Help Your Year 1 Child to Excel with Essential Knowledge and Skills. Designed for use by parents and teachers, this groundbreaking first volume in the Core Knowledge series provides Year 1 children with the fundamentals they need to prepare them for a lifetime of learning. It sets out the elements a parent or educator should look for in a good Year 1 curriculum and introduces activities that can help a child to take the first steps in learning to read and write. Filled with age-appropriate questions that stimulate thinking, What Your Year 1 Child Needs to Know also includes: Familiar and favourite poems - read and recite together from Mother Goose, A.A. Milne, Michael Rosen and more, all beautifully illustrated. Fairy tales, fables and other beloved stories - read aloud from 'The Three Little Pigs', 'The Ugly Duckling', 'Cinderella', 'Winnie-the-Pooh', 'The Velveteen Rabbit' and many more, including multicultural folktales from African, Indian and Irish traditions. Familiar sayings and phrases that impart traditional wisdom such as 'Where there's a will, there's a way' and 'Better safe than sorry'.History and geography - a friendly introduction to our world, complete with simple questions and fun activities. Visual arts - painting, drawing, cutting and pasting go hand-in-hand with learning about colour and helping a child look at and talk about art. Music - many musical experiences for parents and children to participate in, along with dozens of songs to sing and dance to. Mathematics - lively and interesting exposure to concepts and operations that provide a springboard to later mastery. Science - activities that let children observe, experience and get their hands dirty while exploring the wonders of nature.