| 2D (two-dimensional) shapes | flat shapes that have width and height but not depth, e.g. common regular shapes such as rectangle, oval, triangle and hexagon. |
| 3D (three-dimensional) shapes | solid shapes that have width, height and depth, e.g. common regular shapes such as sphere, pyramid and cube |
| ableism | discrimination against disabled people in favour of non-disabled people |
| adult-led | where adults plan and provide opportunities for children to be introduced to or further develop skills and knowledge |
| agency | ability to act and make decisions that influence events and affect one’s world |
| anti-racism | recognising the existence of racism in its many forms and taking appropriate action to remove it |
| asylum seeker | a refugee engaged in the legal process to seek a right to remain |
| attuned | sensitive, positive and responsive to children’s cues regarding their emotions, interests, and communications |
| autonomy | being in control of, or an active agent in, one’s life |
| bias | leaning towards a way of thinking about people which influences engagement with them, based on assumptions or previous interactions with other people who have shared characteristics which may include, race, religion, sexuality or socio-economic status |
| capacity (in mathematics) | how much a container can hold (linked to volume or the amount of space things take up) |
| cardinality | quantity (a number of things) or “how many-ness” |
| child-initiated | where a child determines the activity – what they will use, what they will do, who is involved |
| child-led | where the child takes the lead and the adult responds |
| children | all babies, toddlers and young children from birth to the end of the EYFS, up to 71 months |
| co-construction | working with others to develop concepts, skills and knowledge |
| cognitive | relating to the ability to think, have, gain and use knowledge through memory and reasoning |
| comparison (number in mathematics) | the relative size of numbers including finding which is larger or smaller |
| comparison (measure in mathematics) | comparing one object to another on the basis of one attribute (e.g. length, weight or capacity) is direct comparison; using a third object as the “measurer” is indirect comparison |
| composition (number in mathematics) | how a number is made up; includes all of the number combinations that make up a given number |
| concept | a general idea formed in the mind about a thing or group of things, derived from specific instances or occurrences. |
| continuous provision | environment and resources provided for children to explore freely, which support learning with or without an adult and enable children to revisit and build on their learning |
| creative thinking | using imagination to generate new ideas |
| critical thinking | analysing or synthesising information from which to make decisions or judgements, build theories or to reflect and evaluate |
| cultural capital | what children bring with them, and develop from their experiences and opportunities |
| culture | the ideas, customs, traditions and interests of groups of people |
| curriculum | a plan for children’s development and learning experiences, both formal and informal |
| digital literacy | skills associated with finding, identifying, evaluating and using information, understanding the purposes of the technology being used and having the skills to create content |
| discrimination | unfair or less favourable treatment because of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion/belief or other characteristics |
| dispositions | enduring habits of mind and action |
| ethnicity | being from a particular group of people or those who identify with each other due to shared language, nationality, culture or religion |
| everyday activities | the structures and routines of the day, e.g. mealtimes, nap times, story time |
| faith | strong beliefs which might be linked to religious doctrine or tradition |
| flexible thinking | the ability to quickly change the direction of thinking, finding new ways to approach a situation or solve a problem |
| free flow | where children have the choice to move freely between areas and environments, indoors and outdoors, during their play. |
| funds of knowledge | knowledge that is linked to cultural practice within families and communities |
| gender | a social construction describing attributes of masculinity and femininity |
| graphics (mathematics) | the visual marks and representations (graphics) young children choose to use to explore mathematical meanings and communicate their thinking, including mark-making and standard symbols |
| holistic | recognising all aspects of children’s development and learning, including physical, personal, social, emotional, spiritual and cognitive |
| heuristic play | exploratory play with everyday items, often arranged for mobile babies and toddlers to freely explore groups of objects |
| homophobia | negative attitudes and behaviours towards those who are lesbian, gay and bisexual |
| identity | sense of self influenced by many factors such as social, cultural and political context, family background, gender, and faith |
| internet-connected toys | physical toys that are connected to the internet and respond based on interactions. |
| intersectionality | the way in which various identity markers are layered or overlap within one person, which can increase the impact or the degree to which discrimination is experienced |
| intrinsic motivation | motivation that is driven by inherent satisfaction; the behaviour itself is its own reward |
| knowledge | facts, information, understanding about things |
