanced parent confidence and relationship with their baby or child
'The course allowed me to grow in confidence in being able to understand babies' needs and wants. The talk time and listening to others helps put your own experiences into perspective. I'm able to listen to my baby more now and decipher cries and wants - tired, bored, hungry, etc.’ (Parent)

'I gained useful skills through the Peep programme and pathway that will help me day-to-day when I’ve been released from prison. It gave me a better understanding of parenting and what can help my child.' (Parent in Inverness Prison)

A stepping stone into formal learning...
‘We are finding that parents who do not feel confident to register as a learner recognise that their portfolio work is just as good as their peers and often have a change of heart and submit their portfolios for assessment. It’s increasing access to parents who would never consider participating in accredited learning’ (practitioner)

'At the end of our Peep group I had the opportunity to complete the Peep Progression Pathway course and to support the running of a Peep group. I then attended the Peep Learning Together Programme Training and this led to me applying for a post with Midlothian Council as a Peep Leader – I was successful!  To have the confidence to make a complete change in career is a real achievement for me. The Peep Progression Pathway course and the Learning Together Programme helped me become a better parent by supporting my learning and understanding of what a child needs. I realised that I loved the learning and wanted to do more.'

... and employability
‘We’re seeing a number of parents in our area who are going through the accreditation with the hope of progressing on to co-deliver the groups as volunteers or bank staff where funding allows’ (practitioner)

Personal development
‘I haven’t had to think critically for a while, so it’s been good to get back into it’ (Parent)

Enjoyment
‘I've recommended it to all my friends. A very worthwhile and valuable experience’ (Parent)

‘Practitioners love that the Progression Pathway is sown throughout our existing Peep Learning Together Programme’ (Practitioner)

The Peep Learning Together Programme (LTP) Training contains 74 Topics covering five strands of child development:  personal, social and emotional development  ~  communication and language  ~  early literacy  ~  early maths  ~  health and physical development.

Each topic in the Programme contains key child development information along with delivery guidance, handouts for parents, and activities which help meet the topic aim(s). Each topic relates to one or more developmental stage: babies - toddlers - pre-school. The Programme is intentionally flexible - practitioners can use any topic from any strand or developmental stage, in any order, to meet the needs and interests of the families that you work with. 

When practitioners attend our Peep LTP Training they are given online access to the whole Programme in our log-in Members Area - see examples below.

overview programme maps

> Learning Together Programme Topic Aims Map  - an overview showing the aim(s) and relevant age/ developmental stage(s) for each of the 74 topics

> Learning Together Programme Strand Map - one-page overview of the 5 strands and 74 child development topics.

example of a learning together programme topic

Click the links below to see examples of the downloadable resources available to LTP-trained practitioners for one of the topics, Musical Interactions (for toddlers and/or pre-schoolers):

>  Communication and Language strand - Musical Interactions topic  [for practitioners' planning.  LTP-trained practitioners can buy a hardcopy set of the 74 topics in our Learning Together Programme Folder if they prefer.]

>  Session plan - Question talk time  |  Session plan - Message talk time  |  Session plan - Activity talk time  [for practitioners - select one, and adapt if appropriate]

>  Topic card  [for practitioners - sharing the topic aim with parents and/or course planning]

>  Topic handout  [for parents/carers]

>  Things to do at home handout  [for parents/carers]

>  Peep Tip  [for parents/carers]

Trained practitioners can also access general support and resources on our login website, covering recruiting families, different types of delivery, adaptable posters, leaflets and certificates, etc. 

5 strands of child development in the Learning Together Programme 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development covers:

• the significance of bonding, secure attachment and positive relationships for promoting babies’ and young children’s learning and development
• developing self-esteem, confidence and positive dispositions for learning
• how babies and young children develop an awareness of their individuality and personal identity (sense of self)
• the importance of play (including schemas and treasure baskets) and the quality of the Home Learning Environment for supporting learning and development
• building resilience and self-regulation - tuning into and helping babies and children to manage their feelings
• understanding and managing children’s behaviour
• an introduction to ORIM (Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and Modelling) for parents/carers.

Communication and Language covers:

• how babies communicate through body language, facial expression, eye contact and sounds
• the importance of early interactions with babies, for bonding and attachment
• how babies’ speech and language develops through watching, listening, making sense of sounds and beginning to use their own voice
• the importance of everyday interactions (speaking and listening, especially in the mother tongue) in developing young children's speech and language, thinking skills, problem-solving...
• the significance of musical interactions, songs and rhymes for supporting early learning and development
• the importance of play in developing communication and language skills
• the benefits and challenges of engaging with technology
• exploring the language of maths through play and everyday situations.

