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CHCFC503A: Foster social development in early childhood

Provide opportunities for social interaction

Contents

Plan and provide opportunities for different forms of social interaction between children with respect for each child’s needs, interests and developmental stage 4

Planning opportunities for social interaction 4

Using everyday experiences and routines to foster social development 5

Extending social skills through planned activities 6

Role of learning centres in developing social skills 8

Using an experience plan format 8

Working with children of different ages 14

Encourage children to interact with a variety of people and to initiate and develop contact with others, as appropriate 15

Setting up the environment to promote cooperative interactions 16

Using dramatic play to foster social development19

Arrange the environment to encourage interaction and also accommodate a child’s need for privacy, solitude and/or quiet21

Celebrate special occasions in culturally-sensitive ways 22

Integrating culturally-relevant experiences 22

Celebrating culturally diverse special occasions 22

Respect children’s choice to watch and observe24

Structure experiences and equipment in ways that promote cooperation and conflict resolution 25

Fostering conflict-resolution skills 25

Foster and respect children’s own grouping choice 27

Promoting friendships and group membership 27

Talk about and respond to children as group members as well as individuals 29

2 Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCFC503A: Reader LO 9309 © NSW DET 2010

Identify and monitor children’s social skills and development 30

Stages of social development 30

Monitoring progress in social development of individuals and groups 35

Promote and support the use of social skills relevant to the transition to school for children of an appropriate age 37

Transition to ‘Big School’ 37

Appendix 1: Learning centres 38

Setting up areas 38

Using learning centres 43

Appendix 2: Planning experiences in children’s services 50

Experience plan format 52

References 63

Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCFC503A: Reader LO 9309 3© NSW DET 2010

Plan and provide opportunities for different forms of social interaction between children with respect for each child’s needs, interests and developmental stage

Planning opportunities for social interaction Do you remember your first friends? Why were you friends with them? Was it their Lego or Barbie collection? Was it because they were next door or across the road? Did you have a ‘best’ friend at school? Why were they ‘best’? Do you remember joining a large group of children you didn’t know—you might have changed schools or perhaps it was a sports or social group. How did you feel? What helped you make friends?

Good friends

Children are born with social skills and temperamental traits, which they develop throughout the early years in many different ways. Children are not born knowing how to play cooperatively, maintain friendships, enter group activities or even accept responsibility for tasks. All these are learnt through direction, observation and the example of adults and older children around them.


Everyday living requires a multitude of social skills. For example, just to get through the morning with those people you might share a house with may involve the need to take turns in the bathroom without conflict and being aware of other’s moods in the morning and how to manage them. Perhaps the social skill of turn taking is also used when waiting to board public transport, or you may need to use the complicated rules of driving courteously and considerately with others. Humans often live in built-up areas where social skills are important so that the sharing of space can occur with minimum conflict.

We learn these skills through guidance, practice and often through opportunities for social play with other children where we could practise them without fear of ‘getting it wrong’.

Using everyday experiences and routines to foster social developmentEveryday routines and experiences provide many opportunities to support and model appropriate social interactions with children. Let’s think about the beginning of the child’s time in care and identify the social skills that can be modelled or fostered at this point.

Use arrival time to foster social development

Arrival timeDoes the child greet caregivers and other children? Are they greeted back appropriately? Are the carers there to welcome them? Is the body language of carers welcoming, modelling acceptance and friendly interactions? Does the environment allow children to move smoothly from welcoming to group activity? Does the child know how to join a group? Are groups accepting of the child’s attempt to join them?


An example of a successful arrival time can be seen in the following scenario:

Maria is standing by the door as the children arrive at 9 am for preschool. She greets every child and parent by name and asks them how they are. She quickly tells them some of the things that they are going to be doing at preschool today. Sonya and Alison, the other two caregivers, are standing nearby ready to help children and parents with information or settling in. They then direct them to an activity that has been set up ready. When a tearful Jasmine arrives clutching Mum’s leg, Maria gets down to Jasmines eye level and says: ‘Hi Jasmine, you seem a bit sad today.’ She then goes with Jasmine and her Mum to settle Jasmine and assist her with separating. Sonya takes her place at the door, greeting the children and their parents and siblings.

Can you see in this scenario that the staff have worked out a routine for greeting the children and settling them into the day of preschool. They greet children and parents individually and immediately respond appropriately to the emotional states of the children. Think about how arrival times are managed at the centre you work in or one where you have done a placement. If possible, observe an arrival time and note down if the children were greeted, the tones and body language used, and whether they were invited to join an activity or group or whether they had to manage this themselves.

Let’s now look at some other everyday or routine experiences and how they can be used to foster social development. Think about meal times—always a good time to develop social and prosocial skills.

Activity 1

Extending social skills through planned activitiesYou can help children with their social skills through your direct involvement in their activities. Children love to join adults in the sandpit, at the paint corner or in the dress-up box. Talk about what you are doing while you are playing, eg ‘I really like this red. I think I will make the cow red too.’ This encourages the children to begin discussing their own work.

In dramatic play, it is often useful to take a role in order to encourage children to join the play, and then to gradually withdraw your role so they are playing together. Caregivers should observe each child’s level of play, eg solitary, parallel or associative. While the child’s choices of play levels must be respected, if a child is showing they would like to play more with others sometimes they need adult help to do it. Cues that they would like to play with others include prolonged watching of a group at play, saying they want to play too, crossing the play boundaries so they are almost in the group, or even disrupting group activities.


When a child indicates they want to play with others but doesn’t know how, it is useful for the caregiver to match the activity to the child’s observed ability level and provide them with practice in the type of play they are interested in, either alone or in parallel play with others, until they are confident with the activity. Play with the child yourself to model social skills of playing together, then invite that child and another child with less skills to join the group. Verbal cues might need to be suggested to the child to keep them in the play, eg ‘You tell Michael ‘I want to be the bus conductor!’ Once the play group is formed you can foster further social skill development through suggestions on plot or props, though only when this would not be seen as taking over the play too much.

In planning activities, you need to consider how your setting up will foster or inhibit social play. For example, one paint easel on its own does not necessarily foster social development, though it might open up opportunities for conflict resolution! Several easels clustered so the children can share the paints and discuss their work will foster their social skills. Read on to learn more about setting up learning centres to develop social skills.

Place easels together to encourage social skill development

Let’s examine an area typically found in a children’s service to see how it can be used to foster social skill development. The aim here is to think about how you might adjust the area depending on whether you are working with younger or older children, and the setting you are working in.

Photo of preschoolers working at a table


Craft area—preschoolersCraft trolleys can be positioned so that children working on different activities can share and discuss their choices, ask others to help them find some item and so on.

Craft should allow for children to make choices about whether they want to work on their own or work with others on a group project.

Adults should be involved in group projects, using opportunities to encourage children to cooperate, resolve any conflicts or disagreements, to discuss their work and plan together.

Craft area—older childrenInvolve children in planning craft activities, eg group collages, posters or construction works.

Children can bring in ideas and materials to discuss and develop projects around.

Children can develop, write out and display their own agreed rules for activities in the craft area.

Activities may be more functional, eg posters for a dance or vacation care activity.

Role of learning centres in developing social skillsIf you wish to recap your knowledge of learning centres then go to Appendix 1.

Using an experience plan formatYou may already understand the planning process and know how to complete an experience plan format. For a general overview go and read Planning experiences in children’s services in Appendix 2.


Case study: LingTime to meet Ling: She is 4 years and 3 months old and is new to the centre. English is her second language and she is becoming quite proficient in it. Read some of the observations written by her carers:

23/2/03: Ling has now been in the centre for three weeks. Her English is remarkably good even though she has only been in Australia for six months. She is keeping to herself at this stage. When 3.6-year-old Aimee approached her with a puzzle, her face lit up. Aimee and Ling played with the puzzle for five mins. Aimee then said ‘Let’s go to the home corner.’ Ling followed and played with Aimee for the rest of the morning.

