7.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PRACTING PROJECT Preschools can increase the learning opportunities for at risk children. The general aim of early childhood education is to stimulate cognitive-and social emotional development and emergent literacy of (at risk) children and to prepare them for formal schooling. In the Netherlands, 90% of the children under age 4 receive early childhood education, but only half to two-thirds of the at risk children attend preschool (van der Vegt et al., 2008). The Dutch government aims to increase this number, because it is difficult for at risk children with language delays to be successful in school when they did not have any (pre) school experience before age 5 (the age of compulsory school attendance). Preschools use ECE programs in order to improve the quality and effects of their education. However, the effectiveness of the different programs is not yet clearly established. Results of evaluation studies of ECE programs are ambiguous: significant effects on the performance of children, especially on the long term, are absent or of small to moderate magnitude.

The lack of clear results in ECE effect studies could be explained by poor implementation of the programs and by the use of global tests and measurements. In other words, it may be hard to find results because programs are not implemented well or because researchers use less appropriate tests and effect measures. A solution to this problem could be to analyse classroom interaction in more detail to understand how programmatic elements are used in classroom and what behaviour and skills children show during preschool interactions. Studies on the effectiveness of ECE and attempts to improve the quality of ECE programs could benefit from additional studies with a stronger focus on children’s experiences in preschool and the language opportunities that different preschool contexts offer. The current study adds to an understanding of the different interactions children have in preschool and the things they can learn through these interactions. By describing naturally occurring everyday interactions, I showed the classroom routines and practices that children are oriented to in the process of being socialized into the classroom community. My study is inspired by the Bristol Study (Wells, 1981; 1985; 1986), in which the natural language use in everyday situations of a large group of children is studied over several years. In my PRACTING project (an acronym for preschool activities and interactions Groningen), I followed 30 children in their natural classroom environments over time from approximately age 2; 6 to 4; 0. I recorded the children’s spontaneous interactions by letting them wear a jacket with a recording device inside.