Early Literacy covers:

• the benefits of sharing books and stories with babies and children
• the significance of sharing books and stories and making home-made books, in promoting reading and writing skills
• the importance of books and stories for developing children’s understanding and awareness of the world around them
• the use of storytelling and exploring stories through play for developing children’s early literacy skills and enhancing their imagination
• how an awareness of environmental print (logos, signs, labels etc in the home, and out and about) can support early literacy skills
• exploring the sounds in words through songs, rhymes, poems, stories and everyday conversations
• the importance of mark making and play for developing early writing skills
• the significance of providing everyday opportunities to explore and experience reading and writing in meaningful contexts (e.g. shopping lists, birthday cards)
• exploring the use of technology in early literacy development.

Early Maths covers:

• how babies and young children learn about numbers and other mathematical concepts through talking, playing and having fun as part of everyday life
• the importance of adults modelling a positive attitude toward exploring early maths
• how numbers are used in different ways in different contexts
• the importance of sharing books, toys, games, songs and rhymes for supporting children’s understanding of numbers and counting
• the significance of routines and things with a working order for helping to develop a sense of order
• exploring numbers, shapes, patterns, sorting, matching and measuring.

Health and Physical Development covers:

• the importance of food for supporting growth, development and health
• how babies and young children develop food preferences
• the role of mealtimes, as well as buying, preparing, cooking and sharing food in supporting early learning and development
• the benefits of exploring nature for increasing well-being, learning to manage risks, and supporting early learning and development
• physical development - including the significance of music, songs and rhymes, as well as exploring language and movement to support conceptual understanding
• brain development
• sensory development – including sight, smell, touch, sound and taste, as well as spatial awareness, balance and co-ordination.

ORIM stands for Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and Modelling. These are four practical ways that parents and carers support their children’s learning and development.

Opportunities:  Parents and carers make the experiences of day-to-day life into learning opportunities through the ways that they interact with their children: listening, talking, singing, playing (indoors and outside), encouraging, and giving them time and attention. Parents also give children opportunities to explore and experiment with everyday objects, such as mark-making with a paintbrush and water or chalk on paving stones, or using an empty box to make a toy farm, dolls house, boat, space rocket...

Recognition:  When parents and carers show that they recognise and value their children’s efforts and achievements - and the children themselves, just for who they are – it contributes to children’s understanding and belief in themselves as learners. Recognition can be simple and low-key (e.g. a quiet word, smile, or high-five), or more obvious praise and encouragement, or putting their painting on the fridge or making up a story in which the child appears as a character. Parents and carers also recognise what counts as progress for their own child (e.g. being able to balance for longer on a log, or to join in with a familiar song).

Interaction:  Parents and carers support their children’s development by interacting with them in many ways, such as:

- listening and talking with them about what they are doing and or how they are feeling
- involving them in everyday tasks such as cooking or cleaning
- explaining or demonstrating how to do something
- offering reassurance or encouragement as a baby explores (without getting too involved)
- helping a toddler to manage their frustration
- watching television with their child and chatting about what they are seeing.

Modelling:  Babies and young children learn from watching and listening to those around them. The most powerful models for them are those that they spend the most time with and who they love the best – their parents and carers. Through these models, babies and young children absorb behaviours, attitudes towards learning and how to interact with others. They also learn more specific things, such as how literacy and maths are used as part of day-to-day life, such as writing a shopping list or paying for the shopping.

This ORIM framework was developed by Professors Peter Hannon and Cathy Nutbrown at the University of Sheffield. In their work with families, they noticed that all parents and carers support their children's learning by naturally providing Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and a Model (ORIM for short). However, when we (as practitioners or parents) understand how ORIM helps learning, we're more likely to think about and do them more often in everyday life - which helps children's learning even more. And the big difference is NOT how well we ourselves got on at school - but what we do with our children: talking, playing, singing, sharing books and stories, and keeping ORIM in mind.

ORIM is threaded through Peep programmes - it helps practitioners to see and value what parents and carers are already doing to support children's learning.  As parents and practitioners share ideas, they improve the quality of the home learning environment, which research has shown to be so important for children’s later outcomes.

how orim helps families

The more that we as parents and carers know about how children learn and develop, the easier it becomes to:

• understand how to make everyday events into learning opportunities 
• recognise  what counts as progress for our own child, and understand how to scaffold their learning (support them with new things, while they learn to do it themselves)
• recognise  and value all the little developmental steps on the way to the ‘big’ goals of learning such as talking, reading and writing
• recognise  and celebrate our child just for being themselves
• understand the different ways that we can helpfully interact  with our child
• appreciate our role as a model  for our child/ren.

> Download our short topic handout: An Introduction to ORIM or our Urdu version: An Introduction to ORIM in Urdu (for screen) or An Introduction to ORIM in Urdu (to print).

To find out more about parents and children learning together in everyday life: ask about Peep sessions at your local children's/ family centre or early years setting, visit our facebook page or attend one of our practitioner training courses.