Children are most engaged – and therefore learn best – when they are following their own interests. In this book, Anna Ephgrave shows how her acclaimed ‘planning in the moment’ approach can be used with two and three year olds with dramatic results for both children and staff. It reveals the impact that free-flowing, child-initiated play has on very young children’s wellbeing, making them feel safe, secure and consequently helping them to be fully engaged in their learning.The firs...

Child-led learning in the early years allows children to thrive while making accelerated progress. Young children learn and develop best when they are in a stimulating environment which is carefully organised and equipped to meet their needs, interests and stages of development, and where each child’s progress is carefully observed, managed and enhanced by adults who engage and interact with them to support them in making outstanding progress.Demonstrating how a child-led approach ...

‘The Reception Year in Action will take the understanding of outdoor play, teaching and learning to a new level. Everyone who is involved with early years education and care should read this book!’Helen Bilton, University of Reading, UK‘This is a fantastic book... it shows exactly how an excellent reception class is organised and run. There is a clear theoretical underpinning to the practice described and the photos really bring the text alive.’Margaret Edg...

Children are ‘hard-wired’ to learn and they learn best by being active and autonomous – exploring, discovering, creating and taking risks, in other words, by playing. However, formal, subject specific lessons and a focus on data, targets and unrealistic expectations are causing young children to be bored and stressed and this is stifling their learning. Year One in Action reveals the remarkable progress children can make when they are allowed to pursue their own interests, ideas a...

Young children live in the here and now. If adults are to make a real difference to their learning they need to seize the moments when children first show curiosity, and support their next steps immediately. This book embraces the concept of planning "in the moment" and emphasises the critical role of the adult in promoting child-led learning, giving early years practitioners the confidence and insight to work and plan in the moment, and enabling the children in their care to live, learn, ...

This title is designed to help early years practitioners in any setting understand clearly and precisely how to best plan for and observe learning in the early years.This title covers all the key aspects of planning and observing that affect those in practice, including how to: Assess and observe children, Put children at the heart of your planning, Link observation to planning, Plan for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This title also includes printable/photocopiable forms for you to use...

First published in 2004. Art Therapy for Groups provides detailed guidance on how to set up and run theme-based art therapy groups and discusses factors affecting different client groups.The second half of the book consists of nearly 400 themes and practical exercises to use with groups, set out in sections ranging from personal work to group interactive exercises. This updated second edition includes:* new material on race, culture and diversity* a chapter on record...

Do you want to create exciting outdoor experiences for children? Are you looking for guidance on how to incorporate the wilder and riskier elements of outdoor play into your planning?This book will give you the confidence to offer the children in your setting adventurous and challenging outdoor activities, as well as ways to utilise natural resources to their best advantage. There is clear, practical advice on what you need to do, which is underpinned by the theory that supports th...

One of the keys to a happy and creative classroom is getting out of it and this book will give you the confidence to do just that. Drawing on academic research, Juliet explains why learning outdoors is so beneficial and provides plenty of tips and activities to help you to integrate outdoor learning into your teaching practice, providing a broad range of engaging outdoor experiences for your students.There is no need for expensive tools or complicated technologies: all you need is ...

Life story work is one of the key therapeutic approaches to working with adopted or fostered children. While it sounds simple, there is much more to this work than producing photo albums or memory boxes for children.This accessible book is full of tried and tested activities and creative ideas for professionals, parents and carers who may have little time and few resources, but who need to carry out life story work that works for children. The authors describe the optimum condition...

Parents want to know more about how to help their children succeed. Help your child to excel at reading is full of information to help parents knowledgeably guide their children as they learn how to read and write so their children can achieve their full potential while feeling great and believing in themselves.- helpful for parents with children from 4 to 14 years written by a teacher especially for parents empowers parents,- gives accurate information about the latest meth...

How should children feel about themselves and their learning? How do I know what children have learnt and how can I move them on? How can I ensure that resources are available for children to use actively and independently?In today’s busy setting an understanding of child development sometimes gets overlooked, yet it lies at the heart of effective practice. Child Development in Practice provides an approachable, user-friendly base from which to plan ways of working with ch...