Search results for ""Author Sally Featherstone""

This book will help you to understand what works for the growing brain, and (even more important) what doesn’t! It is more and more evident that HOW children learn is much more important then WHAT they learn. Babies are born with a drive to learn, but as babies become children this drive can falter. What are the keys to keeping the momentum going, so children are ready for each stage of their childhood as they reach it? We can influence the quality of learning, without buying specialist DVDs, choosing expensive toys or becoming a ‘helicopter adult” hovering over children and controlling everything they do. Busy parents and practitioners can make sure that the times they have with children are both enjoyable in the present and useful in the future. This book introduces you to some of the things that affect children’s learning, explains these in readable terms, and gives you simple ways of making sure that children get the best start in their lifelong learning journey.

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Developing fine motor skills is a key feature in learning to read and write. Many children need additional help to develop these skills in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and The Little Book of Fine Motor Skills gives you lots of ideas for interesting activities focused on hand/eye coordination and refining the movements of arms and hands. Like all the other books in the Little Book series, this book presents appropriate and enjoyable activities in a simple format, which would enable the most inexperienced practitioners to plan and deliver the curriculum against clear objectives.

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Translating research about child neuroscience into practice in education is a daunting prospect for most practitioners. In fact, many see it as fraught with difficulties and risky. However, the importance of this research has never been more important. The context of the early years in the UK, has seen considerable changes within recent years, with a raft of government regulation and guidance, and a national move to free childcare entitlement at increasingly earlier ages. Combined with a mounting pressure for accountability in `Closing the Gap' between disadvantaged children and those more fortunate, these pressures make it fundamental that those working with young children understand what neuroscience is telling us, and more important, what it is not. Practitioners, teachers managers, and governors in settings and schools will not only be called to account for the attainment of their children, as measured in tests, but in the way children are prepared for lifelong earning, which will support them for the rest of their school lives and beyond. This book is a comprehensive position statement for practitioners that highlights: where we are now; what we know; what we don't know; what research developments mean for practitioners and setting, and how this fits in with the government expectations within the EYFS framework. Sally Featherstone covers the current thinking in educational research and neuroscience, how some of this has been misinterpreted by `early adopters' or `over-enthusiastic promoters', and how new information can help practitioners to be more effective in their work with young children.

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An Anthology of Educational Thinkers provides an excellent introduction to the major groups of educational thinkers. Each thinker's views and theories are explained in detail in a format that is accessible to those currently practising and those who are still in training. However, this book goes beyond just explaining the theory, it shows practitioners how to put these theories into practice! It is filled with explanations of how theories are linked to the EYFS, examples of how these figures worked and, most importantly, demonstrates the way they influenced how most early years practitioners work today.

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_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. You only need to watch children to know that boys and girls learn differently! It’s not that girls don’t like to be outdoors, to get messy or to be noisily active, they do – they are just able control their muscles at a younger age, so they can sit, watch and listen to adults more easily. They can also manipulate materials and tools such as pencils (called fine motor skills) earlier than many boys, so they are ready for the reading and writing activities in school. But we must resist the temptation to think that boys are not as good as girls – they are just different. Their skills and interests draw them to activities that are big, adventurous, risky and messy, and of course, they love being outside. All children like pretend play, but this is sometimes limited to domestic activity in the home corner, rather than allowing boys to experiment with roles often associated with grown-up men. This book offers you fifty ideas for things that make the most of the ways boys learn, capturing their interest and helping them to learn. Many offer opportunities for early writing, mathematics and reading, as well as technology, science and role-play.

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This Little Book gives you lots of new ideas around the use of fabrics, sewing and weaving. As well as producing some wonderful results, children will have enjoyable activities for developing fine motor skills, concentration and creativity, working on their own or with friends. Little Books are packed with advice and ideas for all those working with children in Early Years settings. They are carefully planned to match the EYFS framework and reflect the latest thinking on the education of young children.

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This book explores the importance of the environment in the Early Years and its effect on learning and emotional development. It provides examples of excellent settings for learning as well as lots of ideas for organisation, planning, displays and making changes. It will inspire practitioners with its full colour photos and practical, easy to follow activities!

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A good understanding of phonics is essential for reading but work that is too formal, presented too soon, is not helpful to young children. This book contains ideas for phonic activities for the Early Years Foundation Stage, for use both indoors andout. All are planned to help you support children in the development of phonological awareness as they work towards a structured programme. A good companion to The Little Book of Phonics, and of course L is for Sheep.