2/3/03: Aimee is away today and Ling played by herself much of the day.

4/3/02: Ling, Aimee and Sarah were all at the lunch table, Aimee and Sarah were talking about a show they had seen on TV. Ling appeared to be listening intently to the conversation.

We are operating here with compartmentalised information about Ling that only tells us a little about her. What makes her tick? What does she like to do? What stimulates her? In what areas is she clever and able? You should know much more about the children you are planning experiences for. While it is difficult to plan meaningful experiences from snippets, we are going to do that for the purposes of this exercise.

Looking at the above information, we can see that Ling is relatively new to Australia, though her language skills seem to be quite proficient. She is beginning to form a friendship with Aimee. The question I would now be asking myself is how can I help Ling further in her socialising in the preschool setting? How can we build on these skills so that she is confident to join a variety of groups?

To this end I would like to facilitate Ling in her efforts to join groups. So far the experience plan would look like this.

Learner’s name: MS Plan number: One

Name of experience: Dramatic play Date/s presented: 23/02/2005

Number of children: 2–4 Names and ages of children:

L (4.3)

A (3.6)

Reasons you have chosen to present this experience

In the observations (23/2. 2/3 and 4/3) of Ling, I have noticed that she is beginning to form a friendship with Aimee and join in experiences with her. I want to extend Ling’s friendship group and abilities to join in with other groups of children.


Reasons for choosing the experienceThis should be a short statement that gives the reasons for doing the experience. There may be several reasons why you have chosen this experience. You may have planned this one experience for a number of different children but for a variety of different reasons. It may be a physical experience for one child but a social/emotional activity for another, and yet for another there may be a problem-solving emphasis. You may be following up on a child’s interests, introducing a new idea or following up a seasonal or unexpected event.

There is no one right way to write this section but generally it will include:

• the observation/s that the experience relates to• clear, valid reasons for doing this experience• brief background information if appropriate.

Identify developmental priorities or learning opportunitiesThe next section is of course the developmental priorities or learning opportunity. Think about the developmental domain we are looking at. In this topic we are talking about fostering social development. This immediately gives us a clue that we are hoping to develop some elements of this domain. Our developmental priorities might be to:

• extend Ling’s friendship group• enable Ling to, with the aid of a teacher, join a group of children in the

home corner.

Look at the following reasons for choosing the experience and the subsequent developmental priorities and decide if they meet the criteria set above. Remember we are looking to plan social experiences.

Example 1: Reasons for choosing the experience: Kiara (nine months old) hid her face in Mum’s shoulder when I approached her.

Developmental priorities:

To foster Kiara’s social development

Kiara will engage in a trust-building game with me for several minutes.

This is an appropriate social rationale and developmental priority. Could you see that this experience had appropriate linkage between the reasons for choosing the experience and the developmental priorities? By involving Kiara in trust-building games like ‘Round and round the garden’ for example we will be helping to improve her social development as we will be helping to create a secondary attachment figure for her. If her carer engages Kiara in these kinds of activities, she will gradually build up trust and attachment with her.


Activity 2

Describe how you will set up the learning environmentSetting up the learning environment is the next part of the experience plan. This should be one of the easiest sections to do. The key here is to be thorough. If someone else is going to take your experience, they need to be able to prepare appropriately. To this end you again need to be specific. So far our experience looks like this:



Number of children: 2–4 Names and ages of children:

L (4.3)

A (3.6)


In the observations (23/2. 2/3 and 4/3) of Ling, I have noticed that she is beginning to form a friendship with Aimee and join in experiences with her. I want to extend Ling’s friendship group and abilities to join in with other groups of children.

What materials do you need for Ling’s experience and where are you going to set it up? Look at this example below:

• Home corner set up with a variety of different utensils and objects from a variety of countries. Ensure there are chopsticks, bowls and food from the Chinese culture.

• Display a picture of families from a variety of cultures having a meal. Ensure a Chinese family is featured.

• Ensure the space is large enough for four children to fit in comfortably.• Set up in the normal space for home corner.

How will you involve the children in your experience?The procedure comes next. This is a step-by-step description of the activity. What exactly are you going to do and in what order? What questions are you going to ask? How are you going to introduce the activity to the child? How will you conclude it?

Have a look at the following procedure for Ling.

How will you involve the children in your experience?


Introduction

Either invite three children into home corner or wait until three children either similar age or younger than Ling are in home corner.

As the play begins, invite Ling to join in with the play. Tell Ling that there are some things in home corner that she may know how to use.

Main body

Take Ling to home corner, model asking the children if I can play with them. Encourage Ling to also ask if she can play with them. Ensure all the children know each other’s names.

Allow children to take lead in play but ensure that teacher is involved in the experience facilitating Ling’s efforts to join in.

Ask Ling to show everyone how to use the chopsticks. Talk about the pictures of the different families on the wall. Encourage the other children to try to pick up objects with chopsticks if appropriate.

Conclusion

If appropriate, gradually withdraw support as Ling becomes more comfortable in the situation.

EvaluationThe next part is the evaluation. Here you summarise exactly what happened. Did the child meet the objectives? What could you have changed?

Look at the evaluation for Ling in her home corner experience.

Reflection and evaluation of the experience

Ling achieved all the developmental priorities and more. She initially was a little shy with the other children, but asked if she could join in after observing me doing so. She stayed at the activity with the three other children for over 15 minutes. She showed us all how to use the chopsticks. We had a great time trying to pick up some small objects that we found in home corner.

I found that initially Ling needed the support of a carer, but after 5–10 mins I was able to successfully withdraw myself from the play experience. She was able to sustain the play with the other children for another 5–10 minutes. She was talking and interacting with all three children. She seemed to take real pride in the fact that she could manipulate the chopsticks.


Ling’s completed experience plan



Number of children: 2–4 Names and age of children:L (4.3)A (3.6)

Reasons you have chosen to present this experienceIn the observations (23/2. 2/3 and 4/3) of Ling, I have noticed that she is beginning to form a friendship with Aimee and join in experiences with her. I want to extend Ling’s friendship group and abilities to join in with other groups of children.

Identify developmental priorities/learning opportunitiesTo extend Ling’s friendship group.

Ling will, with the aid of a teacher, join a group of children in the home corner.

Describe how you will set up the learning environmentHome corner set up with a variety of different utensils and objects from variety of countries. Ensure there are chopsticks, bowls and food from Chinese culture.

Display picture of families from a variety of culture having a meal. Ensure a Chinese family is featured.

Ensure space is large enough for 4 children to fit in comfortably.

Set up in normal space for home corner.

How will you involve the children in your experience

Introduction Either invite three children into home corner or wait until three children either similar age or younger than Ling are in home corner.

As the play begins, invite Ling to join in with the play. Tell Ling that there are some things in home corner that she may know how to use.

Main bodyTake Ling to home corner, model asking the children if I can play with them. Encourage Ling to also ask if she can play with them. Ensure all the children know each other’s names.

Allow children to take lead in play but ensure that teacher is involved in the experience facilitating Ling’s efforts to join in.

Ask Ling to show everyone how to use the chopsticks. Talk about the pictures of the different families on the wall. Encourage the other children to try to pick up objects with chopsticks if appropriate.

Conclusion

If appropriate gradually withdraw support as Ling becomes more comfortable in the situation.

Reflection and evaluation of the experience

Ling achieved all the developmental priorities and more. She initially was a little shy with the other children, but asked if she could join in after observing me doing so. She stayed at the activity with the three other children for over 15 minutes. She showed us all how to use the chopsticks. We had a great time trying to pick up some small objects that we found in home corner.

I found that initially Ling needed the support of a carer, but after 5–10 mins I was able to successfully withdraw myself from the play experience. She was able to sustain the play with the other children for another 5–10 minutes. She was talking and interacting with all three children. She seemed to take real pride in the fact that she could manipulate the chopsticks.


