In Reception we now follow an ‘In the moment planning’ model, which means that we do not pre plan any of the activities taking place each day, except for short phonics and maths sessions. This is to enable the children to completely follow their own interests and to be able to have the time to become fully engaged in a self chosen activity for long periods of time if they so wish. Research shows us that when a child is immersed in play their brain is at it’s most productive, with new connections being made all the time. This is the perfect moment for an adult to support the child to move their learning forward and build on what they know already. Because the activity was initiated by the child, they set the agenda and there is a more natural flow to what follows next and no pressure to get ‘the right answer’. There is of course still place for adult led tasks, but these should only take up a proportion of the day.
As Mrs Meg says in her article "Keeping Early Years Unique", there are on average 1000 interactions each day between the adults in the setting and the children. Here are a few of them to illustrate the varied learning experiences that have been initiated by the children and then supported by the adults.