A funny, exciting series for younger readers, by the bestselling Vivian French and David Melling. Sam J. Butterbiggins' only ambition is to be a Very Noble Knight, but he has a problem - he's been packed off to the castle next door to stay with his uncle, aunt and cousin Prune. But Sam's about to discover a magical scroll listing the six quests he must complete to become a knight ... and with Prune's help, he's already managed three of them! Now he has to earn his very own knightly shield. Prune knows where to go for armour: Puddlewink Castle! But before they can cross the drawbridge they're stopped by a terrifying creature. Will Sam's knightly dreams end here?

Foundations of Mathematics outlines seven strands of practice which underpin successful mathematical development inchildren aged 3-7. Early years mathematics specialists, Carole and Judith, draw on their experience of working with early years practitioners, including consultants and advisers, across the UK and internationally. The book is completely up-to-date and embeds the Revised Early Years Foundation Stage throughout the book. The book brims with multi-sensory ideas that will trigger children's curiosity, measuring using sand mousse, hunting for buried treasure and building secret dens outdoors. There are: - activities that involve playing and exploring,- games to make learning active, and- experiences to develop creative and critical thinking. Alongside these practical experiences and activities are clear explanations of the reasoning behind the ideas with clear guidance on the role of the practitioner and 'Home Challenges' to promote the engagement of families. The authors provide straightforward advice to support the development of a mathematically-enriched learning environment and ideas to help children transfer learning into their own child-initiated play, to build a genuine and solid foundation for mathematics.

This third edition of the best-selling Mathematics in Nursery Education provides an accessible introduction to the teaching of mathematics in the early years. Covering all areas of mathematics learning – number and counting, calculation, pattern, shape, measures and data handling – it summarises the research findings and underlying key concepts and explains how adults can help children to learn through practical experiences, discussion and more direct intervention. This new edition has been fully updated to incorporate the latest research and thinking in this area and includes: why mathematics is important as a way of making sense of the world how attitudes to mathematics can influence teaching and learning how children learn mathematics new material on sorting, matching and handling data ideas for observation and questioning to assess children’s understanding examples of planned activities suggestions for language development assessment criteria. This textbook is ideal for those training to be teachers through an undergraduate or PGCE route, those training for Early Years Professional Status and those studying early childhood on foundation or honours degrees as well as parents looking to explore how their young children learn mathematics. This will be an essential text for any Early Years practitioner looking to make mathematics interesting, exciting and engaging in their classroom.

Violence sweeps up a 19 year old boy, carrying him on a thirty-year odyssey that ends at Wounded Knee Creek.

This collection of short stories focuses on the Scottish civil war of 1644-45, in which the Marquis of Montrose led his royalist forces in a series of stunning victories against the odds before his final defeat at Philiphaugh. Each of Hogg's five tales centres on one of the five major battles of Montrose's brilliant but ultimately futile campaign. Each tale is utterly different from the others in genre and tone, but taken together they build up a composite picture of what it was like to experience the 'anarchy and confusion' of the time at first hand.