Now that art is a National Curriculum subject, teachers are looking for useful approaches to the teaching of art. This book offers an approach that has been developed by the three authors and has been shown, through research in schools, to improve

This book fills a growing demand for contemporary books on Montessori education and how it applies to childhood learning and education in the 21st Century. Dr. Maria Montessori developed her theories and methods for educating young people more than a hundred years ago. Today, much of Dr. Montessori's empirical findings on how the childhood brain develops and works has now been proven accurate by recent neurological/ psychological studies on childhood learning.M. Shannon Helfrich sh...

A groundbreaking theory of what makes the human mind uniqueThe Recursive Mind challenges the commonly held notion that language is what makes us uniquely human. In this compelling book, Michael Corballis argues that what distinguishes us in the animal kingdom is our capacity for recursion: the ability to embed our thoughts within other thoughts. "I think, therefore I am," is an example of recursive thought, because the thinker has inserted himself into his...

Featuring new coverage of the brain and language, and lexical corpora, the 4th edition of Words in the Mind offers readers the latest thinking about the ways in which we learn words, remember them, understand them, and find the ones we want to use.Explores the latest insights into the complex relationship between language, words, and the human mind, creating a rich and revealing resource for students and non-specialists alikeAddresses the structure and cont...

An expert guide to how conversation works, from how we know when to speak to why huh is a universal wordWe all had teachers who scolded us over the use of um, uh-huh, oh, like, and mm-hmm. But as linguist N. J. Enfield reveals in How We Talk, these "bad words" are fundamental to language.Whether we are speaking with the clerk at the store, our boss, or our spouse, language is dependent on things as comm...

We all learn to read at school, after a fashion. But for most of us, this is not an optimal use of our brain power. In this course you will learn to better use the left brain's focused attention combined with the right brain's peripheral attention, in close harmony. Good communication between the brain hemispheres is a pre-requisite for creative thinking and also a sense of wellbeing, where thoughts and feelings are integrated. As you probably expect, this course will also teach you to rea...

Art as Therapy introduces the theory and practice of art therapy in a concise, accessible and informative way. Tessa Dalley's introduction gives an overview of basic issues, research and development. Subsequent chapters, written by specialists, are chosen to demonstrate the ways in which art therapy can be applied to different client groups, in a variety of clinical settings. These include children, adolescents suffering from anorexia nervosa, the mentally handicapped, the elderly...

Supporting Early Mathematical Development is an essential text for current Early Years practitioners and students, offering an excellent blend of theory and practice that will enable you to provide successful mathematical education for children from birth to eight years old. Charting the delivery of mathematical development in Playgroups, Children's Centres, Nurseries and Primary Schools, it forges links between current practice and fundamental Early Years principles and makes sug...

In this fascinating, mind-opening book, Robbins Burling presents the most convincing account of the origins of language ever published. He sheds new light on how language affects the way we think, behave, and relate to each other; and he gives us a deeper understanding of the nature of language itself. The author traces language back to its earliest origins among our distant ape-like forbears several million years ago and charts its growth to the time of our recent human ancestors. He offe...

How should children feel about themselves and their learning? How do I know what children have learnt and how can I move them on? How can I ensure that resources are available for children to use actively and independently?In today’s busy setting an understanding of child development sometimes gets overlooked, yet it lies at the heart of effective practice. Child Development in Practice provides an approachable, user-friendly base from which to plan ways of working with ch...

In her new edition of this popular book, Cathy Nutbrown presents evidence of continuity and progression in young children′s thinking. She shows, with detailed observation, that they are able and active learners. She considers aspects of children′s patterns of learning and thinking - or schemas - and demonstrates clearly how children learn in an active, dynamic and creative way.This book makes schema theory explicit in practice. Supported by numerous detailed examples and the discus...

This is a practical, accessible guide to early years practice. The author examines current theories about how children learn best and focuses on how we can support and extend the learning of young children. This fully revised edition discusses Birth to Three Matters, the new Childcare Bill and the development of children's centres, and has additional focus on the Foundation Stage ProfilePacked full with case studies, the book offers:practical advice on how to...