Was this really necessary?

Today in England (I always knew that I wanted to be Celtic)the new welfare guidelines including 69 "learning goals" for the under-fives have come into force.

Was it really necessary?

In an educational world where leading countries begin to formalise learning at 7 years why does England feel that it is necessary to stipulate 69 things that the very young.

Reported on the BBC Education site:

In Scotland, what and how children learn in pre-school nurseries is set out in the Curriculum for Excellence which is currently being rolled out. It does not apply to childminders.

In Wales, a new Scandinavian-style Learn through Play nursery and infant curriculum is being introduced for three to seven-year-olsd, which moves away from the more formal classroom based lessons.

It is worth reading this alongside the post about the decline in the number of registered childminders and the comments of some of our leading children's authors.