Working with children of different agesIt is not uncommon to work with children of different ages. It is to be expected in out-of-home care, family day care, and in some long day care services that use ‘family groupings’. When different ages are placed together, there are advantages in that younger children have the opportunity to learn skills from older children, and older children have opportunities to develop pro-social behaviours through caring for the younger ones.

When planning for mixed-age groups, one strategy is to leave activities as open as possible. For example, a trolley of craft or painting equipment can be used by children according to their abilities, whatever their ages. Balls will be used by all children for simple throwing games or through to organised basketball or soccer.

In mixed-age groups, older children who are having problems in their social relationships with same-aged peers can practise their social skills without feeling the need to compete. Older children are less threatened by younger children and will share their emotions and discussions with them more freely. It can be a powerful intervention for children with social problems.

Working with different age groups together increases prosocial behaviours and learning, but caregivers must ensure that the children have opportunities to work together, with their peers, and alone if they wish. Older children are not a substitute for adult caregivers, and older children will have a need to sometimes work separately from younger children.

Group projects or other projects the caregiver may come up with themselves, encourage children to work together for common goals and interests.


Encourage children to interact with a variety of people and to initiate and develop contact with others, as appropriate

Developing cooperative behavioursCaregivers can foster children’s social skills through their modelling of prosocial behaviours and their interactions with the children. Research tells us that the most effective way of fostering children’s social development is reasoning and modelling by adults with whom the children have a warm and positive relationship. Caregivers can encourage children to extend their skill through verbal and non-verbal interactions, reinforcing, modelling and sometimes teaching, as well as with the activities and the environment they create.

Consider this scenario:

Ben is caring for a group of children 5–7 years of age. They want to play soccer but don’t agree on the rules. Alice (five years) has shoved Joel (six years) over a point of scoring and Joel looks like he is going to cry. Ben moves over to them and puts his hand on Joel’s shoulder. He lowers his body level, looks Alice in the eye without smiling, and says firmly: ‘Alice, when we play together we cooperate. We don’t push or shove or call names. Please apologise to Joel and then we can begin getting agreement from everyone on the rules.’

You can see that Ben kept his body language consistent with his spoken message. He made sure his head was at the same height as Alice’s and made eye contact. He used a firm tone to convey a serious message and directed Alice towards an appropriate response. At the same time he comforted Joel with body contact, recognising his distress non-verbally. Ben knows, however, that in Anglo-Australian culture most six-year-old boys don’t like to make it too obvious they have been upset by five-year-old girls, and Ben would await further cues from Joel as to whether he wanted more comfort than that.

There are many other strategies caregivers can use to extend children’s conversational and social skills. These include:


• always remembering to address children by name, using the correct pronunciation

• inviting children to activities or just letting them know you are available if they want to talk

• speaking politely to children, using polite forms, such as saying ‘excuse me’ when you need to interrupt one of their conversations

• demonstrating you are listening when they speak to you, through your attention and body language—the occasional absent-minded ‘mmmmm’ is not good enough

• inviting children to extend on what they are talking about, eg ‘What happened next?’

• remembering personal details about the children and using them as conversation-openers, eg ‘How’s your older sister going in her new job?’

• allowing silences when you are awaiting a response from children—sometimes it can take a while for children to get their thoughts together.

These and other practices in communication all demonstrate that you have respect for the child as a social being. One important aspect of respecting the child is respecting their right not to participate in social events. There will always be a variety of reasons why children will choose to watch an activity rather than participate.

Activity 3

Setting up the environment to promote cooperative interactionsWhen planning an environment the caregiver must look for a balance between spaces where children can be alone or talk quietly with a friend, through to spaces for large groups to play boisterously together. When planning provisions, the opportunities for fostering social skills in each should be considered.

It is also important to allow children control over their environment through providing routines they can easily become familiar with and can be taught how to master, such as washing hands, getting lunch from bags or even putting clothes on and off for outdoor play. If the child can accomplish these routines independently, they will feel more competent and comfortable in their environment.

The planning of the environment, the care routine and fostering self-help skills with children increase their social competence. Planning care routines and fostering self-help skills are discussed in other learning topics, so let’s focus on how to arrange the physical environment to foster social skills.

First, look at your space. Be aware of all the nooks and crannies and the placement of doors, water troughs, large immovable objects and soft rugs. Then


think about how the children move around it. Get down and waddle around. Then you can start arranging the room. Thinking about where items could best be placed first is much better than adopting a trial-and-error approach and only moving objects after children become crowded and fights break out.

Provide comfortable areas away from active areas

Place quiet areas away from active areas or thoroughfares. Use soft furnishings such as sofas and cushions to make sure children and staff are comfortable in these areas.

Place noisy activities such as blocks on carpets so that the noise does not dominate other activities.

Use carpet in a noise activity area

Place messy experiences near water and on lino, to reduce the ‘mess stress’.

Make sure materials are child-accessible

Make sure materials can be accessed by children, eg on open, child-height shelving.


Encourage children to make the space their own through decorations and by incorporating their suggestions where possible.

Display children’s own work Change surroundings, give different choices

Provide experiences that offer a choice to play together or alone

Make sure experiences offer a choice to the child of playing alone or together. For example, bikes and tricycles can be played as a lone activity or you can have traffic signals and perhaps traffic police to allow children to become more aware of each other.

When planning experiences you need to consider how your setting-up will foster or inhibit social play. For example, one paint easel on its own does not necessarily foster social development, though it might open up opportunities for conflict resolution! Several easels clustered so the children can share the paints and discuss their work will foster their social skills.

The following suggestions about setting up environments to promote relationships and positive interactions are based on ideas from the NSW Curriculum Framework (Stonehouse, 2002).

• Allow sufficient space so children are not forced into close contact with one another.


• Provide experiences and play spaces that allow children to play alone or with one or two children depending on their social capabilities.

• Provide safe spaces for children to withdraw to if they get overwhelmed or if they need privacy or solitude.

• Arrange equipment and materials in a manner that encourages children to socially interact with one another, e.g. provide opportunities for simple turn-taking, eating in small groups at meal times.

• Provide experiences that encourage parallel contributions or require two or more children to participate or complete, e.g. group art/craft activities, see-saws.

• Set up experiences so children can work beside one another and see what others are doing.

• Provide soft comfortable furnishing, both inside and outside, that encourage warm physical interactions, e.g. lounges, piles of large cushions, beanbags.

For further information read the chapter entitled ‘Physical environment as teacher’ on pages 101-108 of the NSW Curriculum Framework.

Using dramatic play to foster social developmentImitative and dramatic play is observed in children from infancy. Imitative play is the beginning of dramatic play. The infant or toddler will simply copy or imitate their carers in many of the day-to-day tasks and routines. This is demonstrated when you see the toddler sweeping the floor. Dramatic play is much more complex and involves taking on roles. You see dramatic play in preschoolers who declare, ‘I’m the Mummy, you’re the Daddy and Sarah is the baby.’

The child is using this time to explore their world and their role in the world. By being involved in this form of play – initially alone and then with peers – the child is getting the opportunity to explore their strengths and their understandings of the world around them. Providing appropriate props (real ones where possible) is one way of encouraging dramatic/imitative play in infants.

Apart from providing appropriate props, materials and environments the child care worker also needs to consider what role they will take in relation to supporting dramatic play. Some people believe that adults should not intervene nor become involved in children’s dramatic play as they tend to take over and redirect play themes. On the other hand adult involvement can be seen to enrich the play experience as they help sustain play for longer periods and aggressive and destructive play is minimised when adults are involved.

Some appropriate roles that the adult can take include:


• Providing meaningful and culturally relevant play materials.• Showing genuine interest in and respect for children’s play themes and

ideas.• Monitoring children’s needs during play.• Observing and intervening when necessary or appropriate.


