Hi again (this is becoming a habit..!)

Today I've been thinking about the timetable for my nursery class and the appropriate balance of child-initiated and adult-focused activities. Would one AF activity per day be enough (focusing on a different area of learning each day)? How do you ensure that you work with every child? I read that another poster chooses 6 focus children each week - is this what others would suggest? Or should I even be 'forcing' the children to take part in any activities at all - should it all be about what interests them? Different writers seem to suggest different things...

Sorry for all the questions. The more I think about everything, the more my brain seems to be getting fried!

If you plan activities around the children's interests and which are appropriate for their development, the children will probably be engaged. Go forth and plan - Now, for my own, smaller, patch...!

Honey

Hi, we plan one adult initiated activity a day but we don't expect every child to do it. Those that are interested will. Some days every child does and other days about half depending on what else is happening in the setting. Also we'd never expect every child to do the same thing in the adult initiated they'd all be accessing it at their own level. Later on though we plan the adult initiated to cover certain skills and may encourage certain children to take part

I can't remember if you said how many children you have, but basically they're your children and you will naturally work with all of them because you'll want to get to know them. Once they're in, their different needs and personalities will dictate where your time goes - if it's anything like my place you won't stop, you'll blink and the day's over!

Oh and remember to plan for enjoying the children too!!

Does this mean that some children participate in far fewer adult-focused activities than others? Is there any guidance on how many AF activities a nursery child should be taking part in per week, or is it based on professional judgement and the needs of the children?



I'll have 32 children in the mornings and 21 in the afternoons, so 53 in total - hence why I'm concerned about not having time for every child to participate in an activity! My worry was that I'll spend all my time involved in activities with groups and subsequently leave the two NNs to observe the rest of the children, which isn't what I want to happen. If it's not frowned upon to plan AF activities as and when I feel they would benefit particular children, then it would certainly free up more time for me to observe and engage with the whole class.

We plan 3-4 AF activities a week, which allows us to be flexible in when we do them and how. My planning sheet for them has all the children's names on the sheet so you can see at a glance who hasn't participated (and if its becoming a regular thing) Don't forget that your NN are more than capable of running an AF activity, so you should all be taking turns to be the 'focus' person and the 'observing' person. We try to alternate each day but it doesn't always work out like that. Occasionally its an activity I require all the children to join in with, but mostly I leave it up to the children to choose whether or not they join in.

we have a rota for adult initiated too so all staff get a turn each week. Also the adult initiated doesn't have to take all session and you can have a group of children doing it at the same time. I know I have some children who do more adult initiated than others but the important thing for me is that those who don't access those skills in the adult initiated get an opportunity to do it later perhaps in a way that is more meaningful to them.

My advice to you would be dont tie yourself up every day on an adult led focused activity, an adult led activity doesnt either need you there all the time, I prefer to have an area of focus for the day/week etc that is responsive to their needs and their interests. I do not believe that one adult should be sat at a focused activity with a conveyor belt of children all doing it with a tick list. Ask yourself why does every child need to do it? Which children need to do it? There is myself and two others in my nursery and we take turns to be indoors and outdoors, there may even be two outdoors. One member of staff may need to do a focused activity with their key worker group or a group of children we have identified. In addition to this we enhance areas of learning for a week/fornight/ three weeks etc depending on their level of interest, involvement etc etc. For example we had a roleplay supermarket and we identified children who by the end of last term needed support matching number to quantity so we targeted them in the roleplay area, by end of session, we had re-awakened this area and had lots of interest. One of those we needed to target didnt want to play this day in role play area, he was too busy in the sand, so next day we took learning to him. Children are so easy to trick!!!! Often I go and play in an area which isnt being visited and suddenly find myself surrounded with almost half the class. Is this a focused activity? Most of my good teaching is unplanned and responsive, reactive on that day. It has taken me a long time to plan like this, I have tried tick lists, focused activities that all ch do etc and found myself in a tiz and stressed. I have sat there, with my tick sheet, and made sure that every child did a shape picture, but actually I dont think this was good practice for me or them. I should have identified who needed to learn 2D flat shapes, who needed support using scissors, which children were not visiting DT area etc etc. If it was most of the class then I should be looking at my enhancement planning and be making sure children can learn about 2D flat shapes everywhere. I may target a group who do not recognise 2D flat shapes by really enjoy making pictures, that would be a focused activity??? I also have a key worker group at end of session, where we reflect on learning and I target their next steps, so I may deliberately share one of the shape pictures that a child has made to recap language of flat shapes, spark interest in this area etc etc. Ask yourself what do these children need, do they all need to do this, what are their next steps? how can you take learning to them? If your classroom is well organised and enhanced, you have good adults interacting, observing etc, ch will make progress, but please,please please do not tie yourself to a focused activity every day, I do believe that your children will make more progress if you are free to observe their play and interact in all areas. All staff should be writing observations, interacting with play. I think children value play when they can see all adults playing
Hope this helps, there really is no clear cut answer. Hope I've been a help and not a hindrance. Hold in your heart what is best for kids.

Well put Lotte, I didn't mean to give the impression that we tie adults down to tables, our adult initiated can take place any where in the setting at a time we think is right to get the most out of it. I think the key is flexibility and that can also mean adults using their initiative and thinking outside of the box

Hi browneyed girl, good advice already, as you can see, different ways of doing things and in time you will find the ways that work best for your children and yourself.

Have you considered a keyperson or family group time? This was something I always did, just 10 mins or so dependent on the children but a time when we did all sorts of different but more focused activities but in a smaller group.

Its important that when you reflect on your sessions, that you are providing a balance of adult led and child initiated and if all of your activities are child led its very easy to 'miss' children who choose never to join in an adult led activity. This can happen very easily in a very busy nursery especially if you have two sessions and a 13:1 ratio.

On the other hand you may find that early on, your children will gravitate towards adult led activities as they are settling in, and this is a good opportunity to introduce them to new things, new ideas, new experiences and you will want to encourage children to participate (and there will always be some that wont want to)...it is through these new experiences that they will be able to show you their new and emerging interests, on which you can build.

Take care

this is how we work key person plans for their own individual children and this if any is where an AF actvity may take place
every child is different with varying needs interests and of course at different stages of development. By having key people plan for their children means that they have their needs met and we provide an excellent enabling enviroment on an individual level

Thank you for all the excellent advice!

Based on all the responses I've read, I think I will go into school with the intention of focusing initially on child-initiated learning opportunities, and perhaps some adult-focused activities based on routines etc. Then I'll use my observations and conversations with children to pinpoint their learning needs and plan appropriate activities as and when they're required. Does this sound ok? I also hate the idea of having a ticklist and crossing off each child as they complete an activity, so I'll certainly be avoiding that! My only concern when I first asked the question was that there may be a recommended number of AF activities that a child should participate in, and if I plan specifically for children as and when I identify a learning need, some children may experience more AF activities than others. As long as this is ok, I think this is definitely the route I'll go down.