Buttercup Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I think we have got our observations in a managable format but it is our planning i am struggling with. I have looked throught lots of ideas and am using a variation on one that was posted a long time ago. my problem is we have two room a messy room - paint, playdough, water etc the other everything else. The everything else room is totally free choice except the shop that is sometimes other things. The messy room is also free choice for playdough cutters etc, paint is always available, drawing and sticking always available. The water tray sometime in or out is free choice and so is the sand pit. The only activities that are adult led would be cirlcle time, a specific craft activity and thats probably it. We do not have themes we go along with what the children want. You might think it sounds boring but the children all appear happy and following their interests. each keyworker has a plan of what they want to observe. most things do not need a specific activity and can be observed during the day to day running. Does anyone else work like this and how do you plan? At the moment i have a lot of empty boxes each wk. angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I think that your planning sounds good as you have what sounds like a strong ethos and routine of observations, and if these are followed up with enhancements to your activities then you are following the children's interests. If you feel the need to produce plans for the week I would start with a basic outline of the activities always available and add onto that the enhancements as they are required. To ensure you are covering all the areas of learning, review your observations and ensure that there is no area being left out. If there is look at bringing in some activities which are not out but which cover that area or enhancing another area to include them. At the moment we do something similar to this and we have noticed over the last seven weeks that our PSRN observations are thin on the ground. Therefore I will be thinking up some way of enhancing the PSRN aspect of all our areas for after half term, and encouraging the children to the PSRN area itself, perhaps by having an adult-led activity there to model first. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Your planning sounds good to me. In m planning book I would start of with blank sheets and write retrospectively what learning / play focus the children showed occuring during the session within the various 'play zones' (as I called them). I also had pages with the childrens first names (one page per key group) which the staff filled in with comments on specific learning, skills, interests etc they had observed. From these retrospective notes (planning) information we would, like holly suggests, plan for next day / next session attended by a particular child, some enhancement resources and/or adult interaction. Review of these plans showed a pattern of interest, what learning / skills had been covered over a period and any gaps in knowledge of children or curriculum areas to look out for or introduce through the childrens already identified interests. So basically I think you are doing fine, you just need to record the 'play and learning' in whatever format you can work with that informs your future resourcing, meeting childrens needs, gaining further information. Hope that makes sense. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttercup Posted October 26, 2008 Author Share Posted October 26, 2008 thankyou i always feel like i am on my own. but everyones guidence on this site makes me feel at ease. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I found this discussion on planning really useful. I was just wondering whether, then observing the children and then planning for the next session - do you try and focus on just a few particular children at a time - or do you try and cover all children in each session? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I found this discussion on planning really useful. I was just wondering whether, then observing the children and then planning for the next session - do you try and focus on just a few particular children at a time - or do you try and cover all children in each session? As the number of children attending each session are divided between a number of staff 'keyworkers' we found it possible to make notes on every child attending each session. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 thank you for this thread, I've been wondering the same for a while but couldn't quite put it into words! We do very similar to you during the seesion and I couldn't get my head around how to 'plan' this, or at least show how we plan. May I see your planning format? I'm using one from the mentor but think it is way too complicated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttercup Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 we have about 12 key children each. we have one pre school child each that we focus on. this child has a individual learning plan format off here. basically 6 boxes each of the six areas. we will then observe what we have put in the boxes and then evaluate at the end of the week. we do not do this for the others as we felt it too much work and not enought time when younger children only in for a couple of hrs a week. for all children including younger we focus on one area of learning for the week with just our key children. we also do post its/stickers for anything else observed that might be relevent. This all seems to be working ok and managable. Planning my sheet has days across the top down the left hand side is malleable materials sand try water tray senses tray eg gloop etc creative snack bar circle time role play music/dance mark making small world books outdoor (playground or field) i have them all split into two for indoor and outdoor at the end of the week i have a box for evaluation as i said in my earlier post most of these are child initiated the only boxes that probable are not are creative, snacks, cirlcle time. yes we do have coloured water or bubbles, different things in the senses tray, music and dance is dependent on time and children most days children put on own cds and have musical instruments. i saw a post where someone had planned for the songs they sang - surely this cannot be good. as for books children choose which story most of the time. Has anyone got a format i can see angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 In my setting (sessional preschool age 2years +) we have a long term plan which consists of the ELGs and a (for want of a better title) continuous provision plan for all of our areas/zones. The ELGs covered by these could include all of them, but as a staff body we brainstormed and included those which we felt would be most evidenced by child initiated activity in that area. There is then an evaluation sheet which corresponds to that plan for each zone. On this sheet there is room to note any children who choose to play in the zone and to record if they are working with adult support on the individual ELGs or if they are doing it independently. If they do not do anything to provide evidence towards a particular ELG the space is left blank. The sheet might last all week or be added to with another blank copy part way through the week depending on how much the children use that zone in the week. The notes we make on the evaluation are then tranferred to a child's individual summary sheet at the end of the week by their keyperson. This sheet has all the ELGs across the top in a coded form and then the weeks of the term down the side. we use a coded system to show if the child is working towards the ELG independently or with adult support on both the sets of sheets. Additionally to these we all write narrative observations on post it notes/scraps of paper/etc as they arise and these may also be recorded in the coded manner on the other sheets. Although I am not keen on the eventual look of the scraps of paper I am the main offender for keeping them in my pocket until they look dog eared, but they are useful as a quick way to note something of interest. I have added to our options last week by designing a pro forma for the post it notes which provides space for noting the language or other communication used by the child and also crucially, for noting what the next steps might be as this is where we are falling down a bit at the moment. I have asked all staff to ensure they have one per child per week as some children only attend two mornings per week I feel any more would be tricky, but if they do more that is fine. We already put quick notes on the diary or weekly plan if a child shows huge interest in something or asks for it to be out next time, especially if they have just started to get into something when time runs out on them. The weekly plan consists of a floor plan which details where the zones are located for the term (we are pack away), and a weekly sheet which shows which activities will be in the various zones on a given day. These can be scribbled ver if a child needs to continue something or specifically requests something. Hmm so much for "fast reply"! Sorry to ramble but if you want to know anything else ask away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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