Using Scots in the classroom with learners in Early Years settings and Primary schools can enhance children’s experiences of choosing poems and stories and discovering the relevance of texts to their own lives. When children are beginning to develop tools for reading, Scots can help them explore sounds and words and develop reading strategies to aid with understanding.

Key resources for Early Years and Level 1 CfE children include:

• Our Wullie guide tae Scots language – a website from National Library of Scotland. Particularly useful for younger learners are the ‘Poems an sangs’ section, which include links to audio; the ‘Audio Map’, which consists of audio clips of children introducing themselves and speaking in their own dialect; and the ‘Activities’ section, where learners who are able to read simple texts will be able to complete an on-line quiz.

• Scots Hoose’s ‘Movin aboot’ section, full of fun activities for children that involve responding to instructions given in Scots. ‘Heid, Shooders, Knaps and Taes’ is a firm favourite.

• Read 'Jordan's New Jaiket' by Matthew Fitt or listen to Susi Briggs reading her story 'Yum' here. 

• Education Scotland’s comprehensive resources on The Gruffalo in Scots – containing guidance on teaching the six Scots translations of The Gruffalo; and Room on the Broom in Scots – which includes lesson plans and activity sheets.

• Our list of Children’s Books in Scots, some of which include links to teaching resources.

• A selection of freely available poems and stories by retired head teacher Elizabeth Cordiner

• A reading of ‘The Tale o Peter Kinnen’ – a Scots translation of the ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’

Many, many more resources can be found by browsing the links to the left.

For further help and guidance in teaching Scots language in Early years and Primary 1 – 4, email us at education@scotslanguage.com and follow our Education account on Twitter @LairnScots.