Ecd l4 topic 4 MALUTI TVET BETHLEHEM Mrs C

There needs to be balance of different kinds of activities:A balance between:Indoor and outdoor activitiesActive and passive activitiesGross motor and fine motor activitiesTeacher driven and free play activitiesGroup activities and individual activitiesActivities where children are familiar with the content and unfamiliar with the content (move from known to unknown) Creating learning environments<br>

Why is a daily schedule important?A well planned day is a successful day: it will benefit learner, educator and parent.It will give the educator confidence and the learners a sense of security. Learners will enjoy a sense of stability and regularity and will soon learn what activity follows.Flexibility is necessary : daily programme can deviate slightly due to unforeseen circumstances. If it is raining outside, indoor play during free play.Learners must be involved in the planning and carrying out of the daily schedule: they become actively part of the programme.A planned day ensures that there is balance in the day and between activities: all areas of development must be stimulated.Sufficient time for free play: learners express themselves; explore their surroundings; important time for developing socialisation skills – children learn best while they play. Creating learning environments<br>

What to keep in mind when developing a daily schedule?The age of the learners in the groupAvailable space, type of buildings and facilitiesThe weatherAny unique requirements of learners in the groupThe number, experience and qualifications of staffSafety of learnersVariety of activitiesDisplay the daily programme in class for everyone’s attention. Creating learning environments<br>

Role of the morning or greeting ring in the daily schedule:Normally the first part of the daily programme in the ECD classroom.Learners start the day in familiar way, this gives them security.Learners discuss and interact with their peers and educator.Social skills are encouraged:Greeting each otherAllowing other children to tell their news/learning to wait their turnDeveloping self confidence in speaking in a group situation.Opportunity to introduce theme of the day/special plans for the day.Opportunity to acknowledge special celebrations: birthdays and special news (baby sister, etc).Provides opportunity for conversation and the development of language.Learners should be actively involved. Creating learning environments<br>

Daily schedule for babies:Babies (0-2 yrs) are not able to interact with groups yet.They play by themselves and interact with toys.They do not actively engage with other children yet (parallel play).Babies need lots of individual attention and interaction with their caregivers.The ration between caregivers and babies is much smaller than with older groups.Planning needs to be more flexible as babies have individual needs in terms of feeding, sleeping and active time.Please refer to p.96 for an example of a daily schedule for babies. Creating learning environments<br>

Daily schedule for toddlers (2-3 yrs):Toddlers are very active.They are most receptive to stimulation especially in terms of language.The toddler has mastered walking and running and will need activites to help their physical development.Toddlers may still need extra individual attention in terms of their needs.Most toddlers would still be at the stage of parallel play and would have limited interaction with others.Please refer to p. 96,97 for an example of a daily schedule for toddlers. Creating learning environments<br>

Daily schedule for young children (3 -6 yrs):Language and other cognitive skills need to be developed.Team work, group work and socialisation skills are essential at this age.Learners between 5 – 6 yrs need to be exposed to a more structured day to prepare them for the structure that they will find in Gr R.The daily schedule can be labelled: indicating what to expect at each part: this will allow learners to know what to expect at each stage, and what to anticipate will happen next.Please refer to p. 97,98 for an example of a daily schedule for young children. Creating learning environments<br>

Importance of routines:Learners need routine: it establishes security. Routine at home is just as important, e.g. bedtime routine, meal time routine.Routine will help children to make sense of their day, even if they try to control their surroundings with tantrums and inappropriate behaviour. Routine gives them security of knowing what is going to happen next and what to expect.A well set routine will reduce anxiety for children and allow them to enjoy their day: to interact, learn and discover, without the stress of not knowing what is going to happen next. Creating learning environments<br>

Importance of routines:Learners need routine: it establishes security. Routine at home is just as important, e.g. bedtime routine, meal time routine.Routine will help children to make sense of their day, even if they try to control their surroundings with tantrums and inappropriate behaviour. Routine gives them security of knowing what is going to happen next and what to expect.A well set routine will reduce anxiety for children and allow them to enjoy their day: to interact, learn and discover, without the stress of not knowing what is going to happen next. Creating learning environments<br>