Arrange the environment to encourage interaction and also accommodate a child’s need for privacy, solitude and/or quiet

Accommodating a child’s need for privacy, solitude or quietWhile it is important to foster friendships and encourage children to engage with others, there are times in our lives when we do need to be alone with our thoughts. Privacy and solitude are usually quite difficult to find when you are in a room with 20 or 30 people in it. Do children need privacy? Do they need solitude? Of course they do. At certain times children will need to be by themselves. Reasons may range from they’ve had a late night the night before and are tired, to conflict with others. Whatever the reason is, we need to structure our environment to provide this solitude.

Our challenge is to do this in a manner that is still safe and meeting the regulations. Some ideas include:

• using shelving and dividers to create small spaces for children to sit in and play

• setting up tents or cubbies for children to crawl into• having a quiet sleeping area• helping children tell their peers that they need some time alone.


Celebrate special occasions in culturally-sensitive ways

Integrating culturally-relevant experiencesIt is vital in today’s society to ensure that we are integrating culturally relevant experiences into all aspects of our program. When multicultural education was first mooted as being extremely important, the impression at times was received that we ‘did’ different cultures. Often children and carers went on a little ‘holiday’ where they learnt all about that culture. This was called by some researchers the ‘tourist approach’. To be truly inclusive our efforts to show diversity should not rely on a ‘tourist approach’. This thematic approach does not acknowledge diversity in the most appropriate way.

Culturally relevant experiences need to be incorporated into all aspects of our program and day. These types of experiences can start with something as simple as having cooking implements in the dramatic play area from the range of cultures represented in your centre. This, however, leads us to ask: ‘What if the majority of children are from Australian culture? Do we only provide Australian cooking implements?’ Of course the answer is ‘no’. Think about your own kitchen drawers and cupboards. Many Australian people will have a variety of Asian cooking implements, for example chopsticks, a wok, a steamboat, rice bowls or sushi mats just to name a few. To be inclusive we need to look at not only our micro community but the larger community around, and represent it also.

Celebrating culturally diverse special occasionsIn other topics you may have identified a range of celebrations appropriate to different cultures and religions. While remembering that not all people from a particular culture will celebrate all special occasions, it can be enjoyable to celebrate with friends in child care where this is appropriate.


Exploring common celebrations together can help children acknowledge their differences positively. Some families won’t celebrate Christmas, some will emphasise the religious aspects of the time, others will see it mainly as a family and holiday time. It is important that caregivers do not place their own values on any of these approaches but that they emphasise the different ways of experiencing the same event.

Celebrating special, culturally specific occasions with children and their families makes them feel special and valued by the service, as well as enriching the other children’s knowledge of the culture. For example, you can celebrate Succoth, the Jewish autumn thanksgiving festival celebrating the Jews’ sheltering in the wilderness in ancient times, by inviting a Jewish family who celebrates this festival to help build a shelter in the playground and tell stories about the ‘40 years in the wilderness’.


Respect children’s choice to watch and observe

Respect children’s choice to watch

Sometimes children are not ready to join in and are quite prepared to sit and watch. They may eventually join in or may decide to go to another activity. In the picture above, the carer could call out to the child to come and have a look at what she and the other children are looking at. If however, the child still preferred to sit and watch, the carer should not insist, but respect the child’s decision not to join in.


Structure experiences and equipment in ways that promote cooperation and conflict resolution

Fostering conflict-resolution skills

Conflict between children is inevitable

Some conflict is inevitable while children are learning new social skills. It is important that the caregiver has a realistic idea of what children are capable of in their different social interactions at different ages and have a range of strategies to foster these skills appropriately.

Distraction will often work better with two- or three-year-old children than reasoned discussion, while you will rarely get those in middle childhood to cooperate without reasoning with them. Children will experience conflict because of a range of things—someone having a bad day, a child trying to enter a group aggressively, too little equipment or poorly thought-out environments, a difference of opinion or something being considered ‘not fair’. It is important that caregivers have realistic ideas of what children of different ages are capable of in conflict situations. Redirection will often work better with two or three year olds than reasoned discussion.

Both children and adults can gain positive learning through conflict. Learning to resolve conflicts positively is an important part of social-skill development.


When you have a conflict with someone, how do you feel about that person? Often at the time you feel like you hate them for making you feel uncomfortable but usually you can see that your relationship with them is separate to the conflict. Children rarely make this separation and conflicts can appear intense as a result.

Consider this scenario:

Rory has taken Oliver’s game and Oliver has stormed over to where Rory is playing with others, yelling: ‘I hate you! Give it back or I will hit you!’ Rory gets up, ready for a fight.

In situations such as this the caregiver should be very calm, modelling reasonable conflict-resolution skills. Helping the children to identify the problem and allowing both children to have their say is important. Encouraging them to work towards a situation where both could be satisfied would be best. If your workplace values children working together to solve problems then children will begin to use these skills more regularly with others. Through emphasising a pro-social, cooperative and empathetic environment in your centre, conflicts will be reduced as children learn new ways of solving conflicts.

Activity 4

Role modelling and conflict resolutionThe role modelling of the caregiver is very important in the area of conflict resolution. Caregivers need to be aware of their own biases in regard to each child so that these do not affect their ability to model conflict resolutions effectively.

Activity 5


Foster and respect children’s own grouping choice

Promoting friendships and group membershipBelonging to a group and having friends is often considered something fairly vital to developing appropriate social skills and being able to function within society. Friends provide support and give feedback about who we are.

Stage Concepts Characteristics

Infants Like to be with people but do not understand the concept of friends

Usually engaged in solitary play

Toddlers Understand that we have people we call friends

I play with this person.

They will react in certain ways

I spend time with this person

What we are together we do certain things.

Preschool years Beginning to form distinct friendships I play with this person and don’t fight with them.

I see this person often and spend time with them.

I describe my friends by their physical characteristics – what they look like or like doing.

I share toys with this person.

I learn what behaviours are acceptable.

School age Friendships mature and grow I can now talk about the qualities of my friends.

We both give and take to maintain the friendship.

We offer support.

We are loyal and defend each other.

Adapted from Nixon and Aldwinckle (2003)


Childcare workers need to be aware of opportunities where a remark, a comment, an action or a question might lead the children to reflect more about their groups and friends.

• Assigning children to do jobs in pairs can foster friendships and social confidence, especially if a shy child is paired with a more confident one.

• Acknowledge friendships by listening to children when they talk about their friends and ask them questions.

• Encourage group discussions that encourage self-discovery, eg my favourite colours or foods or time of day.

• Observe children and be ready to step in if friendly overtures are ignored or knocked back by others. Often children do not recognise the cues of others and need them explained.

• Help children recognise how their behaviour will affect their ability to be liked by others; also help all children develop their conversation skills through modelling, open questioning and friendly body language.

• Your skills in arranging a play group for an activity can ensure that less-confident children are included from the beginning of the activity and don’t have to try and enter the group once play has started.

• As children become more interested in talks, encourage discussions about friends, socially respectful behaviours, working in groups and other aspects of social skills.

Activity 6


Talk about and respond to children as group members as well as individuals

We can use this picture again to demonstrate how carers talk to group members as well as individuals. The carer is talking to a small group of children about something they are looking at. She can ask the child sitting by himself and watching, whether he would like to join the group. Then she is talking to an individual rather than to the group. Groups can be informal as this or on a more structures basis as this:

Structured group of children

Structured groups are usually bought together for a purpose, as in the picture above—a music demonstration. When talking to groups such as these, we tlsk in a more formal way and have usually thought about what we are going to say before we start to talk.


Identify and monitor children’s social skills and development

Stages of social developmentAs with all domains of development, the children will grow and progress in their social development in the first 12 years of life. Read on for specific information about the child’s journey towards being a social person.

Social development through infancyDuring infancy, the child is beginning on its discovery of itself as a social being. During this stage there will be a number of different skills and behaviours learnt. As a child progresses through infancy, we find that the child is both growing physically and also socially and emotionally. In this topic we are going to mainly discuss the social aspects of the child’s development.

