Thanet Early Years Project Schema Vision

In adopting a schema approach to children's learning and development our nurseries and creches will achieve:

• Enriched observations where practitioners understand what learning is taking place.
• The key person will keep richer learning stories of individual children in their care.
• There will be an enhanced environment which includes more risk taking; tuning into children and just 'letting children be'.
• Children will be leading the practitioners as opposed to practioners leading the children in activites.
• Practitioners will be more relaxed, knowledgeable and highly motivated.
• There will be strong partnerships with parents and sustained shared dialogue about children's schemas, learning and development.

However, in order for TEYP to achieve this vision and the above success; 70 plus staff need to be trained and I  have been given the mammoth task of writing and producing it.

Once the schema training  is written by myself and colleague, Mandy we are to deliver it to all nursery staff (and some creche staff) during our TEYP Staff Training Week June 2011.

Rotation Schema

WATCH THIS SPACE!

Going through or round a boundary

Going through a boundary schema - causing oneself or some material to go through a boundary and emerge at the other side, (Arnold 2010)

A child following a fascination with things or oneself that goes through a boundary may enjoy:

• Threading Activities
• Tying Knots
• Crawling through a tunnel
• Tying items up
• Watching water or sand run through holes (plant pots/ colander)



This two year old is not interested in the water wheel spinning or in the  trajectory of the water pouring out of the cup. She is fascinated and watching the water as it passes through the boundary of the water wheel and emerges out of the other side.

Children interested in items going through boundaries will enjoy:

• Marble runs
• Circle Games
• Tunnels
• String/Rope
• Going through doorways and into another room
• Going through one area of space into another
• Watching water go through the boundary of the sink hole
• Watching water going thorugh pipes and coming out the other side.
• Watching trains go though tunnels.
• Lentils through the holes of a colander or funnel



This boy watches again and again a tube passing through a bridge

Looking through a boundary

Children love to go through the boundary of a tunnel

Athey makes a link between this schema, and some of the others she observed: 'the schemas going through, enveloping, containing and going round were closely related and it was sometimes difficult to differentiate between them', (Athey 1990:153).

This child shows an interest in placing rings over the top of  a post thus allowing the post to 'go through the boundary' of the ring. 

Containment!!!!!!!

A child who is fascinated with putting one thing inside another could be following a containment schema.

This girl uses the marked enclosures to place the  animals thereby containing them.

These children fill a large bag with soil.

Lots of children like to contain soil in pots

Children fascinated with containing may:

• Like to put buttons into boxes and pennies in buckets
• Like putting things in bags and pots
• Enjoy shape sorting toys
• Like to climb into and sit in boxes
• Love filling up buckets with sand

• Draw or paint pictures then draw circles or boxes around them.    

If a child has a containment schema they will appreciate it if you provide:

• Pots and things they can fill them with
• Containers to fill in the bath or sink
• Dry play such as pasta and pots to fill
• Boxes and tents to go in.

Please be aware that this schema can be linked to the transporting schema (containers to be filled) and similar to enclosing (filling bottles with water) (and lining them up (trajectory). It is therefore important to note:
WHAT IS THE CHILD'S INTEREST? Then you will know the difference.

 For example is your child interested in the filling of the barrow (containment) or transporting it?(transporting)
Is your child pouring water into the cup and stopping when it is full (containment) OR are they actually watching while the water pours out of the jug (trajectory) therefore the cup automatically overfills.

REMEMBER:
It is so important to TUNE into the child and see WHAT they are looking at as opposed to what they are doing.

Good Gracious me! Did you say, On Top!

'Harry and Georgia are throwing small, plastic balls onto the roof of the lean-to and giggling as the balls roll to the edge and fall back down,' (Arnold 2003:43)

Children following an on top schema are interested in the concepts of  'up/down' 'over', 'under' and 'on top'. They normally like to:

This boy climbs a tree in nursery
closely supervised by staff.
No other child that day
copied or wanted to climb
the tree.

