klc106 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hi before half term our children were really interested in animals. So when we came back after half term we set up a role play vets and planned animal themed activities and planned to do some more next week. However, since they came back the children do not seem interested in animals anymore and have taking great interest in making music, singing and dancing! and there are also a couple of children really interested in making race tracks to race their cars. what should we do? I feel we should forget about the animal activities and follow their interest in music and make instruments etc. and follow the cars interest by providing resources to make tracks etc. for the cars which we could also follow outisde by making a race track for the ride on toys. However, the other member of staff that I work with thinks we should continue with the animals theme. What would you do? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 However, since they came back the children do not seem interested in animals anymore and have taking great interest in making music, singing and dancing! and there are also a couple of children really interested in making race tracks to race their cars. Time to change ! ! Put the animal planning somewhere safe, though.... they'll probably come back to it about the time that you plan to start another theme! Nona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 change... we never planned anything more than 3 days in advance, often ditching it even then.. it needs a bit of staff training to watch and observe the children and change tack almost at a whim, we found once used to it they would come up with something suitable for the children often during the session the interest was noted.. writing up any planning after the event.. we used to be able to extend their learning in an area quite quickly in the end and 2 staff could be doing different things with the children at the same time. Once they were used to it they became very creative and knew when to step back or when to add... sometimes they found stepping in and helping or offering stopped he children's flow and they wandered off, while leaving items around for children to find extended their own ideas.. i did love this way of working, so little advance planning - not to say we didn't do it, just a lot less and no more than a few days in advance.. a weekend is long enough for many children to change their interests - while others could continue for weeks on one thing. If they became stuck with no real focus we used a book asked them about it, added resources from it into play and it very often took off from there.. if not then we led it for a while and they followed us .. think a lot comes down to the staff and their experience and willingness to change at a drop of a hat.. so much fun was had that way.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Thanks all. You have all said what I was thinking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enuffsenuf Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 (edited) Hi before half term our children were really interested in animals. So when we came back after half term we set up a role play vets and planned animal themed activities and planned to do some more next week. However, since they came back the children do not seem interested in animals anymore and have taking great interest in making music, singing and dancing! and there are also a couple of children really interested in making race tracks to race their cars. what should we do? I feel we should forget about the animal activities and follow their interest in music and make instruments etc. and follow the cars interest by providing resources to make tracks etc. for the cars which we could also follow outisde by making a race track for the ride on toys. However, the other member of staff that I work with thinks we should continue with the animals theme. What would you do? Thanks I.m with Inge here....we do plan for the half term but often find that children's interests change and evolve so dramatically that we have become very spontaneous in our planning...we simply write on our evaluation that children were more interested in XXXXXXXX so we decided to persue that activity instead but aiming for the same outcomes. PS this is why they say "never work with children or animals!" Edited February 25, 2012 by enuffsenuf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 At our EYP conference this week we had a presentation by a teacher who told us about how her school does completely child-led planning, whereby they have three focus children each week (much like millhill told us about all those years ago!). So at the end of every week they send home parent questionnaires and a digital camera for parents to complete, and for the children to take photographs of whatever they think is important. On Monday morning they start with three blank A3 sheets with a few bits of information from the parent questionnaire, and what practitioners need to look out for in terms of the children's interests but also in terms of finding evidence for the Profile. Then this A3 sheet gets filled up as the week progresses as the practitioners observe/interact with the child and plan for their next steps there and then as the child expresses an interest or takes their learning off in one particular direction or another. At the end of the week, they have a meeting with each child's parents/carers to talk about what the child has been learning, and how the child is progressing. They plan this way in nursery, reception and for the first term in year one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Maz was this lady from a school in London by any chance? I saw her last year on the last of my inspirational conferences and was really blown away by what she was doing. I actually tried to introduce something similar in my setting before I left, but sadly didn't get to see it through. I'm now hoping for a nice little EYFS class of my own when my PGCE is finished and I can try out a similar approach for real. Her book which shows how her approach works is available here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reception-Year-Act...5183&sr=1-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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