My OpenLearn Profile
- Personalise your OpenLearn profile
- Save your favourite content
- Get recognition for your learning
- Subjects
- Education & Development
- Free courses
- Parents and toddlers: Teaching and learning at home
Parents and toddlers: Teaching and learning at home

How do young children learn? This free course, Parents and toddlers: Teaching and learning at home, looks at the way toddlers interact with their carers in the home environment. You will learn how adults use different methods of teaching to encourage a small child to expand their boundaries and develop new ways of thinking.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- discuss how children's early experiences with their parents/caregivers, siblings and peers contribute to the learning of new skills and problem-solving techniques
- understand how parents/caregivers use talk and play in informal teaching and learning exchanges with toddlers and young children to communicate social and cultural practices
- understand key psychological and educational theories and concepts relating to children's social development and mental growth
- appreciate the features of effective teaching used by parents and other adults in informal learning settings such as the home
- appreciate why researchers rely on detailed observation of video-data to develop an understanding of the psychological processes that take place during teaching and learning interactions between young children and their parents/caregivers.
First Published: 09/08/2012
Updated: 27/02/2018
You can start this course right now without signing-up. Click on any of the course content sections below to start at any point in this course.
If you want to be able to track your progress, earn a free Statement of Participation, and access all course quizzes and activities, sign-up.
Course content
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Teaching and learning relationships in early childhood
- 2 Cognitive socialisation and ‘good tuition’
- 3 The nature of effective instruction
- Conclusion
- Keep on learning
- References
- Acknowledgements
- This site has Copy Reuse Tracking enabled - see our FAQs for more information.
Tags, Ratings and Social Bookmarking
Create an account to get more
Track your progress
Review and track your learning through your OpenLearn Profile.
Statement of Participation
On completion of a course you will earn a Statement of Participation.
Access all course activities
Take course quizzes and access all learning.
Review the course
When you have finished a course leave a review and tell others what you think.
Creative commons: The Open University is proud to release this free course under a Creative Commons licence.
However, any third-party materials featured within it are used with permission and are not ours to give away. These materials are not subject to the Creative Commons licence. See terms and conditions and our FAQs.
Full copyright details can be found in the Acknowledgements section of each week.
For further information, take a look at our frequently asked questions which may give you the support you need.
Have a question?Take your learning further
Making the decision to study can be a big step, which is why you'll want a trusted University. The Open University has 50 years’ experience delivering flexible learning and 170,000 students are studying with us right now. Take a look at all Open University courses.
If you are new to university level study, find out more about the types of qualifications we offer, including our entry level Access courses and Certificates.
Not ready for University study then browse over 900 free courses on OpenLearn and sign up to our newsletter to hear about new free courses as they are released.
Every year, thousands of students decide to study with The Open University. With over 120 qualifications, we’ve got the right course for you.
About this free course
20 hours study
Level 3: Advanced
Create an account to
get more
Create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.
Create account / Sign inDownload this course
Share this free course
Course rewards
Free statement of participation on completion of these courses.
OpenLearn Search website
OpenLearn Links
Footer Menu
Our partners
OpenLearn works with other organisations by providing free courses and resources that support our mission of opening up educational opportunities to more people in more places.


©1999-2020. All rights reserved. The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to its secondary activity of credit broking.