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The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Children love constructing models and other objects, and working with found and recycled materials has a firm and continuing place in the early years, encouraging children to be imaginative and creative as they practice their skills in joining, wrapping, bending and cutting. These materials that are often free or low cost, are available everywhere, waiting for imaginative practitioners to find and use them. This book gives you 50 ideas for using free, cheap and recycled materials in your setting, both for creative and independent play and for specific projects. The resources suggested are all easily available, and the ideas are only starters for the continuing interest children have in this sort of work.

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You can grow something in every setting! This book helps you to offer the magic of plants and flowers even in the most difficult situations. Seeds, pips, stones and cuttings are all explored, and there are suggestions for hanging baskets, window boxes and growing your own food.

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Natasha is good at taking turns. TJ isn’t! Natasha waits for her turn to wash her hands. TJ doesn’t. She waits to speak to Grandma. TJ doesn’t. She waits for her turn in games. TJ doesn’t. However, there is one thing Natasha doesn’t want to wait for – goodnight kisses! Each of the simple stories in the Dealing with Feelings series, beautifully illustrated by Melissa Four, explores a familiar childhood experience. These stories help children to process and understand a variety of emotions, while helpful tips at the back of the book suggest ways for parents and practitioners to build on the understanding in many creative and fun ways.

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Linked to the stepping stones and the mathematical concepts, these simple activities will enable you to plan and provide activities for children at different levels of mathematical under-standing.

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The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Messy play is at the heart of the early years curriculum, supporting creativity and imagination, and giving children opportunities to experiment with tactile materials. This book offers 50 ideas for using natural resources, simple household items and recycled resources for low cost inspiration. Practitioners and teachers in the early years are always looking for new ideas for messy and ‘hands-on’ play, and this book will give children many opportunities for exploration and investigation through sensory play.

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This story celebrates the many things that a young child can do independently. Natasha is very proud of her self-help skills. She can pour her own drink, wash her hands, dress herself, and even get her own breakfast.

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_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Each page gives step-by-step instructions, tips and plenty of further ideas for children ready for more. The experiences suggested in this book will help young children to grow and develop through a range of both planned and informal activities, many of which the reader will already be familiar with. The activities use objects and resources easily available in most homes and settings; they focus on practical activities and purposeful play for individuals, pairs and small groups. They allow children to develop at their own pace, to make unhurried discoveries and allow for much repetition.

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Molly and Sunita are playgroup friends who spend time together every day, playing, talking, and learning about getting on with each other. Their relationship is generally good but even the best of friends sometimes fall out or feel grumpy! Molly is learning that Sunita has moods and feelings, but these will not get in the way of true friendship. The Dealing with Feelings series teaches positive behaviour and promotes personal, social, emotional skills. Developed and written by experts and supported by research, each book includes additional notes and tips to help teachers, practitioners and parents reinforce the lessons children are learning through the simple stories.

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This book gives ideas for introducing and extending experiences of sound and music for babies and young children. Each page spread contains a range of experinces and a selection of ideas for each of the four developmenta stages of the Birth to Three Matters Framework, and extends this progression into the early stepping stones for the foundation stage.

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Mark Making: Progression in Play for Babies and Children gives ideas for introducing and extending mark making activities and experiences for babies and young children. Each page contains a range of experiences and a selection of ideas for each of the six stages in Development Matters (Revised EYFS 2012). The experiences with mark making materials described in this book encourages development and learning through active play using all the senses. Enhancing experiences of mark making from babyhood will encourage children's independence and involvement in communication through meaningful marks.

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_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Sharing and Playing introduces children to the concept of sharing and supports practitioners with lots of ideas for sharing through play. Sharing is an essential skill for children to learn and this simple text has activity ideas for both indoors and outdoors, helping children to share their talk and thoughts as well as their belongings. For young children and those children who are not used to sharing they need to be introduced to the concept in a meaningful way, which is going to make them willing to share, as they are keen to achieve the ultimate reward. The best way to do this is through play. Children are far more likely to able to apply what they have learnt about sharing through a real play experience than they are to apply the morals of a sharing story to their every day life and ultimately shows children that sharing can help them to achieve their goals.

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The DSCF are pushing for the Letter and Sounds initiative to cover the whole 0-5 age range and this series answers that remit! These four books are differentiated to meet the particular developmental stages of the framework and clearly linked to the developmental statements, so they can be used in all sorts of schools and settings. They offer appropriate activities in four age bands, closely matched to the EYFS, and giving children a thorough grounding in the essential skills they need to become good readers.

