Beastie already owns a Gold Stars book from Parragon so when we were asked if we would like to try out some of the Gold Stars range we knew that we wouldn’t be disappointed. The Ready for School Pre-school Bumper Workbook Beastie already has, is by far the best educational book I have bought him to date and it was an absolute hit from the start. He loved it so much in fact, he completed the first thirty pages with only a small amount of guidance from me. He even asks to do some writing of his own accord now and this is due to the pre-school ready for school book. It seems to have something that other books have failed to offer, it’s engaging.

He is certainly ready for school and he only has a few more days to go and he’ll be all set to start. I have no concerns about him starting his first term as he is so excited about going to his new school and meeting his teachers and classmates.

These books are ideal to support your child’s learning and also make it fun. If you are a fan of reward charts then you will see how the same concept works well with activity books. Beastie loved being able to place a gold star at the bottom of each page once he had successfully completed the task he had to do.

They make learning fun and support your little superstar’s learning and build skills at home with the Gold Stars range, available from pre-school age to Key Stage 2 and covering Maths, English and Science.

Developed by teachers and educational specialists and supported by the national curriculum, the Gold Stars collection features bright and clearly illustrated activities that make learning fun and engaging.

Packed full of tips for parents, fun illustrations and with added incentives including pull out posters, practice pads and stickable gold stars, the Gold Stars range is trusted by parents and loved by kids.

The pre-school bumper workbook comes with several sections that include:

Starting to Write

Starting Phonics

Phonics

Starting to Count

Starting to Add

First Maths

I really like the fact that the book gives helpful tips to you as a parent and offers advice on how best to complete the book and reward their efforts. It may not come naturally to many parents and we’re not all natural born teachers, so simple advice can really help. Having patience and offering encouragment is important but so is recognising when your child is also tired or distracted. It’s a great opportunity to spend some one on one time with your child in a quiet place. The book progressively gets more difficult so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how they are doing so that the process will be much smoother.

The activities in this book provide the perfect way for young children to start enjoying Maths and English ahead of school as they start to learn to write, count and add with confidence. It supports the National Curriculum Key Stage 1 – so you know that you are providing material that is relevant to what they will be learning at school and will only reinforce what they are doing.

The key Stage 1 Bumper Workbook and English book are the next level that Beastie will be completing. As they are aged 5-6 and he hasn’t started school yet, I feel they are a little too advanced for him at the moment. There are some more basic activities but the majority of the book requires him to know a little more about comprising words. In a few months time he will be ready to get his teeth into both of them.

I particularly like how the books individually focus on consonant blends and vowels. They are so cleverly structured and geared towards fun learning that it’s hard to find any aspects that aren’t positive.

The English Key Stage 1 book comes with a handy practice pad that can be removed from a sleeve inside the cover. It’s a more condensed version of the bumper book but has all of the same style of activities and of course the gold stars. These are good if you want to separate subjects when they are learning.

It’s also good to know that each book comes with a guarantee from an Educational Consultant and guidelines on how to help your child’s learning develop.

The range is available at all major retailers including Tesco, WH Smith, Sainsbury’s, Amazon and Early Learning Centre with books ranging from £2.99 to £7.99.

Here he is sporting his new school cap whilst working on the Key Stage 1 Pre-school Bumper Workbook – that’s commitment for you!

 

Nb. We were sent some workbooks for the purpose of the review but all views and opinions are our own.