M8 Plan, Implement & Evaluate Routines

[Guest]

My assessor has set me some questions and Im stuck on two.

 

K&U 5) State the periods of time for which children at various stages of development can concentrate.

 

K&U 9) Give examples of routines which are likely to promote childrens security. (Identify two childcare theorists to support your answer).

 

I have trawled the net for hours and can only come up with concentration camps!??? or activities to promote concentration. And none of the theorists Ive found seem to work with the idea of routine. so plz help me again. I really hate these optional units!

[Guest]

Not really a theorist, but I did find this on bedtime routines in Child Care & Education:

 

"All children benefit from a regular routine at bedtime; it halps to establish good habits and makes children feel more secure."

 

It goes on a bit about how to get children to sleep & gives a suggested routine (bathtime, final drink, reading a story together etc.)

 

Also, there is an 'Early Years Activity Chest' book entitled 'Regular Routines' which may be worth a look (I'm going on the title alone, as I haven't actually looked at a copy!)

 

Found this too, following a brief search on 'early years routines' through ask.co.uk:

 

Topic: Early Childhood Education

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Expert:Anne Piper

Date:4/8/2002

Subject:early years routines

 

Question

i am currently completing the unit on routines as part of my nvq 3 Can you please tell me what you believe to be the importance of routines and why we have them?

 

Answer

Routines and simple systems are a very important part ofthe provision for young children. Through these they can feel secure and feel that they have some control over their day.

For example a system where the children are encouraged to participate in the planning of activities for their session at nursery will help them to feel independent and give them confidence. Systems or routines can be very simple but MUST be consistent. I always have a special person in the class (all the children get to have a turn at this) the special person might get to sit on a special chair, will be asked to help to do messages, to signal to the class with a small drum that it is time to stop activities and listen. Very simple routines like wriggling fingers in the air to signal that the children need to listen make organisation much

easier. High Scope uses Plan/do/Reveiw a system in which children participate in planning and discussing their own activities. www.highscope.org/CURPRE.HTM

Good luck with the assignment.

Best wishes. Anne Piper.

 

 

Hope this is of some use.

[Rea]

Hi julie. take a look at this site. It might help with what you're looking for. Good luckclick here

[Guest]

Sorry! Didn't give you a full reference for that first bit. The authors of the book are Tina Bruce & Caroline Meggitt (1999). As I say, not exactly theorists, but it may prove useful padding for your assignment, in the event that you don't find much else!!

[Guest]

Thanx guys, now just the concentration spans to find x

[Helen]

Hi Julie,

It's difficult to pin this down, really, isn't it? A baby of 6 months may well be able to concentrate on an exciting mobile for 1, 3, or 15 minutes!! A 2 year old at nursery might begin by flitting from one activity to another, spoilt for choice, but after a couple of weeks may start to spend 5 or 10 minutes on an activity of his/her own choosing. A 3 or 4 year old may well listen for 15 minutes to stories read by an adult with whom s/he feels very comfortable. That same child might not be able to concentrate for 30 seconds on an inappropriate maths/worksheet/uninteresting adult-initiated activity!

 

At this time of year, when we have half of our children preparing for school in September, we start to get concerned about those children who can't concentrate for 5/10 minutes on anything....thankfully it doesn't happen too often!