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_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Each page gives step-by-step instructions, tips and plenty of further ideas for children ready for more. They offer practical ideas on differentiation for young babies with special needs as well as tips on what to look and listen for. The experiences suggested in this book will help young children to grow and develop through a range of both planned and informal activities, many of which the reader will already be familiar with. The activities use objects and resources easily available in most homes and settings; they focus on practical activities and purposeful play for individuals, pairs and small groups. They allow babies and children to develop at their own pace, to make unhurried discoveries and allow for much repetition.

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This book gives ideas for introducing and extending mark making activities and experiences for babies and young children. Each page spread contains a range of experiences and a selection of ideas for each of the four developmentas stages of the Birth to Three Matters Framework, and extends this progression into the early steppng stones for the foundation stage. The experiences with mark making materials described in this book encouragedevelopment and learning through active play using all the senses. Enhancing experiences of mark making from babyhood will encourage children's independence and involvement in communication through meaningful marks.

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Little Baby Books have been written to give straighforward and practical help in implementing the advice contained in the Birth to Three Matters guidance (DfES/Sure Start, 2003). they are by experts in child development and early learning. All thesuggested activities have been tried and tested with children in the appropriate age group. Each book covers one area of learning, an four broad stages of development. Visual links make it easy to see which is the focus group for the activity. No special equipment is required - most activities rely on things you already have, or can easily collect. Activities are fun and easy to use. Each page: - has clear instructions for the activity - shows how the activity can be matched to individual children, including those with additional needs - points out what to watch for and note during the activity, so you see the learning in action - describes how thw child's learning develops and how it links with later skills

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Give your sand and water sessions a new lease of life with this fully updated Little Book. Split into two sections, it offers a range of activities for sand and water play that link to the early learning goals and which are accompanied by a list of suggested resources, useful vocabulary and related songs and stories to take the theme further.

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The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Exploring and investigating familiar objects and places gives children real experiences to think, plan and get involved in both indoors and outside. This book gives a variety of ideas for investigations, some of which will extend far beyond the simple initial starting points. Simple observations can turn into early science, technology and creative thinking. Using familiar and easily found objects, the investigations will involve and encourage children to develop these thoughts.

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Messy play is an essential element of all Early Years Ssettings. The experiences help babies and childrean to develop eye and hand control, fine motor skills. muscles and language. The messy experiences in this book encourage development and learning through sensory play. They all use sight, touch and smell, and of course, many babies and children will want to taste the experience as well.

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Tell Me a Story helps practitioners to build progression into a favourite part of the day for all children. Matched to the development stages of the EYFS. Each page features 'activity boxes' labelled for each age group showing how each area can be approached by children at different stages of development. The format makes it easy to select the level of activity appropriate for each child making these books ideal for groups of mixed ages. When returning to the same areas later the user can choose another activity to support progression and extend learning.

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This story explores how it feels to be a younger sibling. Gregory notices that in many situations, his big brother Derek can achieve more ­ he can score more goals, reach higher, and ride his bike faster.

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Ideas for making and using puppets you have made yourself with the children or using bought puppets. Ideas and activities for using puppets in stories, circle time, rhythm, phonics etc and story starter ideas.

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What are schemas and why do they matter? Again! Again! provides an introduction to understanding and supporting schemas and schema play in young children. Practitioners will find an overview of schemas with guidance on where they fit within the EYFS. There are examples of schemas, with illustrations and descriptions of common behaviour patterns, and these are set within the general context of child development. The intention is to help early years practitioners identify schemas and to understand both how important they are and the vital role they play in the growing child's learning. The aim is to help the reader understand how they can develop, plan and resource activities which support children's learning through experiment and play.

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The final book in this series explores three dimensional art and craft - sculpting, stuffing and squeezing - clay, malleable materials sculpture, weaving, sewing and other creative activities that can all be linked to the Key Stage 1 Programme of Study. Ros Bayley, Lyn Broadbent and Sally Featherstone combine their experience to offer a wealth of inspirational ideas. Like the other books in the Carrying on in Key Stage 1 series it is comprehensively illustrated with photos, diagrams and charts to help practitioners tackle the activities with confidence and map them on to the KS1 Programmes of Study.

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The 'Carrying on in Key Stage 1' series supports the continuing growth and development of independent learning and practical activities, which are features of early learning. The aim is to encourage teachers in Key Stage 1 to build on the best of practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage, balancing adult directed tasks with learning that children initiate and develop themselves. The activities covered by the series are the ones children often say they miss most when they move into Years 1 and 2. Water offers ideas and guidance for providing children with a wide range of interesting challenges to use this fascinating, free resource in a variety of ways and using a range of tools and equipment, extending their work in other subjects through motivating practical activities. The authors are all experienced educators who have worked in schools, settings and local authority support services, and are now in high demand as writers and trainers.

