The early years (birth to five years) are crucial for a child's development. Most parents and professionals find that if a child receives the right support and gets access to the right resources, they make great progress.
Latest news!
Early Support has a new home!
Following a successful bid by the Early Support Consortium - of which RNIB is a part - to take forward Early Support, the new NCB website has been launched www.ncb.org.uk/earlysupport.
You will find information on a range of practical resources and training for young children, including specific resources for vision impairment, such as the Information Booklet for Parents and the Developmental Journal. The approach, materials and training are now being extended for use from birth to adulthood.
To enable the Early Support principles to be enacted across England, Early Support has Regional Facilitiators and a central team based in the National Children's Bureau. This team works with education, health, social care and the voluntary sector and private sector across all regions to help them plan strategically and together for Early Support, focusing on ways of working and use of resources that will increase the chances that disabled children, young people and their families can live ordinary lives. To find contact details for your Regional Facilitator visit the NCB website.
Babies and visual impairment - Optimum VI project
This major new project is arousing huge interest across the whole of the UK. In the first few months over thirty babies and their parents and practitioners have entered the project and a projected figure of over a hundred babies is anticipated. The project is a funding partnership between Fight for Sight, RNIB and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and is investigating support and intervention for babies and young children with visual impairment.
Read the project flyer and let us know if you want to be involved.
Early years settings
The Early years settings section offers information on choosing an early years setting, including features of a good setting, specialist advice and information on developing an early years curriculum.
Learning through play in the early years
The guides within the Learning through play section focus on learning through play including finding accessible toys, building treasure baskets, and encouraging play to support the development of social skills, mobility and more!
Social inclusion
The Social Inclusion section looks at social inclusion and social bonding including ideas to encourage blind and partially sighted young children to learn to socialise and make friends which is crucial in these early stages.
Mobility in the early years
The Mobility section offers information on developing mobility skills in these early stages. It suggests ways of encouraging mobility from birth onwards, including for children with complex needs. It also explores ideas and tips to help you with teaching daily living skills for this age group.