This book shows how adults can bring rhymes and stories to life with young children and support children’s early steps in communication and literacy. Focusing on the use of rhythm, rhyme and repetition in nursery rhymes and traditional tales from around the world, it provides a wealth of practical ideas for using rhymes and stories one-on-one, in small groups or with whole classes. Drawing from the culmination of their many years of combined experience, the two authors link the theoretical understanding of language and communication with the practical use of rhymes and oral storytelling in the classroom, nursery and at home. Early chapters (or Part I) provide a rationale for using rhyme, rhythm and repetition to inspire children to play with words and develop a love of language, building a foundation for literacy learning. Part II consists of ten lively chapters featuring original and re-imagined traditional fairy tales, containing: Accompanying rhymes to use with children Key themes including friendship, kindness, compassion and generosity Follow-up activities activities for extending children’s vocabulary, building their confidence and developing critical thinking Suggestions of using voices, facial expressions, gestures, props and puppets to enrich children’s emotional, imaginative and intellectual experience This delightful and practical book will be valuable reading for all adults wanting to support young children’s creative learning through enjoyable and valuable experiences.

By bringing together research evidence on effectively supporting parents to engage with their children’s early learning, and the role of education professionals in developing partnerships with families, this book focuses on partnerships between professionals and parents to enhance family learning for young children in literacy and other aspects of early learning. The move towards setting, home-based, and online learning has accelerated, and it is important for both students and practitioners to value parents’ roles in their young children’s learning; to consider how parents can support young children’s learning in these scenarios, and how to apply this in practice with children aged birth to five. Through a wealth of case studies from real experience, the authors showcase an inspiring range of inclusive projects and approaches with families, including marginalised groups such as bilingual learners, fostering families, and families identified as ‘vulnerable’ including imprisoned fathers and children with specific learning needs.

Planning for the Early Years: Storytelling and storymaking is a lovely book packed with adaptable ideas that can be extended for older children, or more focused for the under threes. It focuses on the prime areas of learning, especially the development of early language, defined in the 2011 Tickell review of the EYFS as the foundations for all learning. It includes photos, examples, tips, and pre- and post activity advice.

Bringing together two key areas within early childhood— play and literacy — this book offers an innovative approach to examining literacies within the context of children’s play. This book: Introduces students to contemporary theory and research in the field Explores the debates surrounding young children’s play and how language and literacies are created through a range of play activity Helps students to reflect on how this knowledge can be applied in their future professional lives working to support young children Advocating for young children’s play and diverse literacies, this book supports students to develop a depth of knowledge about how play can extend children’s literacies, and encourages early childhood educators to reflect on and enhance their literacy practices with young children.

Foreword by Sir Philip Pullman, CBE, FRSL Illustrated foreword by Chris Riddell, OBE The burgeoning field of visual literacy can be universally understood across a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, regardless of traditional literacy levels. A key tool for navigating digital devices, there is often an antipathy surrounding visual literacy borne out of stigma and at times, intimidation. Seeing Sense brings together research and best practice from different organisations and institutions all over the world to showcase the role of visual literacy as a tool for promoting reading. It will be key in raising awareness among librarians and education practitioners, promoting aspiration and achievement among the children and young people they work with. Coverage includes: — an overview of visual literacy as a tool for reading development — the role of visual literacy in design and display within libraries and resource centres — advice for library and information professionals on how to gain greater confidence in using and understanding visual literacy as part of strategies to engage readers — a number of practical case studies to illustrate the power and potency of visual literacy as a key tool for making reading accessible, engaging, and appealing for all.