Daily schedules that provide holistic development and developmentally appropriate practice:Developmentally appropriate practice includes:Activities, materials, interaction and experiences must be safe, healthy, interesting, achievable, but also challenging for children of a certain age.The teacher must know the strengths, interests and needs of each individual child in the group to be able to adapt/change for and respond to individual reactions to certain activities.The teacher must have knowledge of the social and cultural contexts in which children live to ensure that learning experiences are meaningful, relevant and respectful of the children and their families.Daily schedules must be planned for different age groups according to various social stages of play and development:Shorter activities for 2 year olds because they loose focus if the activity is too longThey would not interact in a group situation as they are still in the phase of solitary playPlease refer to p. 100 for examples of developmentally appropriate books for children Creating learning environments<br>

Main areas or domains of development for a holistic approach:Physical developmentCognitive development (includes language development)Creative and imaginative developmentEmotional developmentSocial developmentSpiritual and moral development Creating learning environments<br>

Activities to ensure holistic development:Physical development:Gross motor skills: climbing, running, skipping, dancing, crawlingdo not need to be outside: music and movement rings also develop large muscles action songs are also a good way to develop large musclesFine motor skills:threadingcutting and tearingplay dough/modelling clayconstruction sets like Lego blocks Creating learning environments<br>

Cognitive development, including language development:Cognitive:memory gamesmatching games sorting gamessequencing gamesLanguage:providing opportunities to learners to express themselvesdevelop their vocabularydevelop their listening skillsask questions, thus encourage conversationshave books and reading stories Creating learning environments<br>

story time has many benefits for the development of a variety of skills:Cognitive development:children are exposed to new words and conceptschildren develop reasoning and critical thinking skillschildren engage in problem solvingPersonal, moral and social development:When children are exposed to stories wherechoices need to be made by characters in the storypeople in the stories act in socially acceptable wayselements of ethics and diversity are included Creating learning environments<br>

Creative and imaginative development:Children love art activities and to create their own art. Opportunities must be provided where:they can choose their own art materials they engage in groupsthey work individuallythey are encouraged to experiment with different media, textures and coloursthey are encouraged to be creative by playing music to them, giving them the freedom to create Creating learning environments<br>

Art activities include:paintingdrawingcollagecut and pastebox construction modelling with clay or play doughImaginative development:role playimaginative playfantasy playencourage children to ‘act out’ storiesencourage children to move to music Creating learning environments<br>

Emotional and social development:It is essential that children learnto socialise to gain skills like: sharing respectworking together as a teamChildren who have good socialization skills will also have well balanced emotional skills.Encourage children to take part in daily tasks that will teach them social interaction: eating lunch togethersetting the tablehelping younger children with tasks Creating learning environments<br>

Spiritual and moral development:Children learn by example and will model the behaviour of the ECD practitioner.  It is important to make time during activities and in the daily schedule to enforce spiritual and moral activities. These skills can be reinforced during all activities in the daily schedule. Creating learning environments<br>

Holistic development:An activity aimed at holistic development: please refer to p. 102Skills that are developed during such holistic activities: teamwork when working togethersocial skillscognitive development: children engage with shape and sizephysical development: large muscle movements when drawing around partner’s bodyemotional development: child who is lying down on paper learns to be patientfilling in the detail: cognitive developmentdrawing: fine muscle developmentmaking them aware of body image: emotional and self image development Creating learning environments<br>

Resources for the classroom:ice cream sticksseeds, dried leaves, sticksempty boxesplastic spoons, cups, traysscrap string, wool, fabriccorks, bottle topscontainers for paintingplastic containerspolystyrene platescotton balls, ear budsempty tablet containersmilk bottles, milk cartonsmagazinesold crayons, candles Creating learning environments<br>

Questions:1. Discuss balance of activities in a daily schedule.2. Why is a daily schedule important?3. What must be kept in mind when developing a daily schedule?4. Discuss the role of a morning ring.5. Discuss daily schedule for:* Babies * Toddlers * Young children 6. List the benefits of routine for children.7. Define:* developmentally appropriate * holistic approach8. Discuss the respective domains to ensure holistic  development.9. Give an example of an activity aimed at holistic development.10. List TEN resources for ECD classrooms.******************************************************************** Creating learning environments<br>