13 replies to this topic

[Lucy P]

Not sure if these books are mentioned anywhere else on the forum, but, The Little Baby Books from Featherstone Education are fantastic.

There are 16 books in the series for about £4.95 each and they have basically transformed planned activities within in our under three's section.

Well recommended :D

[Orange]

Hi Lucy P - if you could only afford to buy 5 of the 16, which ones would you choose??

:D

[Lucy P]

You would need to buy a complete series at a time (there are 4 series' containing 4 books each) each book in the series will relate to one of the four areas of BTTM.
At present Featherstone Education are selling each series for £17.50.
There are approx 20 activities in each book divided into the following catergories
0 - 8 mths
8 - 18mths
18 - 24 mths
24 - 36 mths

For each activity it lists

-What you need
-How to do it
-What the children are achieving
-Little tips
-How to extend the activity
-Points in which to observe and assess the children throughout the activity
-How to adapt the activity for additional needs
-To give parents advice on how to continue the activity at home

All the activities are very straightforward and all resources needed are everyday items - no need to spend loads :D

These books are the best resources i have found to implement BTTM

[Gizzy]

I have been told by my under 3 development worker to get the full set of books. Can anyone tell me if it is really worth getting them as I only have to do planning for 4 under 3's in our group (aged 2.6 to 2.11) we take children from 2.6. I just wondered if it was rather a lot to pay (each set is £17.50) for so few children.

I would be grateful for you comments.

Thanks, Gizzy

[Rea]

I havent seen them so cant really say if they're worth spending that much money on but we're like you Gizzy, we start the children at 2.6mths, the amount we have differs throughout the year, but by the time they've settled and got used to all the routines, and with half term breaks, they're coming up to 3 , so the BTTM, although very good I'm sure, is really difficult to apply to the setting and if you're expected to spend loads of money it can cause a bit of a dillema(sp??)
I'd buy the most relevent to you for now if you've really got to or ask your development worker if you can borrow some and see if it's worth it. :D

[Lucy P]

To be honest it would not benefit you to get all the books. As each book contains approx 5 activities for each development stage within bttm so.... you would only gain 5 activities per book.

Feel a little bit guilty saying that cos these books are fab, but feel i need to give an honest opinion.

[Gizzy]

Thanks Rea, it does seem a lot of money to spend when we have so few children under 3.

Thanks Lucy, Will try and get My hands on a copy. Unfortunatly my PDW sent the under 3 Development Worker to us and she seems keen on both planning and the books for our 3 children.

Talk about more paperwork as we don't have enough,

Thanks for the comments both of you it is appreciated.

Gizzy

[Sue R]

In my nursery we are working on linking the two, BTTM and FS, albeit loosely. If I ever get my head round it, I'll let you know!!

Why do I always get these jobs?????

Sue

[Gizzy]

Oh I quite agree Sue, its always me who gets the fiddly/unpleasant jobs to do. If I wait for the others to do it I would be here until well..............................2006 at least.

If you do get your head around it I would love to see a copy.

Thanks Sue.

Gizzy

[Sue R]

Duly noted

:D

[SmileyPR]

Oh, Sue!

Guess what? At the beginning of this month, an EY meeting took place... the Primary Head-teacher and the 3 EY teachers, but I was very sick and I could not attend to the meeting.

There it came out the development of a 'curriculum' to link BTTM and FS, as well as making the transitions more clear and easy (from BTTM to FS and from FS to Grade 1).

Today we were trying to work it out, but it was not that easy. We are a private EU international school, but we use the British Curriculum within our own reality. An idea is around to add more Stepping Stones to the FS. I am not sure if the teacher's idea is to clarify some in between points or if it is to extend the Stepping Stones... to have more. The BTTM will be presented under the 6 areas of learning of the FS and will appear before and ending with the Yellow Stepping Stones.

Our Head-teacher said the BTTM teacher was a pioneer in this because the linking her year with the FS has never been done. Have there been any movements towards this before or is it something new that some EY centers are starting to feel as a need?

[Magenta]

Our LEA (Sandwell) are looking into something similar, the profile is supposed to be a child's learning journey from birth to 6 - includes BTTM, Stepping Stones, FS Profile and NC Level 1 (I think that's right - I've only seen the first draft).
Sounds OK in theory, but I don't think it will be enforced, and is never going to work unless all settings use it. I'm not yet convinced!

[SmileyPR]

Hi Magenta,

Please can you keep us updated about this. Okay ?

Thanks :) !

[Magenta]

Will do.