Emotional development is examined in a different learning topic. You will find, though, many textbooks talk about them together as these two domains work very closely together. At times it may seem that we are talking about emotional development. We are, however, not looking at emotions exactly, but rather how the child is learning how to control these emotions in a socially acceptable manner.


Read what Liam’s mother has to say about his social development.

Social development

Newborn

Here is Liam, he is 10 minutes old. He is lying in my arms, looking around, very quiet. For the past nine months he has been developing at an amazing rate, now his journey towards adulthood begins. We’ve put him on my breast soon after birth so he can drink the colostrum which will help his immunity and also to help he and I to bond. At the moment he would be very happy to be with whoever is caring for him. It will take some time for true attachment to form between us.

Six weeks old

Liam is now six weeks old. He and I have been getting to know each other. I’ve discovered that Liam can very effectively communicate his needs to us. He appears to be looking very intently at who ever is around him and also appears to look with interest at the environment around him. He has just started giving us a true social smile when he sees us talking to him. We made such a fuss when he smiled for the first time. He is happy to be with anyone at this stage, though he seems to recognise my voice and smell.

Three months old

Liam has been growing up so very quickly. He is able to communicate with us in many different ways. He now knows to laugh when we tickle him and likes to engage in any games that we play with him. He will still happily be nursed by other people providing he is not hungry or really tired.

Six months old

Now Liam is six months old and he seems such a big boy. He is definitely a ‘slow to warm up’ temperament type. This means that he will respond to new situations and people slowly. He appears to be a little shy. This is interesting because his sister is an easy temperament type and responded to all people quite cheerfully.


Nine months old

At nine months, Liam is laughing lots at different things. We don’t need to tickle him to get him to laugh, just pulling faces often works or putting a nappy on his head and saying ‘boo’. He gets angry a little more often, especially if he can’t reach something or his sister takes something off him.

He is now showing some attachment behaviours. He has demonstrated a variety of proximity seeking behaviours such as crying, laughing to gain our attention and of course has started to demonstrate stranger anxiety. When strangers come along now, he tends to cling to me more and will often hide his face or cry if I go to give him to them. He appears to have become much more fearful in the last couple of months. He seems to be taking cues from us as to how to react in some situations. For example when he saw his sister and Dad approaching his cousin’s very large Rhodesian Ridgeback and patting him, he appeared to be more comfortable approaching the dog. This social referencing is becoming much more apparent as he gets older.

Twelve months old

Now he is twelve months old, he is in the peak of separation and stranger anxiety. He wants to be with me more than anyone else, though Dad will do. He is still though a happy and contented baby who will laugh when we do funny things and tries to stay as close to me as possible in new situations. He appears to be a securely attached baby as he is able to explore new environment, even though he will take a little time to warm up and uses me as an anchor or secure base in which to explore.

Social development: 18 months to 5 yearsListen to Liam’s social development from 18 months to five years. The 18 month to three-year-old child is developing a range of social skills and behaviours. The three-to-five-year-old child is further developing their range of social skills and behaviours. They are beginning to widen their social circle much more to include people other than the immediate family. We see the beginning of friendships forming. We see an increased ability to share and take turns. Prosocial behaviours such as kindness and altruism begin to emerge. All these skills make it much easier for the preschooler to operate in the social world.


Eighteen months old

Liam is now a toddler at 18 months. He is exploring his environment much more actively, but still uses me as a safe harbour or anchor. He will move away from me a little and become engrossed in his play, then he’ll suddenly realise I’m not right there, so he looks around and comes back to me. It is almost like he needs to be ‘topped up’ with security. New people or events will ensure that he seeks me out. When he looks in the mirror at himself and we ask him who that is, he will say ‘Liam’ (well, his version of Liam). He is fairly placid and even tempered, though gets frustrated if there is something he wants and can’t have it. He has developed a secondary attachment for his carer Dawn. He will protest initially when I leave, but will quickly calm down and is generally happy most of the day in care.

Two-and-a-half years old

Between the ages of two and three we are again seeing gains in Liam’s social development. He appears to watch his sister very closely and wants to keep up with her in every aspect. He doesn’t however like to share any of his toys with her. Sometimes it looks like he will by giving her something, then ten seconds later will demand it back. He also has difficulty waiting for his turn. It is much better to ensure that I have two of everything. His stranger anxiety and separation anxiety appear to have settled down. He quite happily goes to his caregiver. He loves spending time with Dad and will copy everything he does. He appears to have a good self-concept and is developing a positive self-esteem. He really enjoys the praise he receives and will respond really well to this.

Preschooler 1

Liam’s preschool years have been absolutely delightful. He is developing a lovely personality and appears to be a really happy and settled child. He loves giving people cuddles and usually has a big smile on his face. However saying that, all situations are not rosy! He started preschool when he had just turned three, one day a week. It was fourth term and there were lots of big five year olds who were ready for school. He was visibly upset every morning which made it quite difficult to leave him. We persevered and breathed a big sigh of relief when Christmas holidays came about. He was not happy about being in the Christmas concert at preschool. While everyone else was singing the songs, Liam sat in the front row with his hands cupped around his jaw and a distinctly unhappy look on his face. ‘You might say I’ve got to be here, but it


doesn’t mean I have to join in or enjoy it’ was the message that was conveyed to the audience. Half way through, he got up and went and sat on Dad’s lap for the rest of the concert. It was obviously too much too soon for my ‘slow to warm up’ lad. Fortunately after the Christmas holidays, when he came back to preschool, he settled in very quickly, with little or no separation anxiety. It’s almost like he knows what to expect now so it’s ok to be here.

Preschooler 2

Liam is starting to form a friendship. He has started playing with one particular child Alex. I’ve asked his teacher who he was so we can foster this friendship outside preschool too. He will talk about Alex being his friend and looks forward to seeing him at preschool. Over the two years he was at preschool he has spent much of his time with him and seems to prefer his company over any other child.

Preschooler 3

I am beginning to see a number of different pro-social behaviours. We have lots of discussions on being kind to people and why we are kind to others. He is beginning to be able to empathise when people are upset. Saying this however he seems to fight with his sister just as much. They both want my undivided attention at times which makes it difficult. Liam is anxious to keep up with his big sister in all pursuits. He will copy her in most situations and can be frustrated if he can’t do what she is able to do. However he often seems to be able to complete many of the skills she is able to do at an earlier age.

Social development through the school yearsA child navigating through the social minefield of school has the opportunity to refine many of the skills they have been exposed to in preschool. They are usually exposed to a much larger number of people, both adults and children, on a daily basis. School brings a whole new set of norms and behaviours that must be learnt for the child to be able to interact appropriately.

School-aged children are usually being influenced greatly by their peers. Inclusion or exclusion from games and friendships seems to be a common bargaining tool


to manipulate others to come around to their way of thinking. At this stage children see friendships as meaning ‘you have to do what I do and think and say the types of things that I say’. A sensitive caregiver is required in these situations to help children come to terms with the differences between them and also help them value and respect the differences in others.

Working out what the rules of not only the classroom but the playground are and conforming to them is often a major challenge for some children. Some seem to effortlessly glide through this process; other children tend to find their initial days (and many subsequent ones) a social battleground.

As a carer we need to be ensuring that we are discussing the different situations that arise within children’s lives in the playground. Why do people behave in these ways? What can you do about it? How should you react? What is socially appropriate in this situation?

Within the school-aged range, children are able to form friendships and work together in groups to achieve a range of goals. They understand the social pragmatics of socially appropriate behaviours but will still test the boundaries and limits set for them.

Activity 7

Monitoring progress in social development of individuals and groupsHow do we monitor the social progress of the children in our care?

Of course the most obvious answer is through gathering information about the children. There are a variety of methods of gathering information that you can use to document and monitor children’s social development. Both formal and informal methods of observation can be used. We can also gather information from secondary sources and build up background information about the child to supplement direct observations of children. Valid, reliable and authentic documentation will go a long way to helping us determine the social capabilities and well being of the children in our care.

