Shortlisted for the Nasen Book that supports SEN and Disability Issues Award 2008

Are children who are exposed to more than one language from birth at an advantage or a disadvantage when starting school?

Supporting Multilingual Learners in the Early Years examines the theoretical, ideological and practical issues involved in the education of children speaking two or more languages coming to settings which are predominantly monolingual. The book examines current research and thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of being multilingual and...

The Practical Guidance in the Early Years Foundation Stage series will assist practitioners in the smooth and successful implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Each book gives clear and detailed explanations of each aspect of Learning and Development and encourages readers to consider each area within its broadest context to expand and develop their own knowledge and good practice.

Practical ideas and activities for all age groups are offered along with a wealth of expertise of how elements from the practice guidance can be implemented within all early...

Shortlisted for the Nasen Book that supports SEN and Disability Issues Award 2008

Are children who are exposed to more than one language from birth at an advantage or a disadvantage when starting school?

Supporting Multilingual Learners in the Early Years examines the theoretical, ideological and practical issues involved in the education of children speaking two or more languages coming to settings which are predominantly monolingual. The book examines current research and thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of being multilingual and...

The Practical Guidance in the Early Years Foundation Stage series will assist practitioners in the smooth and successful implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Each book gives clear and detailed explanations of each aspect of Learning and Development and encourages readers to consider each area within its broadest context to expand and develop their own knowledge and good practice.

Practical ideas and activities for all age groups are offered along with a wealth of expertise of how elements from the practice guidance can be implemented within all early...

Sandra Smidt sets out to explain what play is and why it is so important as one of the key ways of learning, particularly - but not solely - for young children. She argues that all play is purposeful, and can only truly considered to be play when the child has chosen what to do, where and how to do it.

Using case studies drawn from all over the world, Smidt challenges some of the prevailing myths relating to play and pays close attention to what it is that early years professionals need to do to interpet the play, understand its purpose for the child and sometimes extend it.

Sandra Smidt takes the reader on a journey through the key concepts of Jerome Bruner, a significant figure in the field of early education whose work has spanned almost a century. His wide-ranging and innovative principles of early learning and teaching are unpicked here using everyday language and the links between his ideas and those of other key thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are revealed.

Introducing Bruner is the companion volume to Introducing Vygotsky and is an invaluable work for anyone involved with children in the early...

This unique and engaging resource describes, critiques and analyses the significance of a wide range of contemporary and classic ideas about how young children learn. Organised in a handy A Z format, best-selling author and early years expert Sandra Smidt:

• Traces back each idea to the roots of how it was first conceived
• Explores its implications for the early years classroom in accessible terms
• Makes connections where relevant to other strands in the field of early childhood education
• Provides examples from her extensive classroom experience and...

Multilingualism in the Early Years is a highly accessible text that examines the political, theoretical, ideological and practical issues involved in the education of children speaking two or more languages. Drawing on current research and thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of being multilingual, Smidt uses powerful case studies to reveal how language or languages are acquired. She explores language in terms of who shares it, its relationship to class, culture, power, identity and thinking, and its fascinating role as it moves from the personal to the public and political....