I am a great believer in the power of play. Play motivates all areas of learning and stimulates our desire for learning. Children have so much fun when playing that they don’t realise they are learning. Throughout my years working in early years, I truly have seen how play is the best way for children to learn – is the way they learn.
Play can be spontaneous – we cannot plan for play. Play is flexible – it can go anywhere and be anything. Play is unique to each individual child. Play is joyful.
Anna Ephgrave tells us that ‘In The Moment Planning’ is nothing new. Parents do it, quite naturally, all the time. It is what skilful practitioners have always done – responding to children in a way that is unique to them, reacting to their unique interests in that moment.
IN THE MOMENT
In The Moment Planning resonated with our desire for a child-centred approach. It has the premise that you cannot plan for children in advance because you have no idea what they will be interested in that day.
A key feature is the involvement of parents. Giving them a voice. This was another reason we felt working in this way would be positive.
We began by reading Ephgrave’s book Planning in the Moment with Young Children. We then found some relevant local training. Meanwhile, we started discussing this approach and how it would be beneficial for our staff and children.
All staff attended training on ‘spotting teachable moments’, which helped to support the way we wanted to work. We realised it was not so different from how we used to work years ago before we were all advised to create lots of planning!
We implemented a trial which we ran in the summer term. This helped us to see how effective this way of working was going to be. It gave us the opportunity to address any potential issues so we could rectify these ready for September.
We prioritised communicating with parents about the changes and I ran a training session to introduce the process. I continue to offer this each September for any new parents – to ensure they are given the time to fully understand the benefits for their children and how their support is crucial.
Staff must be on board and share the same vision. You must listen to everyone’s opinion: In The Moment Planning is liberating, but it can also be daunting.
Some may find any change challenging. If you have always worked in one way, it may be hard to see the point of change. For us, a key objective was to reduce the amount of paperwork. Focusing on this point really helped staff to feel that this would be a change for the good.
Some challenges may emerge as you begin a change – we don’t know what we don’t know. Keep talking to each other and finding solutions together.
The support of parents is crucial. Clear information for them can reduce any concerns they may have. Give them opportunities to ask questions and invite them to see how it works in practice. They need to see just how beneficial it is for children.
POSITIVE RESPONSE
The children have responded positively. I am sure this is because we have so much more time to actually engage with them and respond immediately. The children know their interests are followed. They feel valued and listened to.
We have taken away any potential stress and anxiety in being moved away from something they were deeply engaged with to participate in other activities. They are given space and time to devote to their interests and we are there to support them, engage with them and, when appropriate, to extend and provoke learning while remaining in the moment with them.
The children are calm. We have less challenging behaviour because we avoid the difficulties of unnecessary transitions to other activities. We can see that the children have a real sense of purpose and a natural desire to learn.
Dawn Rigby is an early years professional and consultant, and the author of Making Play Work in Early Years Settings (Corwin UK), which includes the story of her setting’s journey to putting play at the heart of what it does: https://www.dawnrigby.com
MORE INFORMATION
- For a longer version of this article, go to www.nurseryworld.co.uk