Observant practitioners explored how they could follow children's interests to extend their thinking and learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage, as Di Chilvers shows.

We hear a great deal nowadays about following children's interests, child-initiated learning and play and sustained shared thinking. EYFS Principles into Practice card 3.2 notes: 'Every child's learning journey takes a personal path based on their own individual interest, experiences and curriculum on offer' (Enabling Environments - Supporting Every Child).

But what does it all mean? How do we make sure that a child's interest forms a significant part of our daily work with them? What do children's interests look like and how can we possibly manage a nursery or reception class of 30-plus children if they all have different interests? Above all, how can we be sure that children are going to develop and learn if we hand the planning over to them?

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Posted under:

Curriculum Practice Child Development Observation Assessment and Planning Personal social and emotional speech and language Cognitive Communication Learning and Development