What children learn is important but how children learn is even more important if they are to become learners for life in today's society. In this book, Nancy Stewart brings her wealth of experience to help policy makers and practitioners articulate the importance of early childhood as a valuable stage in its own right as well as a preparation for the future. This best seller explores effective early childhood learning through exploring the characteristics of effective learning, as identified in revised Early Years Foundation Stage in England. Its content is however, applicable across the range of curricula and frameworks that govern early childhood education across the four UK nations, as well as internationally.