• climb on top of furniture, trees, walls, climbing frames, etc.
• play with toys on top of tables or cupboards instead of on the floor
• put items on top of their head, like hats, cones, etc
• balance on top of objects and walk along like a wall or balance beams
• pat an adult gently on top of their head to gain attention.

Children pursuing an on top schema are expert at what they do. They are constantly climbing again and again and therefore gain lots of experience. They have a head for heights and will tend to climb higher than their peers. Some staff and parents worry that other children will copy this behaviour; however children will rarely copy behaviour they are not comfortable or confident with.

 


A cone 'on top' of his head.

  



Balancing 'on top' of the crates



This boy climbs up using
the rope to pull him up



Heaping and Scattering? What could that possibly be?

When children follow a fascination in scattering they enjoy placing objects into a pile or scattering them into space for example they may tip all the bricks out onto the floor and/or scatter shredded paper or dry leaves.

One of the good things about children who scatter is that they like to heap. This can therefore be managed both ways. For example, scattering and then heaping is ideal because the child who wanted to throw the oats in this photo above also wanted to heap the oats thus encouraging him to tidy up after activities. Later in the blog I will gather some suggestions from staff around the nurseries and creches on how they manage our heapers and scatterers in the setting.

If a child is following a scattering schema offer them activities such as:

• Shredded paper in troughs
• Lolly pop sticks
• Watering can with a rose
• Dust pan and brush
• Feeding the birds
• Spray bottles
• Sieves and colanders in sand and water
• Whisks placed in liquid and taken out again whilst still spinning
• Pasta, oats etc in flat trays or builders trays
• Small Lego bricks/wooden blocks to scatter
• Ball ponds

Allow children to scatter items into troughs, tuft trays, bowls; they can even throw wet sponges against a plastic sheet, use flours in flour shakers and blow and pop bubbles.

Lets all TRANSPORT!

Transporting Water
 from one end of the garden to the other end.

Children transfer objects from one place to another often using trundle trolleys, buggies and buckets, or wheel barrows. Exploring transporting develops understanding of quantity and number.

Transporting a friend!

When transporting items these children will fill bags, prams, wheelbarrows (enveloping) and then transport them to another part of the nursery. They have been known to move furniture and even the whole of the role play area describing their play as 'moving house' or 'going on holiday'.

Do any parents recognize this schema at home?

The child who carries everything from one place to another and causes disarray in your home; moving furniture etc is likely to be following a transporting schema because nothing is ever left in its place.

But your child is learning! Transporting schema particularly involves mathematical and language development. When children collect objects or make heaps of things we can encourage them to estimate quantity and predict size and weight.

We can extend their language by making comments such as 'I can see you are...'

These children used drain pipes and buckets
to transport the water

• pushing
• pulling
going fast/slow
• coming
• going
• carrying
• collecting
• forwards
• backwards
• weaving
• making a pathway 

Connecting Schema

A connection schema is all about connecting things together. It does not necessarily need to link or interconnect either like a train track. Children following a connection schema may pat you on the hand or place a hand on your arm. These children just love to connect!

A child with a connection schema may:

• tie your chair legs (or even your legs) together!
• Love joining the carriages of trains together or train tracks - and then take them apart again.
• Enjoy a variety of construction toys.
• Like opening and closing doors.
• Enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles.


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A child following a connection schema enjoys a self-initiated game being connected together with friends







So, tell me about envelopment and enclosure.

Enclosure is all about 'insideness'. For example children may like to wrap things, cover things, fill empty space or enclose something or themselves.

This girl builds with blocks and encloses herself.

A child may begin to show evidence of having an enclosure schema from an early age. They may put toys inside the washing machine or small stones inside their pockets. As a parent this can be rather frustrating!



This girl uses a scarf and a necklace to enclose
her neck. Some children wear lots of bangles to enclose their arm.

Children who are following a enclosure schema are developing their understanding of capacity and volume. These concepts are important in the development of mathematical and scientific knowledge.

Envelopment Schema

A child who is fascinated with wrapping themselves up in materials and likes to cover their hands and body with paint are following an envelopment schema. These children enjoy exploring 'under' and 'insideness'. They like to fill bags, wrap up parcels, dress up, bury things - including their hands and feet - play inside tents and tunnels.

