The Ultimate Guide To Mark Making In The Early Years

In The Ultimate Guide to Mark Making in the Early Years, internationally renowned teacher trainer Sue Cowley takes practitioners on a journey: the journey young children embark upon when they learn their first words and make their first marks. Filled with practical activities and honest advice, this must-have guide presents a wide range of creative approaches to developing mark making and building language skills in the Early Years. With ideas to build finger strength and eye-to-hand coordination, activities for understanding the concept of symbols and signs and strategies for building confidence in reading and writing including talk and drama, you'll find a variety of techniques to develop children's key skills and motivation. Sue also includes full-colour photographs and examples of early marks to illustrate how young children's communication skills develop. There are tips for getting boys engaged in writing and a companion website with downloadable resources and useful links. The Ultimate Guide to Mark Making in the Early Years is an invaluable source of inspiration for all those working with children aged three to seven.

In The Ultimate Guide to Mark Making in the Early Years, internationally renowned teacher trainer Sue Cowley takes practitioners on a journey: the journey young children embark upon when they learn their first words and make their first marks. Filled with practical activities and honest advice, this must-have guide presents a wide range of creative approaches to developing mark making and building language skills in the Early Years. With ideas to build finger strength and eye-to-hand coordination, activities for understanding the concept of symbols and signs and strategies for building confidence in reading and writing including talk and drama, you'll find a variety of techniques to develop children's key skills and motivation. Sue also includes full-colour photographs and examples of early marks to illustrate how young children's communication skills develop. There are tips for getting boys engaged in writing and a companion website with downloadable resources and useful links. The Ultimate Guide to Mark Making in the Early Years is an invaluable source of inspiration for all those working with children aged three to seven.

The Road to Writing takes early years practitioners on a journey; the journey young children make when they learn their first words and make their first marks. Sue Cowley offers activities and practical advice to inspire practitioners to try a wide range of creative approaches to improve mark making in the early years. There are ideas for building finger strength and eye-to-hand coordination, activities to help children to understand the concept of symbols and signs, and strategies for building confidence in writing and reading. You can find your way through the book by following the signposts and you'll find plenty of interesting diversions along the way to develop children's key skills and motivation. This accessible book includes bulleted lists, photographs of children writing and examples of early marks to illustrate how children's communication skills develop. Sue also gives tips on getting boys engaged in writing, and there is a companion website with downloadable resources and useful links. This book is an invaluable source of inspiration for all early years practitioners and parents of children aged 3-7.

The journey towards writing begins with children making purposeful marks. Children love expressing themselves in this way, and this fully revised Little Book will help early years practitioners and teachers to encourage mark making with a range of media, using mark makers and other implements. By engaging in these activities, children will develop fine motor control, hand-eye co-ordination and the movements needed to manage the writing process. Here are hundreds of ideas for mark making, each one photographed in a real setting.

An inspiring step-by-step guide to documenting children's ideas, questions, and learning in a way that enhances teacher's thinking and understanding

Children are naturally drawn to mark-making. Long before they pick up a pencil or a paintbrush, they will experiment with making marks using their own bodies as well as various found objects that they come across in day-to-day life. By collecting together a whole host of ideas for different mark-making utensils, as well as exploring numerous substances and surfaces that children can mark-make on and in, this book supports both individual and group mark-making.

Looking for Learning: Mark Making is a full-colour, practical guide to mark making in Early Years settings. It will help you spark children's natural curiosity in seeing what happens when they make marks with their fingers, bodies and toys, as well as materials from nature and from your art supplies. From drawing around shadows and swirling paint in water, to printing animal footprints, Laura England, creator of Little Miss Early Years, provides a wealth of creative ideas for incorporating mark making into all child-led play, both indoors and outside. Developing mark making and building language skills are crucial as young children begin to build their confidence in communicating. This dip-in-and-out book is linked to the Characteristics of Effective Learning and presents real-life examples and images as well as practical pointers. With tips from setting up the environment to the adult's role in this child-led play, Looking for Learning: Mark Making is ideal for all Early Years practitioners searching for accessible ideas for using mark making in their settings. Looking for Learning books are the number one tool for identifying learning opportunities in child-led play. All four books are packed full of tried-and-tested ideas for indoor and outdoor activities, helpful hints and tips and full-colour photographs. Written by Laura England, known as Little Miss Early Years, these are a must-have for any nursery or pre-school.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.