So which methods are better for gathering information about the child’s social development? Narrative and open-ended methods of observation such as running records, anecdotes and jottings can be very useful. Checklists and rating scales can help us focus on particular behaviours and characteristics of development but are closed ended and therefore the amount of information they provide is limited. Sociograms and time and motion studies are effective for collecting information about social interactions and emotional behaviour. Sampling methods let us focus


on specific behaviours so we can analyse their patterns of occurrence or identify the triggers and reinforcers associated with the behaviours.

Annotated photographic studies and work sample collections can also be used to document aspects of social development and give insights into the emotional wellbeing of the child. These methods also allow children to be more directly involved in the observation process. They can revisit their learning in particular situations and the observation process can be enriched by recording their comments and insights. Photographs of children engaged in group activities allow them to see and talk about themselves as part of a social group.

You can find out more information about observing, interpreting and documenting information about children in the relevant chapters of the Exploring and Extending texts. There are also many texts which specifically address observation methods - see the resource section at the front of this learner guide as well as the reference list.

http://siksik.learnnet.nt.ca/PDF/02_K-12/StudentEval/0022972.PDF

http://para.unl.edu/para/Observation/Intro.html

When observing children and trying to identify their social development, the following list of significant behaviours will be a useful reference.

Infancy Toddlerhood Preschool School age

first social smile

initially happy to be held or fed by anyone

responds socially to games and tickles

temperament type emerges

demonstrates attachment behaviours

demonstrates stranger anxiety

demonstrates separation anxiety

uses cues of others to gauge response to new situations (social referencing)

actively explores environment

uses caregiver as a secure base to explore environment

recognises self in mirror

develops secondary attachments

still may demonstrate stranger or separation anxiety

imitates behaviour of others

developing self-concept and self-esteem

may be unsettled in new situations

begins to demonstrate prosocial behaviours

can share and take turns with others

development of friendships

imitates behaviours of others

can work in small groups with other children

able to interact with a large range of people and situations successfully

learning the ‘rules of the playground and school’

able to share and take turns

developing a range of friendship groups

self-esteem developing


How does this information help you plan for social experiences? There are a number of situations where you will need to plan for social development. These may include:

• new children settling in• dealing with group situations• entry to play situations (access rituals)• dealing with inappropriate behaviour.

Now it’s time to practise your skills in planning for a child’s social development. Observe some real children and begin to practise interpreting those observations.

Promote and support the use of social skills relevant to the transition to school for children of an appropriate age

Transition to ‘Big School’ Social readiness is seen as a key factor in children starting kindergarten in Australian schools. In the past children were expected to start school in the year they turned five. Now day’s parents have the choice to send their child in the year they turn five or as late as the year they turn six. NSW public schools have a cut off date of 31st July. If a child turns five previous to this they may start school in that same year. Any child turning five after the 31st July must begin school in the following year. Some schools offer a program called ‘Kindy Start’. This is a program where children attend school for a half day session, once a week over a number of weeks. During this time children are observed and monitored for their readiness for school. Catholic schools have a system of assessing children for their readiness and interviewing parents prior to the child beginning school.

Signs a child may be ready are:

• When the child has reasonable control over their behaviour • The child can cope with minor problems • The child can seek help from adults when required• The child can occupy themselves • The child can solve simple problems on their own• The child shows respect for others belongings (toys, games etc)• Can initiate contact with other children to create friendships

Activity 8


Appendix 1: Learning centres

Learning centers are areas of space, both indoors and outdoors with a particular collection of materials and resources designed to encourage children to explore and learn at their own pace. They are usually planned around an interest of a child or group of children or set up to challenge and stimulate the children to explore and investigate the possibilities. Learning centres provide opportunities for integrated learning across all areas of development.

Some learning centres will be set up for weeks or longer, with additions or subtractions as the children’s interest, learning and development of skills develops. Others might last only a few days. If it is not possible to leave learning centres available at all times (space restrictions), set up the learning centres in the same place every day – predictability and sureness are important for children.

Setting up areas

Reading area

Reading area

This would be a space in the environment which is comfortably furnished and inviting to both children and adults. It needs to be able to accommodate a child looking at a book alone, with a couple of other children or with an adult. This area should be situated away from high traffic areas and in a quieter space in the environment with boundaries created to give the area an ‘enclosed’ and special feel.

Furniture and accessories may include a sofa, large cushions, book stands, soft rugs, fabrics draped over to form a canopy and maybe a table where children can sit and read if they choose.


Pictures, posters and photographs can enhance the area/environment when they are associated with children’s interests.

In the book area, rather than changing all the books at once, consideration should be given to the interests of the whole group of children and develop their knowledge with the inclusion of new books.

Displaying and caring for books is an important aspect of this area. Books need to easily accessible to the children and displayed at their eye level. Display the books facing outwards and maintain an aesthetically appealing aspect, replacing the books on the shelf after use. If books are piled one on top of another, this is giving the children a message that books are not important. Talk with children about caring for books and model respect for these resources.

Writing area

Writing area

A table with a variety of pens, pencils and papers, envelopes, computer, examples of print forms, staplers, paper clips, bookmaking, hole puncher (this may be transferred to the creative area). Store these materials attractively in small boxes or small baskets on shelving close by.

Creative area

Creative area


Set up in an area with open shelves so that children can access a variety of materials easily- paste, paints, scissors, sticky tape, string or wool, collage materials (you may wish to present these in colour coordinated shades), easels, table, drying racks, examples of beautiful art work on display, noticeboards for children to display their work, pens, bookmaking, hole puncher (this may be transferred to the writing area). Again, make sure the materials are stored in attractive containers.

Nature area

Nature area

Set up in a quiet but noticeable area with shells, pieces of seaweed al placed on a tray of sand, books on shells and the beach, pictures of shells and the seaside, magnifying glasses, a poem about the beach written on a poster on the wall and materials for children to use to draw or paint the things they see.

Visual arts areas

Visual arts area

Visual arts areas are always present in preschool and long day care settings, though may be known as the craft or collage area. They provide a perfect opportunity to develop social skills. Some considerations when setting up the area include:

craft trolleys can be positioned so that children working on different activities can share and discuss their choices, ask others to help them find some item, etc


craft should allow for children to make choices about whether they want to work on their own or with others on a group project

adults should be involved in group projects, using opportunities to encourage children to cooperate, resolve any conflicts or disagreements, discuss their work and plan together.

Working with older children allows you to further extend both children and the environment. Some adjustments to a craft area for older children include:

involving children in planning craft activities, eg group collages, posters or construction works

allowing children to bring in ideas and materials to discuss and to develop ideas around

letting children develop, write out and display their own agreed rules for activities in the visual arts area

making activities more functional, eg posters for a dance or holiday care activity.

A designated area for feltboards and pieces, magnet boards and pieces, letters and symbols, pictures and charts, puppets, book making materials.

All of these can be integrated into other learning centres. Remember, an integrated approach encompasses all areas of learning.

Clay area

A special space where the clay and tools can stay (perhaps in a small cupboard) continuously. Children can revisit the area to continue their works, with clay in accessible bins, tools to use with clay, a little water in small containers to moisten the clay, book showing pictures of made clay pieces or objects that the children are interested in, to use as provocations. A nearby display of claywork to remind children of previous experiences.

Music centre

Music area


Music centres for preschoolers can:

be set up as a permanent area with a wide range of instruments on open shelves

provide a choice of instruments for children to be able to access in small groups—ensure multiple instruments are available so different children can play the same instrument at the same time

have a variety of music for children to play along to in small groups. Provide a range of CDs for children to choose from collaboratively.

For older children:

provide blank manuscript paper so children can collaborate with others and the teacher to compose their own music

encourage children to form a band and learn songs or accompaniment to songs

include more tuneful equipment such as a keyboard or guitar.