| LGBTQIA+ | a collective term representing people who identify as: lesbian; gay (generally refers to gay men but can also be an umbrella term for gay men and women); bisexual (the attraction to multiple genders, often including one’s own gender); transgender (when a person’s gender does not line up with their assigned sex at birth); queer (catch-all term for anyone in the community, to be more inclusive to people who do not fit into the other categories; the “q” might include “questioning” people who are exploring their sexual or gender identities and may not want to commit to a certain label); intersex (someone born with biological sex characteristics that are not traditionally associated with male or female bodies); aromantic (someone who experiences little to no romantic attraction)/asexual (someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction)/agender (someone who identifies with no particular gender); plus (inclusive of all other identities) |
| loose parts | Items with no specific direction that can be used by themselves or with other materials in multiple ways |
| low technology | technologies that are non-mechanical, not advanced or “high technology” such as digital technology |
| mastery | embedded competence and confidence within an area of learning which can be recalled and transferred to different contexts |
| minoritised | the process by which certain groups have less power or representation compared to members of other groups in society |
| motor functions | relating to muscle movement |
| neurological functions | relating to the function of nerves and the nervous system |
| numerals | the symbols which represent numbers e.g. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7… |
| objective (for learning) | short, specific statements about the intended learning |
| open-ended | having no specific direction or purpose, and no pre-determined use, process or outcome, to be interpreted and directed by the children |
| ordinality | the position and order of the counting numbers, including the relative place of any number in the number sequence as being next to, before, after, near to, in between, etc any other number |
| orientation | the way round an object or image is turned or facing |
| palmar grip | using a fist grip to pick up objects |
| parents | used here to include all carers of children in the EYFS |
| pedagogy | the understanding of how children learn and develop and the practices through which adults can enhance that process, rooted in values and beliefs about what we want for children and supported by knowledge, theory and experience |
| planned activities | experiences planned specifically to further develop skills and knowledge or introduce new ideas |
| practitioner | all early years professionals who work directly with children in EYFS settings |
| prejudice | preconceived idea about a person or group that is not factual or based on experience; it can be positive or negative |
| problem solving | something you do not immediately know the answer to, so have to decide a way to find a solution |
| professional love | a concept explored by Dr Jools Page to describe the feelings of love, intimacy and care which practitioners experience in their reciprocal relationships with children |
| progress | moving forward |
| properties (shape in mathematics) | qualities, features or characteristics of a shape |
| race | a social construct based on skin colour and facial features which has no inherent biological basis but affects social categories and relationships |
| racism | prejudice and discrimination from an individual, community or institution against a particular racial or ethnic group |
| refugee | a person who has fled their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster and sought safety in another country |
| repeating pattern | a repeating pattern is where the order of some items (or sounds, actions, ideas, etc.) is continually duplicated; the “unit of repeat” is the section that is repeated to generate the pattern |
| resilience | capacity to cope with, adapt to, and recover from setbacks or adversity |
| schema | pattern of repeated play and behaviours that helps children organise information |
| sensory functions | related to the physical senses e.g. touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight, vestibular sense |
| setting | all types of provision delivering the EYFS including childminders, private, voluntary and independent providers, nursery, infant and primary schools |
| self-regulation | ability to regulate emotions, thoughts and behaviour to enable positive action toward a goal |
| serve and return | interactions where the child “serves” by initiating contact, and the adult “returns” by responding appropriately with eye contact, gestures or words |
| sexual orientation | the sexual attraction that a person feels towards another person, e.g. being heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or asexual |
| skills | abilities |
| spatial awareness | interpretation of how things, including own body, relates to one another and the spatial environment |
| stereotypes | generalisations which label people and make assumptions about them |
| strategic | long term/overall approach towards aims based on evidence |
| subitising – conceptual | instantly recognising the total based on the parts |
| subitising – perceptual | immediate recognition of how many without needing to count, involving very small numbers and assisted by familiar arrangements such as dice patterns |
| sustained shared thinking | when two or more people “work together” in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate an activity, extend a narrative, etc.; both must contribute to the thinking and it must develop and extend understanding |
| symmetry | shapes and patterns which flip over a line or axis, in a mirror fashion |
| systemic racism | form of racism that pervades institutions and organisations |
| working theories | the ways children think about, inquire into and make meaning about their worlds as they attempt to make connections between prior and new experiences and understandings |