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The 'Carrying on in Key Stage 1' series supports the continuing growth and development of independent learning and practical activities, which are features of early learning. The aim is to encourage teachers in Key Stage 1 to build on the best of practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage, balancing adult directed tasks with learning that children initiate and develop themselves. The activities covered by the series are the ones children often say they miss most when they move into Years 1 and 2. Sand offers ideas and guidance for providing children with a wide range of interesting challenges to use sand, gravel and other natural materials to explore, construct, imagine and experiment. It supports development in literacy, numeracy and creativity through active play and problem solving. The authors are all experienced educators who have worked in schools, settings and local authority support services, and are now in high demand as writers and trainers.

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For a child, moving from the Early Years Foundation Stage into Key Stage 1 can be a huge change. It is up to the adults involved to make the process of transition as smooth and continuous as possible. This brand new edition contains advice for teachers, teaching assistants, practitioners, parents and managers on supporting children though and after the move. It includes a special section on how we can use new knowledge about how children learn to help them build on their previous experiences of learning and what we can do to help them cope with the emotional factors involved in the change.

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Carrying on in Key Stage 1 is written to help teachers continue key practical activities and child focused learning throughout Key Stage 1. The activities are mapped onto the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for this age group. With the child at the centre of the activities, the book offers many exciting suggestions for topic based work, following on from and building upon the work children have done in the Foundation Stage. There is a host of ideas for using everyday materials such as paper and wood, along with purpose-designed construction materials such as Lego. The tasks included in the book are active, varied and challenging - guaranteed to interest both boys and girls. Construction is the first in a lively and detailed series of books. The knowledge, experience and national profile of the authors will ensure a strong demand for what is bound to be a popular resource.

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Independent learning and child-initiated activities are at the heart of early learning. With these principles in mind, practitioners are working hard to support independence and a 'can do' attitude and this book aims to support that work. The wealth of ideas will help you to develop an environment where independent learning is celebrated and where children take responsibility for planning and organising their own activities. Hundreds of ways you can support independent learning are outlined, including an ICT strand running throughout to ensure an up-to-date approach to the range of experiences you are offering. Case studies in each chapter highlight how to implement good practice in your setting.

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Carrying on in Key Stage 1 is written to help teachers continue key practical activities and child focused learning throughout Key Stage 1. The activities are easily mapped onto the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for this age group, which is included in short form within the book. With the child at the centre of the activities, the book offers many exciting suggestions for topic based work, following on from and building upon the work children have done in the Foundation Stage. There is a host of ideas for using everyday materials such as paper and wood, along with purpose-designed construction materials such as Lego. The tasks included in the book are active, varied and challenging - guaranteed to interest both boys and girls. Role Play, a new title in this lively and detailed series follows Construction, Sand and Water, now popular resources in many schools. The knowledge, experience and national profile of the authors will ensure a strong demand for what is bound tobe another popular title.

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Arranged by season, this book enables you to celebrate a wide variety of festivals from cultures and religions of the world. Appropriate activities are suggested, as well as information about the background of the celebration.

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Carrying on in Key Stage 1 is written to help teachers continue key practical activities and child focused learning throughout Key Stage 1. The activities are mapped onto the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for this age group. With the child at the centre of the activities, the book offers many exciting suggestions for topic based work, following on from and building upon the work children have done in the Foundation Stage. There is a host of ideas for using everyday materials such as paper and wood, along with purpose-designed construction materials such as Lego. The tasks included in the book are active, varied and challenging - guaranteed to interest both boys and girls. Construction is the first in a lively and detailed series of books. The knowledge, experience and national profile of the authors will ensure a strong demand for what is bound to be a popular resource.

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Carrying on in Key Stage 1 is written to help teachers continue key practical activities and child focused learning throughout Key Stage 1. The activities are easily mapped onto the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for this age group, which is included in short form within the book. With the child at the centre of the activities, the book offers many exciting suggestions for topic based work, following on from and building upon the work children have done in the Foundation Stage. There is a host of ideas for using everyday materials such as paper and wood, along with purpose-designed construction materials such as Lego. The tasks included in the book are active, varied and challenging - guaranteed to interest both boys and girls. Outdoor Play looks at different sorts of outdoor spaces and some resources to use in them, keeping a good balance between what must be bought and what can be obtained free. Activities include play, games, plants and animals, mark making and constructing dens

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