Reviews

This book aims to bridge the gap between Reception and Year 1 work without resorting to worksheets and having tried out the activities with Reception children I can wholeheartedly recommend its use by Foundation stage teachers. The twelve activities are simple but effective. Their descriptions are clearly presented and easy to follow with the listed resources being readily available. Useful variations are included that can be carried out in an outdoor area. One of the greatest benefits of these activities is that children are encouraged to think mathematically. There are opportunities for them to predict, estimate, check, reason and work systematically. Questions are included in the text to help them keep focused on the concept being taught and the processes involved. I particularly liked the activity called 'Counting Round'. Not only does this activity involve children sequencing numbers up to 12 but it also has links into handling data and it assists children in learning the days of the week and the months of the year. All of these learning points from a simple task! Helpful simplifications and extensions are given for each activity so they can be differentiated to match a child's ability. Variations are included that give scope for the activities to be repeated and used for consolidation. A small quibble is that in some places the headings for the text giving the concepts being taught are lower on the page than the description of the activity. This tends to throw the eye to the second column first. In conclusion this book with the 12 core activities, simplifications, extensions and suggestions for developing the ideas provides a wealth of high quality work. Review by: Tessa Benie, Independent Numeracy Consultant