There is potential to foster children’s social development in all activities, structured or unstructured, in the child’s day. Children’s individual abilities to use these opportunities will vary according to whether they are shy, aggressive, have friends in the activity, or just how they are feeling at the time. However, the skill of the adult in supporting their social development is a crucial part in allowing them to get the most from activities.

Science and technology area

This would be an area when children can explore the natural and physical world by observing, classifying, communicating, measuring and making predictions. It should foster a ‘hands-on’ approach rather than in producing an end product.

Science and technology involves:

discovering living things, for example, human body, animals, plants and insects.

experiences that require exploration and experimentation of forces, motion, machines, wheels, light and sound.

investigating and exploring the natural world such as: weather, soil, rocks, sun and moon.

discovering and exploring how things work such as: pulleys, gears, ramps, inclines, wheels, balance scales, nuts and bolts, machines, connectors, magnets, electrical circuits and switches, electricity, telephones, computers, digital equipment, household electrical products and so on. The list is endless.

observing and analysing experiences that involve dissolving, evaporating, changing shape/consistency, heating, mixing, freezing and absorption. Cooking experiences are an important component of this topic.


The science and technology area should be set up with equipment to facilitate children experimenting with all these concepts. Equipment need not be expensive and can include such items as: magnifying glasses, magnets, prisms, torches, kaleidoscopes, bots, screws, springs, compass, microscopes, scales, tweezers, stethoscope, bones, shells, globe of the world…

A ‘medical centre’ children dressed as medical staff, a skeleton and other medical equipment

Displays

Displays can enhance children’s learning when associated with children’s interests and emerging skills. Display children’s work and quality adult objects nearby to the learning centres.

Using learning centresLearning centres have an important role to play in developing children’s problem-solving skills. Learning centres can be set up for children of any age or ability. Even infants have commercially-made ‘learning centres’ that can be purchased for them, consisting of knobs, buttons and dials that can be manipulated in different ways to make a variety of noises. You can make similar learning centres for small children yourself with items such as bicycle bells and cotton reels on sticks—the same principle of exploration can be applied to all age groups.

A learning centre is like a study area, somewhat separate from the free-play areas in order to invite quiet reflection or discussion with others. Learning centres encourage problem solving and learning in an open-ended manner, providing a range of materials and resources for children to pursue current interests. Learning centres may from time to time focus on particular areas of group interest such as outer space or volcanoes, but at other times it will be the focus of individual or small-group research into the world around us. The focus of topics within a learning centre should be open and child-centred, not imposed by adults who think it is time to ‘do’Spring.


Learning centres can be an area where there are a variety of tools and resources to pursue an idea, eg general information books, paper and pencils or crayons, books for collecting information, perhaps a computer. Children should feel comfortable about asking for or choosing any materials they need for their research. Caregivers should be alert to what topics are being pursued at the learning centre in order to help with resources.

Consider the following example:

David and Bronwyn are discussing what they did on the weekend. David said his Auntie gave him a kite that is great to fly. Bronwyn says she would like a kite and David suggests they make one. The caregiver says she has a book of paper-kite designs they could look at in the learning centre. They might like to try some of the designs with the paper there, but they can come and get her if they need any help.

Having an area dedicated to learning and problem solving at all ages indicates to the children the importance you put on this part of their development. Encouraging children to try things for themselves also indicates a respect for their abilities; at the same time, help should be freely available and children should feel comfortable asking for it when needed.

Dramatic play area

This learning area provides children with opportunities to roleplay and imitate the world around them.

Older infant dramatic play will focus on direct imitation with familiar items that reflect the child’s home and cultural environment.

Toddler dramatic play extends on the familiar home and cultural environment themes to include bathing dolls, washing up and dress-up clothes. Other familiar and relevant focuses such as simple shops, hairdressers and the bus or train are introduced

Pre-schooler dramatic play is more imaginative and complex involving focuses that are familiar as well as new and unfamiliar. Concepts such as school, hospitals, camping and space travel could be used to extend the children’s play.


Dramatic role play in a restaurant: children acting as waiters and diners

School-aged children will enjoy experimenting with clothes, costumes and dramatic roles. Focuses will usually reflect the children’s current interests as talent quests, singing and dancing competitions and comedy skits.

Physically active play area

This learning area provides children with opportunities to develop confidence using their existing and emerging gross motor skills. Once the key gross motor skills (walking, running, jumping, hopping etc) are evident, the child is offered opportunities to enhance their stamina, flexibility, co-ordination, spatial awareness and balance.

For infants, physically active play needs to focus on supporting emerging locomotion skills and developing muscle control and strength.

For toddlers, physically active play needs to focus on engaging toddlers’ active, exploration of their newly found mobile abilities. Provide simple activities that offer repetitive opportunities to practise emerging gross-motor skills.

For pre-schoolers, physically active play need to consist of safe activities that challenge the child’s existing skills and extend their ability to integrate a number of gross-motor skills together.

Challenging gross motor skills

For school-aged children, physically active play should focus on developing confidence and participation in gross motor leisure and sport pursuits. Opportunities to practise specific skills related to specific games and sports should be made available.

Manipulative play learning area

Infant manipulative play focuses on supporting emerging fine motor and manipulative skills, including eye-hand co-ordination.


Toddler manipulative play focuses on offering opportunities for toddlers to practise existing and emerging fine motor and manipulative skills. Simple activities that focus on fine motor, manipulative skills required for self-help tasks are ideal.

Pre-schooler manipulative play focuses on offering opportunities to practise and extend the child’s existing fine motor and manipulative skills. Children in this age group need to develop a preferred hand to consolidate these skills and develop stamina and control. Using additional equipment such as scissors and drawing implements with precision is also an important emerging skill.

For school-aged children, manipulative play focuses on offering opportunities to children to extend their fine-motor and manipulative skills by applying them to specific leisure tasks and activities.

Literacy learning area

Infant and toddler literacy focuses on carer interactions and revolves around conversations, songs and fingerplays between infants and carers. The sharing of good quality picture books and poster/picture discussions where the carer takes an active role is crucial to the child’s developing understanding of language. Labelling of key objects and using key words, such as ‘toilet’, in the child’s first language is also critical. The ability to pick up a book and ‘read and look’ at it from left to right is also an important focus that is learnt spontaneously.

Pre-schooler literacy extends to include opportunities to integrate existing literary skills with new emerging skills. Pre-reading skills such an emerging understanding of the relationship between spoken and written words and their meaning is an important focus. Interest in other languages and other methods of writing also emerges. Pre-schoolers also use their manipulative and fine-motor skills to ‘write’ with writing implements.

School-aged children enjoy creating meaning using their literacy skills. Leisure pursuits that involve written self-expression are popular—eg, writing letters, making cards and sending emails.

Creative art learning area

Infant creative art learning areas should primarily focus on opportunities for exploratory play involving sensory manipulative materials.

Toddler creative art learning areas continue to focus on sensory manipulative materials and exploratory play with a gradual move toward art activities requiring the use of specific equipment—eg, the use of paint-brushes, dough rollers etc.


Pre-schooler creative art learning areas should provide opportunities for exploration and choice. Children are given opportunities to engage in self-chosen art activities that interest them and challenge their emerging creativity and imaginative skills. An emergence of goal orientated art and craft is evident.

School-aged children will enjoy opportunities to choose provisions and art activities.

Maths learning area

To extend children’s emerging cognitive skills and problem solving abilities we may introduce opportunities to learn key mathematical concepts. We can introduce opportunities to develop:

pattern making

sequencing

ordering

one-to-one correspondence

rational counting

grouping by a specified criterion.

Comparative concepts related to length, weight and height can also be introduced. You can also introduce the use of scales and rulers for weights and measures. Monetary concepts and measurement of time are examples of other challenging additions to this area.

