Keep Calm and Carry On: Children’s Self-Regulation in Early Years Settings

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Ireland promotes the development and education of children aged from birth to six years. Over a third of nine-month-olds and over half of three-year-olds experience some form of non-parental care in Ireland (Williams et al., 2013), with type and duration of ECEC experiences varying considerably. However, almost all children aged between three and four years avail of the free preschool year which was introduced in January 2010, administered by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Irish ECEC policy is developing rapidly. Responsibility for policy developments in the ECEC sector is shared by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA). Two key frameworks underpinning ECEC provision are Síolta, the national quality framework for Early Childhood Education (Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, 2006) and Aistear, the early childhood curriculum framework (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2009). Implementation of the early childhood curriculum is not mandatory, however, in ECEC settings (French, 2013)