Child Initiated Learning

[Guest]

Can we talk and C-I-L please? Am not sure we are doing it right at school!

 

How do you work this in your Reception class please?

 

We have 3 tables in the classroom which we lay different activities out on everyday. We don't much to choose from though, I lay out things like:

 

Unifix cubes

Linking elephants

puzzles

Colouring sheets

compare bears

beads and threading

books

cars

 

we have other things in the room they can play with such as the train set, dolls house, home corner etc.

 

Though it just feels like we are putting out similar things all the time and the children generally choose to colour, play in the home corner, on the computer or outside.

 

There isn't many other activities that we have that the children can complete without adult direction.

 

( am in a 2 form entry, am new to the school and am following what other teacher does - making changes would be difficult as she has been there for years working it this way)

 

Would appeciate any dvice please and would love you to tell me how you do yours!!!!

 

Thank you

Edited November 4, 2010 by yellowdaisies

[Guest LornaW]

yellowdaisy you may find it would help to read these links

 

http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/...d-learning-6861

 

http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.g...c59eab23ce0.pdf

 

and also to look at the EYFS cd as there are some excellent pdf files but your Child Initiated time is not what I would do as the whole environment would be available to all of the children at this time.

 

Lorna

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Lorna. When you do CIL, what else, if anything is going on in your room? When I am doing mine, I am also trying to do Literacy/Numeracy groups, hear readers etc etc. is this common place?

 

Technically, the whole environment is avaliable to them but they don't choose to use a lot of it!!

 

How do you do yours?

Edited November 4, 2010 by yellowdaisies

[Cait]

I'm preschool, so possibly different. I don't generally regard anything I have already put out for children as child initiated, unless they use the resources for something other than their general use. i.e, use the threads from the bobbin pot to make roadways to roll the bobbins along.

 

Generally, I regard CI as an activity a child has fully initiated. It may be something that was adult-led yesterday, but the child has chosen to reproduce or replay the activity by themself 'off their own bat' (as they say in Cumbria)

[Guest ChunkyMan]

Hi Yellowdaisies

 

Apart from the adult led activities (usually 2 and usually CLL or PSRN based) all of the other areas/tables in the class and outside are available for the children to use in a loosely structured way, if you get what I mean. Where I work if I let the children just get out what they wanted, took them where they wanted there wouldn't be a lot left in 1 piece!!

[Guest]

I'm in nursery but our reception class has a lot of similar things to us.......sand, water, play dough, small world/ role play areas, book area, listening area with cd's and headphones, construction area as well as other table top activities.

Hope this helps

[Guest LornaW]

When you do CIL, what else, if anything is going on in your room? When I am doing mine, I am also trying to do Literacy/Numeracy groups, hear readers etc etc. is this common place?

 

Technically, the whole environment is avaliable to them but they don't choose to use a lot of it!!

 

How do you do yours?

 

 

Yellowdaisies I am no longer teaching but at Child Initiated Time I would not be doing anything other than joining in with the play, scaffolding the learning, developing their thinking skills and being the lead learner! You say the children don't chose to use the whole envoronment so whne you do adult focussed tasks do you say to the children |i am going to leave these out and at child iniated time you can play with these if you wish? If an area wasn't being used I would often go and play in there myself and 9 times out of ten you can bet some children would come and play. I wasn't guiding the play but they would play alongside me and then slowly I would verbalise what I was doing and soon the children would perhaps copy or develop the play themselves. This is a time when I can find out what interests the children and then I can plan the focussed activities with their innterests in mind. Remember Lit and Num do NOT have any more importance in EYFS than the other 4 areas of learning.

 

It may be useful to ask if your EY Adviser could come in and work with you but I found this was a time the children loved and so did I. I would also do a couple of focussed observations , usually in the middle of the session, during this time as when children show they can do things in CI time you know it they have a sound understanbding!

 

It sounds as if what has been happening in your parallel class has not actually grasped the principles of the EYFS which may b another reason for you to speak to your adviser as if the changes come from you you may come up againnst some difficulties but from the adviser may be easier.

 

Good Luck

 

Lorna

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

We do also have lots of other activities avaliable that I forgot to mention such as sand, water, chalks, bikes outside, tyres, play house etc etc

 

I love the idea of playing alongside the chn and scaffolding their learning Lorna, we have no time for that as there is so much else to get through!!

[Guest]

You can fully justify playing alongside children as your evidence towards the profile is supposed to be 80% from child initiated - so if you don't have time to play, help push learning on and observe you won't be able to collect the evidence you need. I know it's easier said than done, but you need to set yourself time to do this. Sometimes us early years practitioners worry that other 'teachers' think we're not doing anything when they see us playing along - but it's the best way to encourage and develop the children's learning. Try and look at your timetable and see where you can fit time in.

 

Good luck.

[Guest LornaW]

Quite right Harricroft it is not a luxury but a real part of our work and if you look at posts elsewhere yellowdaisies you will finnd a chart from catma on how the day needs to be split into three - can't find it but I know I have found that chart very very useful in many situations.

 

Lorna