By the end of the foundation stage, most children will maintain attention, concentrate and sit quietly when appropriate.
Personal, social and emotional development
Series guide
This series on the new early years curriculum will illustrate how different children of different ages reach a particular goal. Through this format, the series aims to:
1 illustrate the type of activity which allows a child to achieve this goal
2 aid the planning of developmentally appropriate activities
3 highlight the practitioner's role, and
4 demonstrate that children, as individuals, will reach a goal in different ways.
It's a cold, frosty morning with an easterly wind blowing, but the sun is shining. Shanaz, Harry and Tracey have chosen to go outside. The tarmac area of their early years setting is frosty. The blades of grass in the garden are stiff and white.
Shanaz is just three years old. She walks along the edge where the tarmac meets the grass, touching the blades of grass which are sparkling in the sunlight. As she touches them, using a pincer movement with her finger and thumb to pull the frost off each blade, she makes some blades snap or bend. She concentrates hard as she moves along the edge.
Harry is three and a half years old. He goes to the wagon, pulls it along behind him and notices the tracks left on the frosty tarmac. He runs with the truck towed behind him, stops abruptly, then sits down to examine the tracks. He pushes his hand across the frost, making tracks with his finger. This activity maintains his attention and he sits quietly. He continues rushing along with the truck in tow, stopping suddenly, and sitting quietly making line drawings in the frost for about 20 minutes.
Tracy is aged four years and one month. She pushes a doll in a pushchair and pretends that she is going shopping, She talks to her doll 'child' about being careful not to slip. 'It's icy cold,' she says. She sustains this play scenario for ten minutes, and then notices the practitioner has come outside with George (four years and eight months) and Chris (four years and one month).
These children have been indoors making bird cakes and are going to hang them on the tree. Tracey joins them, as do Harry and Shanaz. The five children sit quietly on wooden boxes, watching the practitioner hang the cakes from the branch and hoping to see the birds come to eat the food.
Harry soon returns to experiment and concentrate on making tracks with his truck. The practitioner encourages the others to sprinkle bird crumbs under the hanging food, move their boxes and sit and watch at a distance so as not to frighten the birds away from coming to feed.
They are rewarded by sitting quietly. Pigeons, a robin and two thrushes come to feed. Shanaz stays for a few minutes before moving on to other pursuits. Chris, George and Tracey stay, throw more food on the ground, and then sit watching more birds descend. Even though this is the middle of a large town, a squirrel comes to eat.
The practitioner places chairs near the window indoors, so that all the children can observe the birds feeding. Tracey goes indoors and walks to the workshop area. She selects brown clay and makes a bird. She says it is a robin and she paints the front red. She is pleased with the robin-like appearance of her model. She has partly been standing at the table and partly sitting while making it. She shows it to the practitioner. 'It's a bird, like we saw eating the food', she says.
The practitioner supports her learning by saying, 'It is a beautiful bird, Tracey. I see it has a red breast.' And she extends Tracey's learning by direct teaching when she says, 'Robins have red breasts'. Tracey replies thoughtfully, 'It's a robin.'
At the end of the session, during group time, the practitioner asks Tracey's permission to use the model as a prop while they sing:
'Little robin red breast sat upon a rail,
And niddle, noddle went his head,
And waggle went his tail,
As little robin red breast sat upon a rail.'
Tracey, Shanaz, Harry, Chris and George are riveted. They maintain attention, concentrate and sit quietly during this appropriate activity.
Each of these children have made a different journey towards the same goal. Their journey has depended on their personality, previous experience, age and interest in either birds or frost.
Tina Bruce is a visiting professor at the University of North London and a member of the QCA working party advising on the new curriculum framework for the foundation stage