PDA

View Full Version : Next steps - utw



mumofone
24-08-2015, 01:03 PM
My mindee said today that cows give us milk when we were doing s puzzle with cows on. Could this be a valid UTW observation? Could next step be learning where other food stuffs come from or am I completely off the mark here????!! Be as harsh as you like! I need to learn..!! :-)

moggy
24-08-2015, 01:13 PM
That's a lovely obs for UW.

Whether I'd follow it up depends on whether the child is generally interested in where food comes from- and that can be covered in chat over dinner, does not need to be elaborate.

I think sometimes CMers over-think little things children say and launch into a whole theme week based on one tiny obs that actually was just a passing comment from the child who may actually be far more interested in something totally different!

Maybe child is interested in farm animals in general... or is just repeating what mum said to them over breakfast! You know the child best- you know what they are interested in, whether it 'links' neatly to an obs or not is not so important. You do not need to do a next step at all, of course, only if it feel right to you for that child.

Mouse
24-08-2015, 02:02 PM
I agree with Moggy. It's definitely a good UTW observation, but doesn't necessarily need to be followed by a full on next step.

If a child had made a comment about milk coming from cows, I'd have taken the opportunity to ask them then about other foods. I'd steer clear of asking where bacon comes from, but would ask if they knew where potatoes grew (in the ground) or bananas (on trees in hot countries). I'd be extending their learning, but not as a fully planned and documented next step.
If the showed a particular interest I would maybe plan something further, but possibly include it in a bigger topic, such as healthy eating. I don't think many children would be so interested in where their food comes from that they'd want to do a whole activity based on it, but f your child is one who does seem especially interested in the origins of food, go for it and plan some activities around their interest :thumbsup:

mumofone
24-08-2015, 06:37 PM
Thanks for responding guys :-) :-) When do you usually do "next steps" then, are they more every 6 months or so rather than after every observation?

moggy
24-08-2015, 06:46 PM
Thanks for responding guys :-) :-) When do you usually do "next steps" then, are they more every 6 months or so rather than after every observation?

If an obs has an obvious and relevent next step I write it on the obs. Often it is 'more of the same' and 'continue to...' as so much is learned by repitition, sometimes it is a minor next step or idea for how to extend the learning a bit or an idea to do at home etc.

Each term I do a Progress Report on Tapestry which generates Next Steps auromatically from EYFS based on the age/stages you have recorded in obs, and you can put in your own ideas for Next Steps too- for me these tend to more long term things to work on over the next 3-4 months.