QEd, QEd Publications

The new Trackers are now available. They are designed to help you track children’s progress throughout the new Early Years Foundation Stage. This is the solution to observing and recording children’s progress in a consistent way throughout your early years setting. Usable by everyone – staff, and parents – Trackers make the whole process much easier. They are widely used (over 30,000 already sold).

So what’s in the new Trackers 0–5?
• Now in a larger A4 format (with 64 pages) – you will only need one book per child (unlike the previous Trackers where you needed 2 books).
• There is now additional space to enable you to include evidence of your observations and planning.
• There are also comments boxes at the bottom of each page.
• There are general observation and planning forms at the end of each Area of Learning to enable you to keep a much more comprehensive record.

“I have been reading through the Tracker record booklets, and I am very impressed with their layout. I am confident that they will reduce the written workload of my staff as well which has been a major concern for all in early years” (Judith Baxter, St. Mary’s Nursery).

Prices (all POST FREE) More info and sample pages
Single copies £5 each

10+ copies (up to 100 copies) £3.50 each

100+ copies only £3 each

Helping Children Hang On To Your Every Word

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Why is it that the children who can least afford to switch off are the ones who don’t pay attention? And that children who most need to ask for help are the ones least likely to do so? If children are opting out in the classroom, switching off or passively waiting for direction, we need to understand the barriers they face and help them engage by making their learning opportunities more meaningful, interactive and rewarding.

This book aims to make classroom experience more accessible to all learners, and highlights the links between behaviour and hidden language processing difficulties. Based on tried and tested activities, strategies and self-help skills, you will find answers to these questions and ways of improving attention and concentration linked to a simple troubleshooting guide.

Listening to Children in their Early Years

Listening to Children

Listening to children involves much more than simply ‘hearing’ what they have to say . . . we know that. But how do we tune in to children? How do we really see things from their point of view? How do we consult them on things that are really important to them?

Here are numerous practical ways to help you do just that. There are techniques for developing good two-way communication; ideas on how to use cameras to involve children; child conferencing; child passports; the Mosaic approach and many, many more practical ideas. There are also sections on how to tune in to babies; working with children with disabilities and some examples of all these activities in practice. Read reviews

Behaviour Management in the Early Years

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What is ‘typical’ behaviour in young children? How do you set about changing problem behaviour? What do we mean when we talk about behaviour management? How do I draw up a Behaviour Policy for the nursery? What is the best way of observing and assessing behaviour?
What sort of interventions should I try, and what happens when those don’t seem to be working? How should we support parents who have a child with challenging behaviour?

You'll find the answers in this easy-to-read guide.



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QEd Publications

I could start by writing about how many years the business has been going, how reliable we are etc etc ... but this is much more fun:

"It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." (Woody Allen)

"I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them." (George Bush)

"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity." (Albert Einstein)

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying." (Woody Allen)

"I thought I'd begin by reading a poem by Shakespeare, but then I thought, why should I? He never reads any of mine." (Spike Milligan)

What kind of resources are you going to find at QEd Publications?

Early years, Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and pre-school resources

If you work in a nursery setting, if you're a childminder, or a reception class teacher, you will find some very useful books. Everyone seems to be incredibly busy nowadays. So the last thing you need is a great, weighty tome, with 300 pages of complex jargon. You've got a child who is causing concern and you need to find out pretty quickly what you can do about it ...

So we produce books that are easy to read and give some very practical advice ... things you can try immediately.

Probably the most widely used recording system in the country, Trackers 0-3 and Trackers 3-5 have now been replaced by our new Trackers 0-5. With the new Early Years Foundation Stage rolling out across the country, the new EYFS Trackers will help you observe and record children's progress and help in the planning and evaluation of what you're doing. Already incredibly popular, we are shipping these out as fast as we're having them printed. So if you need to do some EYFS planning, get hold of a copy of Trackers 0-5.

Need some practical tips about making Birth to three matters work for you? We have just brought out a manual to help you.

Need to know about autism, specific learning difficulties (dyslexia), emotional literacy, mathematical development, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), or gifted children? There are easy-to-read books on these issues and many more.

The good news is that the long-awaited, revised book by Hannah Mortimer Music Makers: Music circle times to include everyone is now available. Music is such a powerful tool - it captures children's attention and holds the interest of children who, in other situations, might experience considerable learning or communication difficulties. Linking into the new Early Years Foundation Stage, Music Makers has over 40 activities to help you to use music effectively to include all children in their learning and development.

