A Guide to Early Years Practice. by Sandra Smidt. Second edition (Routledge Falmer, 14.99, 020 7842 2010)
Reviewed by Denni Morrison, lecturer in psychology and child development at Hertford Regional College.
This long awaited and fully revised second edition of Sandra Smidt's useful guide has been updated to include the Foundation Stage. Like the first edition it is long on practical information and short on jargon.
In its nine chapters the book covers how children learn, how the adult can support and extend the learning, how to observe and document what takes place, equality of opportunity and partnerships with parents. A comprehensive reference list at the end of each chapter will encourage further reading.
Several chapters deal specifically with the Foundation Stage and good use is made of case studies and observations to illustrate each learning goal.
Readers are encouraged to consider what the child is learning.
This book would make an ideal starting point for anyone new to the Foundation Stage as it makes it clear what the children need to be doing and how the adult can resource and assist the learning.
Unusually for a childcare book, there are no photographs or pictures, and this amount of sheer text can seem daunting to some readers. But the use of clear chapter headings and section headings make it easy to navigate and the style of the writing is clear and easily understandable.
Whenever I am reviewing a book I look at it from the point of view of my students. This is a small and lightweight book, so it is easy to pop into the bag and bring to class! This is definitely one I will be recommending for September's book list.
