Hi From A Newbie......question About Circle Time?

[Guest]

Hi There, I am new to this site but have been reading through some posts.

 

My question is...does your setting still have circle time??

 

We did have a circle time mid way through our session in pre school and it did work well. We had mixed views about if it was good to still do this.....so we stopped having it but today one of our lilttle ones asked if we would start having it again as he enjoyed circle time!

 

Also we have a registration time which also works really well 1st thing of the morning once all the children are in and main door is shut, but we had a lady in today who supports us and said it was not good to have as we are pulling little ones away from there activitys. But it is a shame as it does work well and the children sit so nicely...my therory is why take it away if it works well! Do you have registration time in pre school??

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Sam

Edited November 9, 2010 by Guest

[HappyMaz]

Hi Sam and welcome to the Forum.

 

We are a packaway group that historically used registration time in the morning both as a focus for the start of the day for the children, but also to finish setting up in safety.

 

Our practice and the way we are organised has moved on and changed over the years, but we have retained our registration time. We have put more and more play resources in the area where registration takes place so the children can get engaged in some activities whilst waiting for the session to begin, and and they understand that as soon as the practitioner arrives to take registration and let the parents leave, then it is time to sit on their chair and do the register.

 

Children know the routine well, and we are flexible enough to allow the younger children to continue to play if they aren't at the stage where they can be expected to stop and go and sit down quietly.

 

Perhaps you could observe the children during the transition time between their playing in the morning, and stopping for registration time. Do they look unhappy to be asked to leave their activities? Is there evidence to suggest that the way you currently organise registration is disrupting to their flow - for example do they readily resume the activities they were engaged in before or do they seem to find it difficult to settle after registration? Looking at children's engagement levels before, during and after registration might identify if you need to change anything.

 

Your advisor is there to offer advice but if your current systems work well for you and the children then there is no reason why you should have to change them for the sake of making a change. Having the data from your observations will strengthen your hand if you argue that your current registration arrangements work well for you.

 

On the other hand, if your observations confirm what the adviser is saying, then maybe she can help you identify how you can change things.

 

Good luck - let us know how you get on!

 

Maz

[sunnyday]

Your advisor is there to offer advice but if your current systems work well for you and the children then there is no reason why you should have to change them for the sake of making a change. Having the data from your observations will strengthen your hand if you argue that your current registration arrangements work well for you.

 

On the other hand, if your observations confirm what the adviser is saying, then maybe she can help you identify how you can change things.

 

Maz

Couldn't have put it better myself!

 

Hi and a warm welcome to the forum Sam!

 

We have two 'circle-times' - one midway through morning - we can't free flow - so we make this a time to sit together for snack before going outside to play........we then have another at end of session - use this for various things - story or songs or whatever! This system works very well for us.......

 

If one of your children has actually asked that you reinstate circle time then you could argue that you are following child's interest!

 

Good luck!

[Guest Biker]

Hi Sam,

In our Pre school we no longer have a registration time.Children self register using their photos and names.Parents sign them into the building and a member of staff checks this and children present, to fill in the formal register.

We do stop for a short circle time about an hour into the session.We don't tidy anything away ,just clear some room in the carpet areas used for circle time and children can return to their activities afterwards.It seems to work well for us.

Biker

[Devondaisy]

Hi. I'm new to my setting, but one of the first things I did was start a circle time at the beginning of the session. The children were going straight into free-flow and when I visited it looked a bit chaotic, with parents coming and going dropping children off, and often wanting to chat to staff, whilst the children were engaged in a free for all! Two members of staff now man the door, whilst the other sits in the circle and the children join her as they arrive. This can take 10 minutes or more so the adult has an activity for the children, building a tower, a railway track, playing with the parachute. Once evryone is here (or thereabouts) we all sit down and pass our good morning sign around the circle and say good morning to each other. This seems to work really well.

 

We also sit together before lunch for a story, and again at the end of the afternoon for another story, after we have tidied up.

 

I find the time in the morning is especially usefull, as children often come in bursting with exciting news, or with things to show us all. It's also an opportunity to mention any new activites or resources on offer. Hope that helps.

[hali]

hello and welcome to the forum

[Fredbear]

Hello and welcome from me too.

[Deb]

Hi

 

Generally we don't have an initial circle time or registration. Children self register and choose an activity from anything they want though we will have put out activities children are currently interested in and may also have an adult directed activity. Children have freeplay until 10.20 when we stop for a quick circle time, having cleared a space on the floor, before snack. We like this because children have a good length of time to get involved in their play.

[Guest]

Thankyou so much for the warm welcome and for all the great replys to my questions.

 

I am sure there will be many posts to come!!!!

 

Thanks again

Sam