Agents of Hope

Joy, Connection and Play in the Early Years: Re-centring our approach to work with parents using hope and humanity with Dr Abigail Wright

October 05, 2020 Tim Cox Season 1 Episode 11
Agents of Hope
Joy, Connection and Play in the Early Years: Re-centring our approach to work with parents using hope and humanity with Dr Abigail Wright
Show Notes Chapter Markers

Episode #11

In this episode, Dr Abigail Wright, an Early Years Specialist Educational Psychologist from South Wales. My discussion with Abi was broad and engrossing. It felt like it could have gone on all night. We discussed Abi's drive to become an EP from an early age, her experiences of becoming a parent in the same year that she graduated and her journey to fulfilling the role she does as a practitioner psychologist and mother of two young children. Our chat meandered between the importance of caregivers and professionals perception of them, parenting on a budget in a pandemic and the value of play in the Early Years.

It was a really interesting 90 minutes and I'm sure there will be a part II in the future. Exciting times. 

Books:

- Developing Attachment in Early Years Settings by Veronica Read

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0415825571/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

- The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Parenting-Margot-Sunderland/dp/075663993X


Article:

Woodhouse, S. et al. (2019). Secure Base Provision: A New Approach to Examining Links Between Maternal Caregiving and Infant Attachment

https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.13224

Assessment tool/curriculum:

The Hawaii Early Learning Profile 

https://www.vort.com/home.php?cat=1

Websites:

Suzanne Zeedyk

http://www.suzannezeedyk.co.uk

Anna Freud support for Early Years

https://www.annafreud.org/coronavirus-support/support-for-early-years/

Parenting Give it Time (Welsh Goverment):

https://gov.wales/parenting-give-it-time/guidance-and-advice/booklets-and-information-sheets-to-support-parents

BBC Tiny Happy People:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people

Zero to Three:

https://www.zerotothree.org/

NSPCC - Look, Say, Play, Singhttps://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/look-say-sing-play/



Support the show
Introduction to Dr Abigail Wright
Reflections on parenthood and training to be an educational psychologist
Thinking about working with parents: From hard to reach parents to working in partnership
Supporting Parenting of children in the Early Years
Challenging labelling relating to parents
What can parents do to support their children's development in the Early Years at very little cost?
The Value of Play
Concluding Remarks