Once they have painted a picture they are more likely to cover it over completely or fold it up into a tiny piece then put it in their pocket.

Exploring an enveloping schema can help children to develop an understanding of space and size, volume and capacity. During their play envelopers develop ideas about estimating size and predicting - 'what fits inside this?' and 'How much paper will I need to wrap this box?'

This four year old decides to paint the window. It is completely covered with red paint.

Another child decided to paint the inside of a bowl. He then placed a box inside the painted bowl before painting the inside of the box.

What is a rotation schema?

Some children are fascinated by things that are circular or that spin and rotate. For example they are fixated on the washing machine when it spins fast or tumbles round. They like playing with water wheels, spinning tops, hoops and balls and rather than ride their bike they like to tip it upside down and spin the wheels.

Rotation is all about things that go round or have a round shape. This boy is rolling a tyre and will occasionally stop to rock the tyre to and fro in order to feel the roundness of the tyre.

Achild fascinated with rotation will:

• like spinning round
• love anything with wheels that turn
• enjoy ring games and rotation dances

Children following a rotation schema may be interested in the movement aspect; 'When this goes round, this happens'. This is also an important schema in terms of the development of children's writing, as, in English,  many lower case letters involve an element of rotation. These children also enjoy repetitive stories and rhymes.

Trajectory Schema

What is a trajectory schema?

Trajectory is all about straight lines up and down or across.

Trajectory schema may have elements of vertical, horizontal and grid movements. 

A child that has a trajectory schema is interested in things, and themselves moving in straight lines;  up and down or across. It is a very common schema and one that young babies will often display;  explaining why they love to drop things from their highchairs.

This two year old builds a trajectory line with blocks

A child with a trajectory schema may

• Always seem to be running around.
• Likes throwing things.
• Likes to play with running water.
• Likes pushing or building things in a straight line.

Main behaviours associated with trajectory schema include:

• Spending a long time in the bathroom playing with running water
• Climbing onto and jumping off equipment  

Children placing cartons and crates in straight lines

• Drawing or painting lines
• Making lines of cars, bricks, animals etc
• Making trails
• Bouncing balls
• Pouring water from jugs
• Hose pipes and sprays
• Dribble runny paint

This two year old child has positioned animals in a straight line

Okay, so what is a schema?

A schema is simply a pattern of behaviour. When you watch children's natural actions and investigations you notice that their behaviour is not random. There is a pattern to each indivdual child's behaviour. This pattern is called a 'schema'.

'Schemas are repeated behaviours that babies and young children use to explore and understand the world.' (Nutbrown 1994).

Some children have one very clear schema; others have a number of schemas called a cluster. In knowing which schema a child is following we can begin to make sense of what children are doing?

10 Common Schemas

• Trajectory
• Rotation
• Connection
• Transporting
• Heaping and Scattering
• On Top
• Containment
• Envelopment
• Enclosure
• Going Through A Boundary

Infected!

Like most people when first introduced to the concept of children following schemas; I was sceptic. My first thoughts being...'Really! Do children really do this stuff? I've never noticed those kinds of behaviours in any of the children attending our nurseries! Surely, it's just a coincidence. After all, these patterns of behaviour from our children are random? Right?!

Wrong!

Schemas are now recognised as an important part of children's growth and learning and there is even a place for it in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). However, it was the schema training that I attended recently that really inspired me and made me look at how we approached children's learning and development in our settings; It made me question:

• What are we doing in terms of following children's real interests?
• Why do we plan activities and new experiences the way we do?
• Is our planning and assessment effective and personal to all our children?
• How could we use the schema approach to improve upon what we do?
• How could we make it work for us?

 My main intention is to enable practitioners to identify and understand what schemas are and how they can plan for and support children's learning and development through using this new knowledge of children's current schemas (interests). But before I can do that I have to infect my colleagues, as I was infected; hope that 70 plus staff  feel my own excitement about such a major change to TEYP and convince them to give me a chance to show that using schemas as an approach to understanding and planning for children's learning is the way for us to go.

The road is long!