Get ready for school with Get Set Early Years

The pressure on early years teachers has been rising steadily in light of a growing body of research showing that a good Reception teacher has a huge impact on a child’s primary education. Written by experienced practitioners, Get Set Early Years is designed to help bridge the gap between the EYFS and Year 1 by providing a comprehensive and structured programme that focuses on the specific areas of Understanding the world, Mathematics and Literacy. Closely aligned to the EYFS framework, the series eases the transition from play to formal learning through a variety of fun activities for use both in and outside the classroom.

Get Set Early Years comprises three teacher’s guides – one each for Understanding the world, Mathematics and Literacy – and twelve supporting activity books.

Teacher’s guides

Each Get Set teacher’s guide provides 39 unit plans, each outlining the learning objectives and vocabulary for that topic. Particular focus is given to vocabulary, as on average children with strong language skills find it easier to keep up in class and are more likely to succeed both academically and socially. In each teacher’s guide unit, the vocabulary is divided into ‘key vocabulary’ – words that are fundamental to the topic at hand – and ‘further vocabulary’ – higher-order words that offer further learning opportunities for those children who are secure with the key vocabulary.

Each unit goes on to explore practical and creative activity ideas, which gradually increase in difficulty as children’s knowledge and skills improve. At the end of each unit there are cross-curricular links that highlight the unit’s curriculum coverage, along with a ‘home link’ that signposts the corresponding pages in the Get Set activity books. In addition, each teacher’s guide features termly vocabulary lists to further develop language skills, an observation form to record evidence of the Early Leaning Goals and a recommended reading list. These resources are also available as free downloads from the Schofield & Sims website.

Activity books

The Get Set activity books link directly to the unit plans from the teacher’s guides and are intended to help parents and carers consolidate classroom teaching at home. The friendly illustrations and fun activities provide valuable learning opportunities for children while also familiarising them with the more formal written work that they will encounter in Year 1.

Parental engagement in early years education is consistently associated with children’s subsequent academic success. As such, the Get Set Early Years activity books are carefully designed to encourage adult helpers to take an active role in their child’s learning. As well as featuring a detailed introduction on how to use the activity books, each book includes a section of notes explaining how parents and carers can further their children’s learning and development. Each set of notes not only includes a helpful teaching tip offering guidance on how best to support each activity at home, but also provides key vocabulary, which may be modelled and repeated to the child, and an extension activity to facilitate further exploration of the topic.

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