Visual Timetables - How Do You Use Yours?

[Guest]

Hi, hopefully this is the right place to post this!

 

I'm working in a creche with children from birth upwards and I need to set up a visual timetable. I know what a basic one would look like, but I want to make it as interactive and flexible as possible. We have some lovely cartoon images which depict our day here, and I have a space about a metre square at child level on which to set it up - can anyone who uses one sucessfully tell me what theirs looks like and how they use it?

 

Would really like to make it something the children can benefit from rather than a static notice!

[Guest]

Hi there.

 

I teach in Reception. My visual timetable is a catepillar on the wall, with a picture on each segment. These are velcroed (is that a word?), so easily changed. The children really get on well with it and already, after only a couple of weeks, look to it to see what they will be doing next. We talk about it quite a lot, for example if a child asks when it is story time, we will show them the pictures on the caterpillar and they can see what they will be doing before it is storytime.

 

I have mainly clip art pictures on my display, but my colleague has photos from the setting, which I think is really nice.

 

Carrots x

[Guest]

I'm in Reception and I use it for the morning session and then have it up for the afternoon. I have the pictures velcroed downwards and the easel next to me for easy access. I use it and take it away once it has been done and tell the children. We use 'Communication in print' for the pictures because it helps our children with specific needs and the same symbols are used throughout the school. Children find the timetable very reassuring.

[Guest]

Thanks so much for your replies. I'm probably going to have some sort of postbox for the children to put the 'done' activities in and am thinking about having multiple copies for each picture as apparently in the past the children have 'gone off' with the pictures before they are done with and my mangaer wants to facilitate that for the children. Perhaps I can have some smaller pictures with smaller strips for them to have their own timetable to carry around.

 

Might just put up the main one and see how it gets used, anyone else with any suggestions, they'll be gratefully received

[Inge]

ours too went down rather than across and children removed the pictures as we had completed each one... they were photos of the group.. and we also had pecs pictures to go alongside them

 

we had a metal cupboard so we used magnets on the back..

 

 

we had a 'big one' where the children only removed the picture when asked or if they asked....

then we had the 'small one' which was the play version and children used this in their play.. and could remove and change it as they wanted to... we seldom had any go missing but always had back up copies to replace any that did..

 

Inge