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A new theatre of war has opened up in politics: the battle for Toddler Time.
Gordon Brown has extended his work ethic to those lazy small people who hang around at home all day wearing nappies and thinking about where the next snack's coming from. It's time two-year-olds did something productive with their mornings.
By offering to pay for 15 hours' nursery a week for the under-threes, the PM wants to expand their horizons and diminish their sense of entitlement. A billion pounds thrown at tots will, he tells us, transform their performance at school and in society.
Meanwhile, Iain Duncan Smith has been turning up the volume on the same issue. His think-tank, The Centre for Social Justice, advocates a parent-centred solution, where mothers are paid not to go back to work, and “families rather than children” are fostered. Their priority is to teach mothers as well as offspring.
Two is a notoriously difficult age for children because reason has not yet kicked in. At two, a child is not potty-trained, probably has no “why”, or “because”; no future tense, and therefore no way of preparing for such a seismic change as spending 15 hours a week among strangers. The more resilient — usually the chattier, more organised little girls — might be fine. But the less confident will flounder. And then, what will teachers say to parents who now think that education for two-year-olds is the optimal solution for all?
All two-year-olds need intellectual stimulation, social contact, emotional security and lots of rest. Of course some mothers, or carers, provide this far more effectively than others. But it would be folly to believe that all nurseries could supply this either. And just where does Brown intend to find a new army of experienced and qualified nursery school teachers who are bright, motivated and kind, which many already aren't? There is a blind faith in the system over the individual.
My children were not ready to go to nursery school at the same age. They both had a gradual step up from one, two or three days, depending on how dog-tired or ebullient they were feeling. It was the only way to ease them into the educational system. But to suggest nursery is the best option for all two-year-olds strikes me as downright dangerous, because parents who know that their children aren't ready will feel like they're already failing them. Hands off Toddler Time!
Reader views (4)
My entire family would much rather that Gordon Brown 'threw' the £1bn at the NHS.
- Anne Evans, Bristol
He's only doing it because many people won't take it up because they think two is too young to go to nursery and you don't get many jobs that only require 15 hours a week, If he really wanted to help he would provide tax relief for all childcare costs.
- Brenda, london
I am old-fashioned and believe that the best place for two-year olds is with their mothers (or fathers). I don't understand this constant pressure on parents to force them to put their toddlers into day care and return to work.
I would like to see a return to the traditional ways, where one parent (it doesn't matter which) gives up their career until their children are school age (at least 4, preferably 5). Educational experts often cite Sweden as the bench mark in education, where children don't start main-stream school until 7.
I believe that many of the social ills of modern society are caused by children not being given sufficient time (and by this I mean years) at home with their parents to learn and grow in a natural environment where they can be taught the basic skills and benefit from healthy emotional bonds with their parents - not abandoned in some creche during the day.
- Tim, Bracknell, Berkshire
I was forced back to work when my child was 6 months old for financial reasons. It was not a 'choice' but a necessity.
Paid nursery time for under threes would be of huge benefit to myself and others in my financial situation.
- Laura, London
