Playing And Exploring

Winner of the 2013 Nursery World Awards! This is a key text for all those studying for degrees and foundation degrees in early childhood, early years and related disciplines and for candidates on EYPS pathways. It takes the reader through a detailed exploration of the nature of play examining the features and the concepts of play. Guidance on the observation of children′s play is included and the text encourages students to appreciate the value of play in development and in socialisation. Children′s rights and the ownership of play are also covered. With interactive activities and case studies throughout, the text helps students to arrive at an understanding of their own practice in relation to play. About the Early Years series This series has been designed to support students of Early Years, Early Childhood Studies and related disciplines in popular modules of their course. Each text takes a focused look at a specific topic and approaches it in an accessible and user-friendly way. Features have been developed to help readers engage with the text and understand the subject from a number of different viewpoints. Activities pose questions to prompt thought and discussion and ′Theory Focus′ boxes examine essential theory close-up for better understanding. This series is also applicable to EYPS candidates on all pathways. Other titles in the series are Early Childhood Studies, Childhood in Society for Early Childhood Studies and Child Observation for the Early Years.

Exploring Books Through Play: Friendship, Acceptance and Empathy celebrates play-based learning with 50 unique, hands-on activities that explore social and emotional development, literacy, art, science, mathematics, sensory exploration, gross motor development and fine motor skills. The activities are inspired by 10 children's books including "A Sick Day for Amos McGee," "The Adventures of Beekle," "Little Blue and Little Yellow" and "The Day the Crayons Quit." Focusing on high quality children's literature centered on friendship, acceptance and empathy, this book is designed to be used in home and school settings and is perfect for large or small groups. Ideal for children ages 3-8 years old, the activities can be adapted for multiple skill levels and developmental stages. As you work through the activities in the book children will naturally be discussing the characters, delving deeper into the lessons, bringing the stories to life and falling further in love with literature.

This practical book provides pre- and inservice teachers with an understanding of how math can be learned through play. The author helps teachers to recognize the mathematical learning that occurs during play, to develop strategies for mathematizing that play, and to design formal lessons that make connections between mathematics and play. Common Core State Standards are addressed throughout the text to demonstrate the ways in which play is critical to standards-based mathematics teaching, and to help teachers become more familiar with these standards. Classroom examples illustrate that, unlike most formal tasks, play offers children opportunities to solve nonroutine problems and to demonstrate a variety of mathematical ways of thinking—such as perseverance and attention to precision. This book will help put play back into the early childhood classroom where it belongs. Book Features: Makes explicit connections to play and the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. Offers many examples of free play activities in which mathematics can be highlighted, as well as formal lessons that are inspired by play. Provides strategies for making assessments more playful, helping teachers meet increasing demands for assessment data while also reducing child stress. Includes highlight boxes with recommended resources, questions for reflection, key research findings, vocabulary, lesson plan templates, and more. “This is one of those books that I wish I had written. It is smart, readable, relevant, and authentically focused on children.” —From the Foreword by Elizabeth Graue, Sorenson Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of Wisconsin “In this deceptively easy-to-read book, Amy Parks explains two things that could make a world of difference in early childhood and elementary classrooms: Mathematics isn’t something in a workbook—it’s a fascinating part of the real world; And playing in school isn’t a luxury—it’s an essential context for learning about all sorts of things, including mathematics. Through vignettes of children learning mathematics as they play, Parks helps teachers recognize their ‘answerability to the moment,’ eschewing someone else’s determination of ‘best practice’ in favor of what works with actual children eager to learn mathematics.” —Rebecca New, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This book is packed with fun and exciting activities that enable the child to make sense of the world that they live in and relate it to their own experiences in order to enhance their personal and social development.

Organized around 14 chapters, Section One looks at policy, pedagogy and key issues in practice surrounding the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), and Section Two looks at the areas of learning and development in EYFS. Ways to plan, implement, observe and evaluate activities for young children from Birth to 5 are discussed, a range of theoretical perspectives is built upon and different ways of delivering the EYFS are explored. By combining sound theoretical underpinning with practical case studies, this book offers a critical approach to the implementation of EYFS. It takes its inspiration and examples of best practice from projects based in a range of early years settings, and considers the role of the practitioner and the holistic development of the child.

Winner of the 2013 Nursery World Awards! This is a key text for all those studying for degrees and foundation degrees in early childhood, early years and related disciplines and for candidates on EYPS pathways. It takes the reader through a detailed exploration of the nature of play examining the features and the concepts of play. Guidance on the observation of children′s play is included and the text encourages students to appreciate the value of play in development and in socialisation. Children′s rights and the ownership of play are also covered. With interactive activities and case studies throughout, the text helps students to arrive at an understanding of their own practice in relation to play. About the Early Years series This series has been designed to support students of Early Years, Early Childhood Studies and related disciplines in popular modules of their course. Each text takes a focused look at a specific topic and approaches it in an accessible and user-friendly way. Features have been developed to help readers engage with the text and understand the subject from a number of different viewpoints. Activities pose questions to prompt thought and discussion and ′Theory Focus′ boxes examine essential theory close-up for better understanding. This series is also applicable to EYPS candidates on all pathways. Other titles in the series are Early Childhood Studies, Childhood in Society for Early Childhood Studies and Child Observation for the Early Years.

"The articles in this collection emphasize the importance of play--from infancy through the primary grades, how to support and scaffold children's play, and how to connect play to learning. Also included is a professional development guide with questions and activities"---Publisher's Web site.