Hardback : HK$940.00
Movement-play, put simply, is encouraging physical activity in a child-led manner for the benefit of children's health, learning and wellbeing. This book looks at the theory behind the importance of movement and:
The early years is one of the critical periods in the establishment of physical behaviours and physical development is also one of the prime areas of the EYFS as well as other, global, curricula. A must-read for students on Early Childhood and Early Years courses and Early Years practitioners to improve their practice and understanding of psychical development for the benefit of young children.
Show moreMovement-play, put simply, is encouraging physical activity in a child-led manner for the benefit of children's health, learning and wellbeing. This book looks at the theory behind the importance of movement and:
The early years is one of the critical periods in the establishment of physical behaviours and physical development is also one of the prime areas of the EYFS as well as other, global, curricula. A must-read for students on Early Childhood and Early Years courses and Early Years practitioners to improve their practice and understanding of psychical development for the benefit of young children.
Show moreMovement-play and its influence on young children′s development
Making the case for physical activity
Implementing a movement-play-based curriculum for children from
birth to six years of age
Improving the quality of movement-play: a small-scale study
Working with families to promote movement-play
Leading and managing the implementation of movement-play from
practice to policy: a whole setting approach
Carol Archer has taught in early childhood education and primary
schools for over two decades and is currently an advisory teacher
for the Integrated Early Years Service in the London Borough of
Camden. She also works as a movement-play practitioner/consultant
in other education authorities. She finished her Masters Degree at
the Institute of Education, University of London on Early Years
Education in 2011; and recently published a paper with Iram Siraj
on ‘Measuring the quality of movement-play in Early Childhood
Education settings’ in the European Early Childhood Education
Research Journal. She is passionate about promoting physical
development through movement-play for all young children from birth
to 6 years of age in this under researched, under theorised & under
practiced area of learning.
Iram Siraj is Professor of Child Development & Education at the
University of Oxford. She is Adjunct Professor at the University of
Stavanger, Norway, and Visiting Professor at University College
London and the University of Wollongong, Australia. Iram’s research
projects have included leading on the Evaluation of the Foundation
Phase across Wales and she is a principal investigator of the
major DfE 17 -year study on Effective Pre-school, Primary and
Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16, 1997-2014) and of the influential
Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years project (REPEY).
She has led on longitudinal studies/RCTs as a principal
investigator in a number of countries including the UK, Australia
and Ireland. She is specialist adviser to the House of Commons
Select Committee on early education and has undertaken reviews of
the Foundation Phase for the Welsh Govt. and of the workforce for
the Scottish Govt. She has published widely.
If you are interested in how to create more enriching, playful,
movement experiences with young children, this book will show you
how! The book is a must for all those interested in promoting
physical development in the early years, it is practical but
underpinned by helpful theory including the links between
physicality and later academic success. The authors are able to
draw on their vast collective experiences and provide an
evidence-based resource that I would highly recommend to all early
childhood educators; including those in early primary schools.
*Professor Anthony D. Okely*
This book is going to be very influential and will be a seminal
text for all practitioners and students wanting to hone their
knowledge about how children think and learn best. The authors are
Iram Siraj, an academic of giant stature in the field of Early
Childhood having been involved over the years in many influential
research projects, and Carol Archer whose work as a hands- on
practitioner, advisory teacher and academic brings the ‘street
cred’ to this book that practitioners relate to. The
importance of physical play and movement has been grossly
underemphasised in the training of early years practitioners but
this resource will undoubtedly redress the balance and lend
academic rigour and authority to the place of movement in the
curriculum for young children and what we offer babies and
toddlers. It will give the reader an extremely helpful overview as
it stresses the importance of movement play as the common
denominator of all learning. Always backed up by convincing
research evidence the first chapter explains in depth what is going
on in the brain and the body when children move. Vigorous movement
is essential for health. Being overweight or obese in
childhood is a predictor of later health troubles in adult life and
yet in the case studies undertaken for this book, adults in
pre-school settings were shown to be reluctant to plan for, engage
or intervene in movement and physical play with the children. They
were unaware of the Department of Health guidelines that children
should have 180 minutes (3 hours ) of physical activity in the day
and that all under 5s should minimize the amount of time spent
being sedentary (being restrained in car seats or buggies or in
sitting) for extended periods . Play is synonymous with movement
and a play-based environment offers children what they need to grow
and learn best. There is an emphasis on the importance of the
outdoors throughout the book. But knowing the theory is one thing,
implementing it is quite another. The book is practical too. It is
excellent in guiding practitioners and especially managers and
leaders on how to implement a curriculum based on movement for
children from birth to 6 years of age. These practical guidelines
are clearly illustrated with helpful photos. Siraj and Archer have
also devised a Movement Play Scale (MPS) as a way of assessing the
quality of movement –play. The descriptors help to place the
setting as inadequate through to excellent. The last chapter is
incredibly full and concentrated! It contains step-by-step support
in devising a physical development policy where all concerned are
given a voice including parents. The references run to many pages
and cover literature from national and international research, and
experts in the field of early childhood, education, pedagogy,
health, neuroscience, physiology, biological science, psychology,
sociology and medicine. I found this book extremely helpful and
will use it in my work with teachers and practitioners and
recommend it to all involved in the care and education of young
children and their teachers and carers.
*Marjorie Ouvry*
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