Jane Drake

Praise for 3rd edition:'Experienced practitioners and students will find a host of new ideas to help them create interesting environments and starting points to promote young children's learning.' - Early Years Update, April 2009'Planning for Children's Play and Learning includes practical guidance and ideas on creating stimulating learning environments indoors and outdoors, planning exciting learning experiences.' - Early Years Update, September 2009This new edition of Planning for Children’s Play and Learning has been fully updated to reflect the revised Early Years Foundation Stage and in line with current policy and practice. It recognises the importance of play as a context for teaching, learning and assessment and links theory with practical examples to show practitioners how they can best support the children in their care. With new material on learning stories, language development, ICT and the home learning environment, the book includes practical guidance and ideas on:• creating stimulating learning environments indoors and out• planning exciting focus activities and experiences• responding to children’s individual interests and supporting personalised learning• sound observational practice and how to assess children’s learning and developmentwithin the EYFS framework• developing genuine partnerships with parents and learning links with home.Incorporating ‘Key Points for Good Practice’ within each chapter, and direct links to the EYFS, this is a key text for all practitioners working with children in the later stages of the EYFS. It is also ideal for students pursuing Qualified Teacher Status in the Early Years and EYT Status, and for those enrolled in courses in Early Childhood Studies and Foundation Degrees in Early Years.

Praise for 3rd edition:'Experienced practitioners and students will find a host of new ideas to help them create interesting environments and starting points to promote young children's learning.' - Early Years Update, April 2009'Planning for Children's Play and Learning includes practical guidance and ideas on creating stimulating learning environments indoors and outdoors, planning exciting learning experiences.' - Early Years Update, September 2009This new edition of Planning for Children’s Play and Learning has been fully updated to reflect the revised Early Years Foundation Stage and in line with current policy and practice. It recognises the importance of play as a context for teaching, learning and assessment and links theory with practical examples to show practitioners how they can best support the children in their care. With new material on learning stories, language development, ICT and the home learning environment, the book includes practical guidance and ideas on:• creating stimulating learning environments indoors and out• planning exciting focus activities and experiences• responding to children’s individual interests and supporting personalised learning• sound observational practice and how to assess children’s learning and developmentwithin the EYFS framework• developing genuine partnerships with parents and learning links with home.Incorporating ‘Key Points for Good Practice’ within each chapter, and direct links to the EYFS, this is a key text for all practitioners working with children in the later stages of the EYFS. It is also ideal for students pursuing Qualified Teacher Status in the Early Years and EYT Status, and for those enrolled in courses in Early Childhood Studies and Foundation Degrees in Early Years.

From killer toads, feral felines, and brown tree snakes to multiple invaders in the Great Lakes and Lake Victoria, "Alien Invaders" explores the impact on our ecosystems of the wave after wave of invaders and why they have become a worldwide concern. Environmentalists Jane Drake and Ann Love take us on a journey from the days of sailing ships and shipboard rats to the fungus that sparked the Irish potato famine to the beautiful but deadly purple loosestrife strangling native wetlands, while presenting the concepts of biodiversity and endangered species. Learn where the invaders originate, how they travel, what they displace, why the invaded natural system is vulnerable, and what can be done. Discover if you are an invader or a saver and how you can help.

Armed with Get Outside, a kid will never say, "I'm bored " again. This book is a key to the world of fun beyond the front door. Activities are divided into four categories (Nature Lover, Outdoor Fun and Games, Cozy Inside and Look to the Sky), where readers will find instructions for making things like sundials, bird feeders and kites, as well as rules for games such as 500 Up, Spud and Shinny. Accompanying these descriptions are fun facts and scientific, historic and cultural context. The passage on playing jacks, for example, includes a sidebar about a similar game played by the ancient Greeks. Children in Northern climes will love learning to play traditional First Nations winter games and be thrilled to find out how to create a backyard ice rink. It's a wealth of fun and fascination that will captivate any young person --- who won't mind ditching the video game for the great outdoors.

Discover the fascinating life of a master of 19th century art and design William Morris was a man of extraordinary diversity and application, turning his attention to the mastery of as many skills in one lifetime as most men would achieve in several. He became an artist in oils, stained glass and ceramic tiles, a weaver, decorator, textile designer, calligrapher, type designer, typesetter, bookbinder, printer, novelist, poet and lecturer. One of his most influential concepts embraced the ‘small is beautiful’ ideal: suppose people lived in little communities ... and had few wants; almost no furniture for instance, and no servants, and studied ... what they really wanted. Then, Morris felt, life might begin to take on its proper form. He was unquestionably one of the first conservationists. Certainly, a century later, his ideas and his designs are still valued and enjoyed by people everywhere.

Every time our society takes steps forward, segregation becomes illegal, child labor is exposed, and companies that poison our air are called to account. Behind those steps are people who identified problems, worked together, and created change. Lifelong environmental activists, Jane Drake and Ann Love present the nine steps to social change and much more. From fascinating accounts about the founding of organizations such as Amnesty International, Pollution Probe, and Greenpeace to the nuts and bolts of how to run an effective meeting or write a petition, to words of inspiration, Yes You Can Your Guide to Changing the World is great reading and encouragement for every person who wants to make the world a better place.

First Published in 2004. This book presents practitioners with exciting ways in which to deliver the foundation stage curriculum to young children through play in well-planned areas of provision. The author promotes good early years practice in accordance with 'Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage', drawing on her own experience as a nursery teacher. Ideas are workable and material is organised in an accessible way making the book an easy-to-use book for all busy practitioners and students.

Introduces methods for observing the sky at night, the moon, the stars, constellations for each season, and the planets, recounts legends about the sky and the stars from many traditions, and suggests skywatching activities.