One of my favourite parts of being a subject coordinator in a primary school was flicking through the Galt catalogue. I had a large budget so could choose from a range of exciting products to make learning fun for the children. So I jumped at the chance to review some home learning books to use with my daughter.
I think the main thing about any home learning is to make it as fun as possible. You want your child to enjoy learning and grow in confidence. To realise they can be successful learners. These books are great because they look bright and colourful, with cute characters on the front. They look more like a comic than a learning product, so my daughter needed no persuasion to have a go at them.
We were sent two sticker books, counting and colour shapes and sizes. Both are suitable for 3+ children. There are lots of stickers to use in the book and my daughter loved these as they are huge and colourful.
The counting book starts with matching and sorting activities, then there is a page for each number up to 10, some writing number practice and some counting. My daughter is four and it was good consolidation for her, especially for writing numbers, but it would suit a younger child who was just starting to learn their numbers. After a quick flick through the book, we had to start at the back because it had a maze which is my daughter’s favourite thing to do.
The colours shapes and sizes book is really attractive. The writing accompanying the activities is simple so can be used to help with reading as well. I also liked the advice at the back of both the books on how to use it.
We both enjoyed these books and they made learning really fun. They are aimed at 3 year olds and I think they are really appropriate for this age. There is one book on first writing for four year olds and I think there would be room to extend this to numeracy skills for 4 year olds. I would definitely buy it it was available.
Disclosure: I was lucky to receive a complimentary copy of the books. The views expressed remain honest and are what I really thought.