Programme Planning - guided by the EYLF

New to Australia, so after reading the latest Australian NQS PLP newsletter regarding programme planning, I am itched to share a planning story to illustrate how my colleagues in New Zealand notice, recognise, respond to children's interests in our planning. Click this link if your are interested in how Kiwi teachers plan within their curriculum framework. 

One late Spring and early Summer, children of my kindy kept bringing in flowers and seasonal fruits, like strawberry and cherry, from home for show and tell. My team had a few discussions about how to recognise children's obvious interest in flowers? the season? gardening? or was it about something else? Yes, usually the teachers would dig deeper instead of  just labeling an interest.

We decided to go back to the children to find out more information. At mat-time, we had a conference with the children, asking what they know about fruits and flowers. While the children talked, a teacher recorded the ideas on the whiteboard and another teacher prompted for more details. Probably the children noted that their opinions were valued, many ideas were expressed, ranging from flowers are beautiful, fruits are delicious and juicy, helping Mum and Dad in the garden to grow strawberries and so on. Based on the children's voice, the teacher pulled out the curriculum document, Te whaariki and picked out some principles, learning outcomes and goals to work on. 

NQS PLP  newsletter - Quality Area 1 reminds educators very specifically that a learning framework needs to guide all aspects of pedagogical decision-making and everyday work. That means thinking about belonging, being and becoming, the Principles, the Practices and the Learning Outcomes in the EYLF.

Eventually, we agreed to work on the strands of Communication, Belonging, and Exploration. As New Zealand's curriculum takes a socio-cultural approach, so we planned about what to teach and how to teach with reference to the Curriculum, with our aspiration that the children will become a confident and competent learner, communicator and develop a strong sense of belonging.

The children’s ideas are an important source of curriculum but only one of many possible sources that reflect the complex ecology of their lives.’ (Jones, Evans and Stritzel, p. 5)  - NQS ELP newsletter

Rather than setting out a list of learning activities for a specified period of time, the teacher decided on just a couple of initial learning experiences to 'provoke' children to develop their interest and knowledge. 

NQS PLP - Planning the program is more than completing documentation that is displayed on a wall (or in a journal) outlining what will happen this week/ fortnight.

First, it's making fruit kebab. Children were asked to bring a piece of fruit from home, and then cut them up, put them in one bowl for everyone to thread onto a skewer. The teacher took advantage of the teaching opportunity to slow down the process, talking about the aroma, colour and texture of the fruits; a bit of vocabulary like pip, stone, and core...At the same time, the teachers kept their ears open and listened actively for the next step in planning the programme. Conversations included  the difference between mandarins and oranges; they noticed that fruits 'usually' have seeds in a variety shape and size, but what about banana? Afterwards, the teachers documented the activity and summarised the topics raised for the next step for learning, leading to still life drawing of fruits including mandarins,  researching on computer about fruits, displaying non-fiction books about fruits and fruit trees. As parents were involved in sending fruits from home, at pick up time, the teachers further included them in the fruits investigation by asking them to talk about the fruit kebab at home.  One parent was surprised her girl actually ate kiwi fruit as she did not like it. Another parent said her boy did not eat fruits and only drink juice, leading to fruit juice making at kindy, when we also studied fruits vs vegetables, as the boy's special juice had carrot in it! What a nice to way to appreciate the diversity of eating habits.

Second major activity was growing seeds, sunflower seeds. Before the activity started, we talked and discussed first, while all the materials, like soil and seeds were kept away. The children were so used to conference that they felt free to express their views, ask questions and listen to each other. These competent communicators contributed what they knew about planting, so they said: we needed dirt/soil, rain (water) and the sun (moon as well as plants grew at night). 'Seeds from the Warehouse (a popular shopping place in NZ), of course,' said a child. Afterwards, the teachers arranged a series of learning activities to tease out their ideas, such as planting seeds on cotton wools without soil, collecting seeds at lunchtime from grape, avocado, and apple in their lunch box,  and trying to grow them. 

NQS PLP -In addition to experiences that help children progress toward the broad goal or learning intent, educators plan for:
ƒmaterials are displayed in inviting and accessible ways for children to choose and extend their interests... there is a balance between active and quiet experiences... specific resources to follow up individual children’s interests are available... experiences that build on children’s interests... 

Also, when the teacher gave instruction about putting soil on top of a seed, a child reasoned that 'so birds can't see it and eat it.' As the voice of the child is most valued in programme planning, the teacher provoked the child to think what else did the bird eat; what about a smart bird did find the seed and eat it, leading to the next lots of investigation on computer; the scarecrow project, and the bird feed project. The initial planting and the follow-up activities were documented and displayed on the wall, highlighting the child's voice and teachers' interpretation and reflection, which informed the parents about what and how learning happened here, as well as why the teachers plan in such way. The outcome was wonderful, and well informed parents also contributed by suggesting that once the seeds grew into seedlings, they needed to be replanted in the garden as the pottle of soil could no longer sustain the growth; seedlings needed space and so on. 

NQS PLP - According to the Guide to the National Quality Standard, ‘Planning involves observing, gathering and interpreting information about children to inform the preparation of environments and experiences that engage them and are meaningful for them. It also involves reflecting on and documenting children’s experiences and learning’ (p. 22).

Enough writing for the day. I'll unpack this planning story in more details next week.

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      Want more planning stories, click this link, it is fun to read.