The Listen, Read, and Learn Volume 1 fairy tale book for prekindergarten and kindergarten features classic tales such as: -Mother Goose Rhymes -Sleeping Beauty -The Little Red Hen -The Three Little Pigs Each story includes activity pages and a free MP3 audio file so children can listen while they read along. Encourage a love of reading while building early learning skills with Listen, Read, and Learn Volume 1. Each of the four popular tales engages children with bold illustrations and an MP3 audio file download that they can use on any device, at home or on-the-go. Bonus activities follow each story to help your child understand story characters and events, learn new vocabulary words, practice letters and sounds, and more. Filled with enchanting stories and fairy tales, the Listen, Read, and Learn series combines imagination and education for fun-filled learning at home. By providing a combined audio and visual experience, this series helps children understand print concepts like turning pages from right to left and connecting the sounds of words with the printed page. These fun pages use favorite stories as a springboard for strengthening early reading and thinking skills for classroom success!

This creative guidebook teaches librarians in diverse communities how to develop and implement early learning programming beyond traditional storytimes. While traditional library storytimes are excellent tools for families, equally important is play. Children learn through play in many ways; it stimulates exploration and curiosity and builds gross and fine motor skills that are critical to reading and writing success. Perhaps most importantly, play has the power to cross barriers of culture and language, allowing families from differing backgrounds to learn together. In this book, Kristin Grabarek and Mary R. Lanni—the pioneers of Little University, an early learning program that focuses on play-based learning—share their experiences and provide guidance for implementing similar programs at libraries of various sizes and budgets. They teach readers how to create programs for a diverse group of families, work with outside providers, choose supplies, estimate costs, market your programming, and overcome the challenges of both big and small budgets and many or few patrons. These practical plans will enhance storytimes and even help build a brand-new early learning program.

This book shows how adults can bring rhymes and stories to life with young children and support children's early steps in communication and literacy. Focusing on the use of rhythm, rhyme and repetition in nursery rhymes and traditional tales from around the world, it provides a wealth of practical ideas for using rhymes and stories one-on-one, in small groups or with whole classes. Drawing from the culmination of their many years of combined experience, the two authors link the theoretical understanding of language and communication with the practical use of rhymes and oral storytelling in the classroom, nursery and at home. Early chapters (or Part I) provide a rationale for using rhyme, rhythm and repetition to inspire children to play with words and develop a love of language, building a foundation for literacy learning. Part II consists of ten lively chapters featuring original and re-imagined traditional fairy tales, containing: Accompanying rhymes to use with children Key themes including friendship, kindness, compassion and generosity Follow-up activities activities for extending children's vocabulary, building their confidence and developing critical thinking Suggestions of using voices, facial expressions, gestures, props and puppets to enrich children's emotional, imaginative and intellectual experience This delightful and practical book will be valuable reading for all adults wanting to support young children's creative learning through enjoyable and valuable experiences.

First Published in 2001. This practical guide supports classroom assistants in the use of ICT. It provides support in the: practical issues linked to using a computer and other ICT equipment in the classroom; use of early years software linked to National Curriculum and Early Learning Goals outcomes; use of ICT in literacy, numeracy, science, art and design and children with special educational needs; personal use of ICT, linked to where it can contribute to classroom practice. It can be used as a stand-alone guide or in conjunction with study on classroom assistant training programmes.

Perspectives on Transitions in Schooling and Instructional Practice examines student transitions between major levels of schooling, teacher transitions in instructional practice, and the intersection of these two significant themes in education research. Twenty-six leading international experts offer meaningful insights on current pedagogical practices, obstacles to effective transitions, and proven strategies for stakeholders involved in supporting students in transition. The book is divided into four sections, representing the four main transitions in formal schooling: Early Years (Home, Pre-school, and Kindergarten) to Early Elementary (Grades 1–3); Early Elementary to Late Elementary (Grades 4–8); Late Elementary to Secondary (Grades 9–12); and Secondary to Post-Secondary (College and University). A coda draws together over-arching themes from throughout the text to provide recommendations and a visual model that captures their interactions. Combining theoretical approaches with practical examples of school-based initiatives, this book will appeal to those involved in supporting either the student experience (both academically and emotionally) or teacher professional learning and growth.