ABSTRACT
The handling of young children with difficulties is the subject of countless books and articles, generally relating to problems which happen within the family. Very little has been written to help nursery workers or childminders who are looking after children outside their own homes. We know that a high proportion of children in local authority day nurseries are likely to have problems of behaviour or development (Bain and Barnett, 1980; McGuire and Richman, 1986). This may not only reflect the way priorities are applied in allocating places, but also learning from peers, so that the clustering of severely disadvantaged children in particular settings may, as Moss and Melhuish (1991) suggest, turn them into ‘training schools in problem behaviour’.
