Like with every area of your provision, it is worth asking the question 'what is snack for?' before you start to plan for it. At it most basic level, snack is an opportunity for young children, who burn lots of energy in their play and exploration of your environment, to re-fuel. But, in truth there is SO much more that snack could and should be than that. At best it can offer some brilliant leaning opportunities. At worst it is a bag of apples and some cartons of milk dumped on a table. Halton Lodge have a small but perfectly formed snack area with a 'Have a go if you want to' waiting area with leveled challenges in it There … Read More
Get a Grip for January!
I have blogged a great deal about all of the things that you can do to prepare children to become successful writers. I think our aim should always be not just to get children writing, but to get children wanting to write. It is undoubtedly true (especially for some boys) That without the will they will struggle to master the skill! But often how we approach the teaching of writing doesn't take 'will' into account. It seems to be all about the end result and not the process. The stages of physical writing development can be tricky and different children show different levels of dexterity at different times. When it comes to 'writing' as opposed to 'mark making' I think … Read More
Child Led Learning in Display
I said in my previous post that Joanne at Chester Blue Coat had used display really effectively to illustrate how the team were feeding objectives into children's interest. So I just thought I would share a couple. This one that starts with Harvey is fairly self explanitory. It also shows how one child's particular interest can spark a much bigger learning trend. What it shouldn't do is to send us into a 'topic' planning frenzy and lead us to theme everything for half a term on magnetism! Not all of the children will be swept along in the wonderment of the magnetic world but lots will. As a result we would plan the 'next steps' objectives of what we needed … Read More
Sewing in Pre-School
I know that I said that I would post some objective led planning next (and I am on it), but I just wanted to share a little moment of pre-school joy that I experienced recently. Acorns Nursery in Oakly has historically always had a separate area for their 2 year olds to inhabit within the larger space. As part of the work that we are doing together we have released the 2 year olds 'into the wild' and they now roam the space with all of the other children. This move in itself has proved very successful but has had a significant impact on how the provision across the setting is organised. Now ALL areas have to provide opportunities for … Read More