We recently published an article that explains what ‘in the moment’ planning is. It’s an education principle that we use a lot at Dodleston Pre-School, and it’s certainly an approach that parents can take on board too.
If you’re trying to choose the right pre-school, it’s worth looking into the different education principles to see which you like the sound of. If you’ve never heard of ‘in the moment’ planning, this guide shows exactly how we apply it and why it works so well.
Creepies, crawlies and worms – oh my!
Lots of our preschoolers are fascinated by insects, and who can blame them.
Currently, one of our children likes to read the same insect book every day. He drew Heather’s attention to a specific page about how to make your own bugs out of egg boxes and pipe cleaners – he even brought her some pipe cleaners as a hint!
While we didn’t have any egg boxes available, we were able to come up with some alternative cardboard boxes that he could use from snack time.
We aren’t into ‘one size fits all’ activities where everyone makes the same thing with the same colours, because we don’t find that they encourage individuality, choice or creativity.
However, on this occasion, we were following a child’s own interests and their request, so we were happy to act on the book’s suggestions. This is the best part of ‘in the moment’ planning – we had no idea we’d be making bugs out of boxes and pipe cleaners when we started the day!
One by one, nearly all of the children came over to make their bugs too. They chatted about their progress, used scissors safely to make the holes, applied fine motor skills to use the glue spreaders, picked up eyes and threaded the legs and they referred to the book for next steps.
These are just a couple of the creations they made!
This is a perfect example of ‘in the moment’ planning – observing and listening to a child, waiting to be invited into the play and extending the interest if appropriate.
Encouraging learning through play
We’re big believers in teaching children, but in such a way they aren’t aware they’re being taught. Learning is so important, but sitting down with a pencil and paper can wait until big school. For now, we’re all about learning and playing.
Carrying on with our insect theme, we spent the rest of the day counting insects. How many worms? How many slugs? How many is that in total? How many will there be when one falls off? The children enjoyed the counting lesson, plus the worms and slugs made it extra entertaining.
In other areas of the outdoor pre-school, we have had engineering in the willow dome, literacy and art on the fence line and science in the mud kitchen!
Every day is a play day, and the children have no idea (and nor should they) how much learning is happening.