Baby signing

Over the last few years baby signing has become big news. There are some who think it's a middle class fad. There are others (and we take this view) that feel that anything that enhances the relationship between a carer and a child, and appears to improve communication at the same time, is worth giving a second look.

Tania Allen, a speech and language therapist, has been giving talks to parents, carers and other speech and language therapists over recent months on accelerating babies' communication, and together we've produced a training pack to aid other presenters. We also supply Joseph Garcia's Sign with your Baby kit (with video, signing book, quick chart etc). New on the market is Garcia's Complete Guide to Baby Signing. Much cheaper than Sign with your Baby, and written especially for British readers, this is worth looking at. Really interesting stuff.

Parenting

This is a tough one ... we don't have the answers ... and I'm sure no one else does. But we've had a pretty good go at it. Seven years ago we produced a booklet called Positive Parenting and sell it for just £2.50 inclusive of postage and packing. The idea being to make it available to as many as possible. It has been fantastically popular ... but I always felt we needed something that dealt more specifically with age ranges - when behaviour (very loosely) shows certain patterns.

Then I came across a project that the educational psychology service in Stockton was working on that did just that. Together we produced three booklets on parenting that are fantastic - Managing your 4-8 year-old; Managing your 8-12 year-old; and Managing your 13-16 year-old. Once again we've kept them very cheap and ensured they are full of good advice. At £2.95 each they are worth a try.

Mathematics

There are so many resources on the market for maths, a lot of them very good. So rather than trying to compete with companies producing similar stuff, we have concentrated on material that is a little different. Of course not all of it is - some are just good ideas brought together in a book. The two Quick Cards books and Mental Maths Starters are a good example - some of the activities you may well have tried before - these simply bring many ideas together.

However, Word Problems: The Language of Mathematics, Four in a Row and Target Maths are different and are worth having a look at. We used these extensively before we produced them ... and they are good (not just my opinion ... they've had very good reviews). Four in a Row and Target Maths can be used both in primary and secondary ... in fact, they are widely used at secondary level to support children who are struggling with some of the basic maths skills. Why not try some of the free samples with the children first? Have a look at these for Four in a Row for example.

Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (EBD)

The books we have on EBD and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) are used by many doing degree and post-graduate courses in education. However, it's not all theory ... we still seem to get a lot of orders for these from schools ... so clearly they feel there is some worthwhile practical information. There are two new resources - Fireworks: Managing anger in young children and Worry Box: Managing anxiety in young children. Both have twelve clearly laid out practical sessions. Based loosely on cognitive behaviour therapy these approaches have been used effectively in both home and school settings.

Speech and language

We have a new book on speech and language developed by a group of professionals in Swindon. It is aimed at staff in mainstream schools and will raise awareness of speech and language issues and provides strategies for the classroom. It's finally out and it's brilliant - Helping Children Hang On To Your Every Word by Maggie Johnson. This doesn't fall neatly into any category simply because it's a resource for all teachers. Why is it that children switch off in the classroom? What are the barriers they face and what can you do to help them engage in a way that makes the learning experience rewarding for them? Full of practical help and tried and tested activities, this really is an excellent book.

Sure Start resources

Many of our early years resources have proved very popular in Sure Start centres all round the country. Making Birth to three matters work for you is the manual you've all been waiting for ... full of practical hints, tips and sample activities to help you put the framework into practice. Speech and language therapists have found the accelerating babies' communication training pack very useful. The new title providing guidelines for a speech and language friendly school is the sort of no-nonsense, practical guide teachers are looking for.

There is a new series of five books on setting up parent and carer groups - one on pre-school behaviour (RUMPUS), a book on providing extra support to encourage children's development (Step by Step), one on Music and Play, the fourth titled Baby and Me, all about antenatal support and how to foster positive attachments, and the final in the series, Making Connections, providing ways of improving attachments between parents and their children. These are very practical and, as a result, very popular! There is also a special offer attached to this series.

Special offers

We want you to keep coming back to the QEd site ... it's good for business. To persuade you to do so, we've got special offers always available. These change every week or every fortnight. Some will only be on the site for a day or two.

What about you?

Have you got something that you think is brilliant and should be published? If so, why not contact me? Send me some details at cgallow@qed.uk.com and I promise to give it serious consideration ... unlike Groucho Marx: "From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it."

Positive Aspects readers