Lucy P Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I know this subject has been covered many times, but i would be so grateful for advice here We have decided to take away some of the resources, as suggested in a topic recently reagrding the children trashing the toys and basically don't know where to start! How do you structure your preschool day? If you have workshop bays available for the children to freely move between, how many focus activities in how many workshops do you have per session? Are the focus activities adult or child initiated? If one adult is running the focus how do the rest of the staff manage the room. I am thinking that i need each workshop set up with the general resources then enhancements need to be added each week. I hope this makes sense, i'm finding it hard to explain the information i need! Sorry, i'm feeling really dense about this at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 we are school nursery & session runs like this: 8.50- children come in with parents - self-register & choose own activities 9.20ish - all gather on the carpet for group-time 9.45ish - free-choice activities - in & out inc. snack bar adult focus 10.50ish tidy small-group time 11.15 - whole group story/songs 11.30 - home our worksop bays are set up to allow free access to resources so for example in art area open shelves with boxes of resources inc collage, printing, painting etc but maybe nothing set out on tables. Sometimes adults may set up an art activity which children can access independently (adult-initiated) sometimes a focus activity - adult would work with all children at this activity over several days. we have 3 staff so only one focus adult, one 'manages' the indoor areas and one manages outside. staff member managing the room circulates constantly ensuring children actively engaged, sharing resources, remember to put equipment away, making observations. this is key to ensuring children don't 'trash' the room - basic rule = put away equipment before getting next thing out - in early days 'manager' is constantly on the move reinforcing this but once children trained up manager has more time to join in & extend children's play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharonash Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Can I ask is that 1 focus a day and what do you mean by focus as we have been told to use focus activity for skill based learning and adult led for general activities ? How do you choose what your focus is? Do you set up the areas with different toys so the children are coming into something interesting or do you literally let them self select? If self select do you have a toy rota to ensure you change items in your workshop area? Persumably you are observing whilst playing do you choose what stepping stone to observe in advance or do you just observe and the link to an area of learning? Sorry but i am really struggling t get the paper side of this right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy P Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thanks nsunshine it really helps to have an insight into other peoples day. We had a meeting today and we are thinking along the lines of this: We have 9 workshops, we will ensure there is a focus activity being taken by a member of staff within one workshop, then we will have 4 workshops where the normal resources are available and we will add enhancements to these which will be planned, and finally in the last 4 workshops it will just be free choice for the children just to select the normal resources which are available within that workshop. So planning wise, 5 areas will need to be planned per day although the enhancements will probably remain within the workshop for the week, just to allow all children to use and also to revisit. Any one else do anything similar? Would love any one elses opinions on this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Just as a matter oif interest Lucy, what are you 9 workshops? I'm helping a nursery rearrange their room and it's very useful to know how others have organised their provision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Can I ask is that 1 focus a day and what do you mean by focus as we have been told to use focus activity for skill based learning and adult led for general activities ? We don't differentiate between focus and adult led activities - both to me mean adult has planned resources/activity and outcome - Focus activity may be one per day but we often run a focus for 2/3 days to ensure all children can access it in an unhurried way and those who want to can return to it. Focus activities are planned in response to observations - to extend learning and/or to ensure coverage of all curric areas, to introduce new/extend skills etc How do you choose what your focus is? - in response to observations of children's interests/needs/use of classroom areas e.g. may focus in an area that children are not accessing much/appropriately and/or in response to medium term planning - ensure all curric areas covered over period of time. Do you set up the areas with different toys so the children are coming into something interesting or do you literally let them self select? If self select do you have a toy rota to ensure you change items in your workshop area? - all areas are set up for self select, as we have a large space in most areas this means all resources are available but in some areas resources are rotated e.g. themed puzzle boxes. interest in areas is maintained by planning adult-initiated activities which means an activity will be ready set out on table/floor as opposed to table being empty with resources accessible. Persumably you are observing whilst playing do you choose what stepping stone to observe in advance or do you just observe and the link to an area of learning? - we have 1 focus child per session and aim to observe 3x during session. other observations are anecdotal - jot down all relevant obs whilst working with children. Sorry but i am really struggling t get the paper side of this right? hope this helps - it is always so difficult when you want someone to explain what they do clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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