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Cazz
29-11-2009, 10:22 PM
Now I've been minding a couple of weeks and my children are settled I'm ready to tackle my planning/observations but need some help please!

What planning/activities can I do with a 7 month old - I have one on a Tuesday along with her sister (after nursery) and another 7 month old on a Friday.

As mentioned I have a 3 year old on a Tuesday - parents have just reduced to one day a week and by the time we walk back from nursery it's lunch time and then I let her free play with my dd while I feed the baby (who is very slow :rolleyes: ). If I'm lucky I can get the baby to have a nap soon after her lunch but by this time it is only about an hour or so before parent collects at 3.15pm.

How can I do my planning when I am only able to do structured activities for 1 hour per week? My d.o. has given me a template with garden, floor area, kitchen, community etc on it - can I plan and do one thing each week or will Ofsted not find that acceptable?

So far we have done things such as painting, making a balloon face and cutting/sticking which I have taken photo's of (and kept an example of a painting for her scrapbook). What else should I be doing?

Please can you help because I'm getting in a bit of a state about what I need to do. I'm wanting to do some planning tomorrow to start on Tuesday (Christmas related I suppose as it will be 1st Dec!).

sarah707
30-11-2009, 07:54 AM
Try and think about it over the week...

You do lots of Eyfs just by following the child's routine to start with so you can write that up and not need to do it again unless something changes.

Then go with the child's interests... she likes balls says mum, so plan to let her experience a number of different sizes / types of balls...

Don't over complicate things and you'll be surprised how much links in to the Eyfs.

Hth :D

Cazz
30-11-2009, 09:51 AM
Try and think about it over the week...

You do lots of Eyfs just by following the child's routine to start with so you can write that up and not need to do it again unless something changes.

Then go with the child's interests... she likes balls says mum, so plan to let her experience a number of different sizes / types of balls...

Don't over complicate things and you'll be surprised how much links in to the Eyfs.

Hth :D

Thanks for your reply Sarah but I'm still a bit confused by it all!

I can see what you're saying about identifying her interests and noting it as an observation but I thought I was supposed to plan activities in advance? Are observations enough for the babies at the moment rather than planning?

I have bought a scrapbook - do I put everything in there, i.e. photo's and examples of work and observations, or should observations be kept in a seperate file?

Sorry to be dipsy but this is all going way over my head at the moment! :panic: I thought I'd just about got my head round it and now it's come down to doing it I want to make sure I get it right.

sarah707
30-11-2009, 09:58 AM
It's very hard to plan in advance for babies - they are not the same as older children because they change so quickly.

Yes, for over 3s you will have a clear idea of what you want to do with them during the week... which will be flexible and change if they come in with other interests or suggestions.

BUT for babies you must follow what they want to do and extend their interests...

I tried to use scrap books but failed because there were too many other bits of paper - so instead I've used the coloured pages as part of the child's file to make them nice and bright.

So I have - notes from parents, observations, ideas for next steps, other notes about the child... all combined in one file for each child. I try and update them weekly - but tbh I am a bit behind just now :rolleyes:

Does that make more sense? Say if it doesn't, it's not easy to get your head around to start with :D

Cazz
30-11-2009, 10:10 AM
Yes thanks I'm starting to understand!

I'll do some planning for the 3 year old then and just do observations on the babies. I didn't want to get pulled up by Ofsted for not doing enough with them but that's put my mind at rest.

Is this along the right lines for the babies? One is rolling onto her side so I'm going to put this down as an observation and the next step is to put toys slightly further away so she has to move for them? The other is crawling and starting to pull himself up so the next step is to provide him with a toy that he can stand up and play with?

Can I just ask what you mean by notes from parents in your files? Is that the child record form etc or something else? Sounds quite a good idea to use a file - is that a ring binder type? At the moment I've got a cardboard folder for each child with all paperwork relating to them (i.e contract, child record form, information sheet, permission forms). A file would save having to sit and glue pieces of paper etc in! The reason I was going to do a scrapbook was that someone told me how nice it is for the child to take away and look through when they leave.

Sorry to be a pain Sarah!

sarah707
30-11-2009, 10:34 AM
Scrap books are nice and work for some people!

They didn't for me because I have lots of pre-printed sheets and it started to look messy...

It really is a choice thing - you could try both methods (one for each child) and see how they go. There's nothing to say you can't change your mind.

Absolutely right for the babies! Yes! :thumbsup:

Then, you'll see the baby looking in a mirror in a book... and that's your obs (sense of self) and your next steps will be to provide more safe mirrors.

Or baby will reach out to take the spoon at lunch time and that's your obs... next steps to let her try to use the spoon...

Like I say, no point in overcomplicating it.

Check the Eyfs ages and stages for each child and make notes of how it all links in. There are lots of next steps ideas there too.

When parents tell you something... what their child has done at home / where they've been at the weekend / what's going on in their lives / visitors to their house... write it down.

It's great for showing partnership working - this is VERY important in Scotland as well where the 2009 focus is firmly on parent partnerships.

:D

Cazz
30-11-2009, 04:02 PM
Thanks again Sarah - you're a star!!

I've only managed to get one scrapbook at the moment - no more available in our town at moment :rolleyes: I think I'll start off using that for my 3 year old and if it's not working I can always remove the pages and start a file as you suggested.

The working in partnership with parents thing will be a bit of a problem with this family - they are extremely quiet and you barely get a thing out of them. Mum just nods and agrees with anything I say to her! I'm lucky if I get the daily dairy back! Lucky I'm not in Scotland then!

The parent of my 7 month old on a Friday is completely different though - she is always willing to chat and talk about G so I'll have to make sure I emphasise the working with parents part with that family!!

Thanks so much for your help Sarah - no doubt I'll be back asking for more help soon!!