Product reviews for Teaching on a Shoestring

On of America's most shameful realities is that a majority of public school budgets are chronically underfunded -- often with classroom teachers having to dip into their own funds to provide teaching materials for their students. Underpinned by solid theory, 

"Teaching on a Shoestring: An A-Z of everyday objects to enthuse and engage children and extend learning in the early years" investigates the learning potential of twenty-six inexpensive, readily available resources from apples to ice cubes to zebra-patterned fabric and shows how they can be exploited to develop in young learners the four skills widely regarded as essential in the twenty-first century: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. "Teaching on a Shoestring" is organized into two parts. Part 1 examines the nature of an object-rich learning environment and discuss the benefits of enquiry-based learning, in which the emphasis is upon promoting collaboration, dialogue and higher-order thinking in real-world contexts. Part 2 focuses upon the learning opportunities around the twenty-six objects are laid out in detail to illustrate how they can be put into practice. While "Teaching on a Shoestring" has as its focal point as 

object-based pedagogy employed with the under-sevens age category, many of the principles can also be applied with older children. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Teaching on a Shoestring" is an exceptional and highly recommended addition to school district, college, and university library Teacher Education collections and supplemental studies lists. It should be noted for education students and classroom teachers that "Teaching on a Shoestring" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99).