Let’s Play in Tandem is a school-readiness intervention for families living in socially disadvantaged communities with a child aged 3 years old. It is delivered by a project worker to families for a period of 12 months. It aims to improve children’s cognitive development and self-regulation by delivering educational activities designed to develop pre-reading and numerical skills and promote vocabulary and general knowledge. The activities are demonstrated by the project worker to the family during visits and are designed to facilitate one-on-one verbal interaction and to teach parents key scaffolding skills, including how to prompt, provide instructions, and encourage their child.
The information above is as offered/supported by the intervention provider.
3 years old
Home visiting
Child outcomes:
UK available
UK tested
Let’s Play in Tandem is a school-readiness intervention designed for families with children aged 3 years old, living in socially disadvantaged communities. The intervention aims to enhance children’s cognitive development and self-regulation, preparing them for success in school.
The intervention spans 12 months and is typically delivered through Sure Start Children’s Centres.
Each participating family is assigned a project worker, who visits the home weekly for 90 to 120 minutes. During these visits, the project worker delivers a set of three educational activities focused on developing pre-reading and numeracy skills, as well as promoting vocabulary and general knowledge.
The project worker demonstrates these activities to the family, guiding them through one-on-one verbal interactions. The activities are designed not only to engage the child, but also to empower parents with essential scaffolding techniques. These include prompting, providing instructions, and encouraging their child’s participation.
3 years
Preschoolers living in socially disadvantaged communities
Disclaimer: The information in this section is as offered/supported by the intervention provider.
Science-based assumption
Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds often have lower levels of school readiness due to reduced parental support for early learning.
Science-based assumption
Let’s Play in Tandem is based on the assumption that school readiness can be improved by targeting cognitive development and cognitive self-regulation. Research suggests that structured early learning experiences and parental involvement can enhance children’s foundational skills, better preparing them for school.
Science-based assumption
Let’s Play in Tandem is designed for families, specifically parents and their young children living in socially disadvantaged areas. The intervention aims to equip parents with the skills necessary to support their children’s early cognitive and academic development.
Intervention
Families learn through activities, which are intended to develop pre-reading skills (e.g. phonological awareness, perceptual discrimination), basic numerical skills (e.g. understanding of size and quantity, counting to 10), and the child’s general knowledge.
Short-term
Let’s Play in Tandem aims to develop parents’ scaffolding skills (e.g. prompting; providing instructions; encouragement) that foster the child’s learning with regards to numeracy, reading, and vocabulary.
Medium-term
In the medium term, the intervention expects to strengthen the child’s cognitive self-regulation and improve their early learning skills. It also aims to enhance the interaction between parents and children, which contributes to better learning dynamics.
Long-term
In the long term, Let’s Play in Tandem intends to improve children’s academic performance.
Preschoolers living in socially disadvantaged communities.
Let’s Play in Tandem is delivered in over 40 sessions of one hours’ duration each by one practitioner to families.
The practitioner who delivers this intervention is a practitioner.
The practitioners have 35 hours of intervention training. Booster training of practitioners is not required.
It is recommended that practitioners are supervised by three supervisors (two from the host agency and one intervention developer supervisor).
Intervention fidelity is maintained through the following processes:
Contact person: Ruth Ford
Email address: ruth.ford@aru.ac.uk
*Please note that this information may not be up to date. In this case, please visit the listed intervention website for up to date contact details.
Let’s Play in Tandem’s most rigorous evidence comes from one RCT conducted in the UK consistent with Foundations’ Level 3 evidence strength threshold.
Children in the intervention group demonstrated statistically significant improvements in knowledge, pre-reading, and numerical skills immediately post-intervention. At the four-month follow-up, further significant improvements were observed in listening and communication, responsiveness to stimuli, writing, mathematics, personal and social skills, vocabulary, and inhibitory control.
Let’s play in Tandem can be described as evidence-based: it has evidence from at least one rigorously conducted RCT or QED demonstrating a statistically significant positive impact on at least one child outcome.
Improved personal and social skills
4 months later
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved knowledge
Immediately after intervention
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved pre-reading skills
Immediately after intervention
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved numerical skills
Immediately after intervention
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved listening and communication
4 months later
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved writing
4 months later
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved mathematics
4 months later
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved vocabulary
4 months later
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
Improved inhibitory control
4 months later
Improvement index
Interpretation
Study
| Identified in search | 2 |
| Studies reviewed | 2 |
| Meeting the L2 threshold | 0 |
| Meeting the L3 threshold | 1 |
| Contributing to the L4 threshold | 0 |
| Ineligible | 1 |
| Study design | RCT |
| Country | UK |
| Sample characteristics | 73 preschoolers (aged 3) and their parents living in low-income families in Wales |
| Race, ethnicities, and nationalities |
|
| Population risk factors |
|
| Timing |
|
| Child outcomes |
|
| Other outcomes | None |
| Study rating | 3 |
| Citations | Ford, R., McDougall, S. & Evans, D. (2009) Parent-delivered compensatory education for children at risk of educational failure: Improving the academic and self-regulatory skills of a Sure Start preschool sample. British Journal of Psychology. 100, 773–798. |
The following studies were identified for this intervention but did not count towards the intervention’s overall evidence rating. An intervention receives the same rating as its most robust study or studies.
Ford, R., Evans, D. & McDougall, S. (2003) Progressing in Tandem: A Sure Start initiative for enhancing the role of parents in children’s early education. Educational and Child Psychology. 20, 81–96. This reference refers to a pre-post study, conducted in the UK.
Note on provider involvement: This provider has agreed to Foundations’ terms of reference (or the Early Intervention Foundation's terms of reference), and the assessment has been conducted and published with the full cooperation of the intervention provider.
Rated 1: Set up and delivery is low cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of less than £100.
Rated 2: Set up and delivery is medium-low cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £100–£499.
Rated 3: Set up and delivery is medium cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £500–£999.
Rated 4: Set up and delivery is medium-high cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £1,000–£2,000.
Rating 5: Set up and delivery is high cost. Equivalent to an estimated unit cost of more than £2,000.
Set up and delivery cost is not applicable, not available, or has not been calculated.
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Supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing child maltreatment: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Enhancing school achievement & employment: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing crime, violence and antisocial behaviour: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing substance abuse: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing risky sexual behaviour & teen pregnancy: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
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Rated 2: Has preliminary evidence of improving a child outcome from a quantitative impact study, but there is not yet evidence of causal impact.
Rated 2+: Meets the level 2 rating and the best available evidence is based on a study which is more rigorous than a level 2 standard but does not meet the level 3 standard.
Rated 3: Has evidence of a short-term positive impact from at least one rigorous study.
Rated 3+: Meets the level 3 rating and has evidence from other studies with a comparison group at level 2 or higher.
Rated 4: Has evidence of a long-term positive impact through at least two rigorous studies.
Rated 4+: Meets the level 4 rating and has at least a third study contributing to the Level 4 rating, with at least one of the studies conducted independently of the intervention provider.
Rating has a *: The evidence base includes mixed findings i.e., studies suggesting positive impact alongside studies, which on balance, indicate no effect or negative impact.
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