Science and technology learning area

Research indicates that children from as young as two years have an awareness of technology based items such as television, video recorders, cameras, mobile phones, computers, game consoles. The introduction and use of these provisions needs to be carefully considered. Many of the learning possibilities offered by these provisions are best suited, and most valuable, to older pre-schoolers and school-aged children who have had previous opportunities to participate in beneficial social free play.

There are limitless learning possibilities in this curriculum area. Any focus should come directly from the children’s interests and enquiries.

Toddlers and younger pre-schoolers will be fascinated by familiar events and discoveries such as weather patterns, bugs, gardening, sea creatures, and floating and sinking objects.


Older pre-schoolers will begin to hypothesise about their discoveries and interests. They will enjoy opportunities to test hypothesises using simple science experiments such as water evaporation or magnets. Other interests might include the life cycles of frogs and machinery and how it works.

School-aged children make gigantic leaps in this area and may develop interests in a variety of subject areas such as electricity, bodily systems, mechanics and fuel powered systems. As their awareness of their wider community increases, interests in topics such as recycling, pollution, endangered animals, nuclear power, and water conservation may develop.

Here are a variety of indoor and outdoor centres

Learning area Outdoor learning area

Learning area Visual arts learning area

Outdoor learning area


Learning centre

Learning area Learning area


Appendix 2: Planning experiences in children’s services

How do we actually know what to plan? Throughout the day you will be observing the children according to a system set down by the service you are in. Planned experiences should be based on our observations and information gained about children. You need to look at the skills the child is capable of and ask yourself how you can extend this child. You may also need to help a child develop some specific skills. Remember, though, the Curriculum Framework cautions us about taking a deficit approach. We need to be always seeing the child as capable and resourceful.

The planning cycle can look something like this:

Planning cycle

Round with arrows connecting the words: observe; determine strengths, interests and emerging skills; plan provisions; implement experiences; evaluate

Your plans may be based upon any of the following:

• the observed interests of the children• social, cultural and community values and happenings• people in the social environment• teachers’ interests• things in the physical environment• all the daily tasks of living together• curriculum resource materials• a new idea or topic• following up an unexpected or interesting event.


All your plans, however, should clearly link back to the children that you are observing and documenting.

Read the section beginning ‘A word about documentation, planning and evaluation’ on page 133 of NSW Curriculum Framework. http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/DOCSWR/_assets/main/documents/childcare_framework.pdf

Here the author discusses and describes the approach taken in the Framework to documentation, planning and evaluation. Think about the following:

• Why is careful planning important? Why do we need to document it?• Why does the Framework recommend several different ways of collecting

information?• What should you be doing when observing children?• Where will you be gathering your information?

From reading the information in the Curriculum Framework you should see that there is much more to providing for children’s emotional development than just providing a series of activities. Over the past few years we have seen changes occurring in planning and programming in children’s services. Older methods of planning were based upon fostering observable skills and behaviours. These planning formats would have you writing very specific behavioural objectives. With this method it can be easy to fall into the trap of the deficit approach. Current methods of planning tend to be more holistic and de-emphasise outcomes, focusing on creating a broad range of possibilities and opportunities for children.

These methods ask you to identify a ‘learning intent’, a ‘planning focus’ or a ‘teaching point’. The main things to keep in mind are why you are providing the activity and what you think or hope the children will get out of it. What are the ‘learning opportunities’?

In order to do this you need to be observing the children very closely and documenting the information you find. Curtis and Carter (2000) (p xvii) tell us: ‘becoming a keen observer is a way to learn child development, to find curriculum ideas and meet requirements for assessing outcomes. It’s also a way to keep from burning out in a stressful job.’

They go on to say in another section: ‘Working with children in this way is quite different from focusing on the pre-planned goals and objectives of most curriculum books. It also goes beyond traditional observation practices in early childhood setting, in which teachers collect data primarily for the purpose of assessment and measuring outcomes. While this is a valid use for observing, it is more limited … .’ (Curtis and Carter (2000) p 2)


http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/DOCSWR/_assets/main/documents/childcare_framework.pdf


You need to be very aware of and involved with the children in your care in order to plan effectively. It’s not enough to do just a running record and come up with an activity idea.

As a child studies learner, you are required initially to use a planning format that contains some very specific information. While this type of plan is not used in the field on a day-to-day basis, as a learner it is vital to master it to ensure that your experiences are carefully thought out as well as being developmentally appropriate. You will need to check with your facilitator about the exact planning format they expect you to use.

Experience plan formatYou will find that most experience plan formats will have space for the following information.

Plan numberNumber each experience plan for easy access and cross-referencing to developmental data.

Experience nameName your experience to give the reader some idea of the type of experience that it will be. This will allow you to cross-reference also.

Child or childrenGive the names and ages (years and months) of the children for whom the experience is planned. For a large group, indicate an age range rather than individual names and ages.

Reasons for your experience• Clear, appropriate reasons justifying why you have chosen this experience

need to be explained. These should be based on the specific skills, capabilities and interests of the children.

• Briefly describe what you have seen or know about the children that justifies the experience.

• Cross-reference to observation, background information, journal entries, previous experiences offered, etc, to clearly showing how your plan links to what is known about the children.


Identify developmental priorities or learning opportunitiesGive details of the area of development that you are intending to support and/or the things that you want the children to learn from this experience. These priorities or opportunities should indicate the main focus of the experience but not predetermine or limit the learning opportunities children may experience.

Describe how you will set up the learning environment for this experienceYou need to give enough information about the appearance, location, timing, supervision, guidance and limits required, health and safety considerations and materials so that someone else might easily implement the experience.

How will you involve the child in the experience?You must describe the procedures and strategies you will implement to support development and learning in enough detail so someone else could implement your plan.

Some questions to answer when completing this section include:

• For group experiences how will you gather the children together, settle and gain their attention?

• What steps need to be followed to implement the experience?• What is your role? What will you do and say during the experience?• What strategies will you use to promote and reinforce learning?• How will the end of the experience be communicated to the children if

appropriate?• How will you finish the experience and move the children onto another

experience?• Is there any cleaning up to do?

Reflection and evaluation of the experience There are three main things to address in the evaluation:

• What the child did—Did they enjoy the experience? How exactly did they respond? Be specific and give specific examples. Briefly describe what actually happened.

• What you did—Were you effective in your role? Was your preparation and planning effective or could it be improved? Did you follow the children’s lead? Did you say and do the right things?


• Whether the experience supported the areas of development and learning you identified in planning—perhaps the child went well beyond your expectations. Why were you successful or otherwise? Did you need to modify your plan in any way? Did you provide a suitable learning environment?

Follow-up ideasSuggest follow-ups in terms of children’s needs and interests or what you may need to do to improve your own performance.

Here is a blank Experience plan

Experience Plan

Learner’s name: Plan number:

Name of experience: Date/s presented:

Number of children: Names and age of children:


Identify developmental priorities/learning opportunities

Describe how you will set up the learning environment

How will you involve the children in your experience?

Reflection/evaluation of the experience

Follow up ideas

Case study: JaiyraIt is time now to practise writing experiences for children. The first place to start is our observations. Here is the developmental summary of 23-month-old Jaiyra which was described in the framework document:

http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/DOCSWR/_assets/main/documents/childcare_framework.pdf Page 135




Developmental summary for Jaiyra

Name: Jaiyra Age: 23 months

Date: February 2002 Contributing information: Aleisha (mum), Scott (dad), Susannah (teacher)

Categories of info Notes Provisions

Family situation, religion, culture, current events, other

Baby Cody now 8 mths, grandparents visited for 4 weeks – left two weeks ago. J is the eldest grandchild & grandparents spent a lot of time with him. At home is challenging all requests, mother thinks he has realised that he has to share her time and attention now that Cody is more active and sleeps less.

Extra attention where possible, as he misses this.

Recent accomplishments, successes, achievements

Increasing vocab. Speaks clearly, manages self-feeding with ease using fingers, excellent climber

Encourage use of language, acknowledge success in eating, provide opportunities to climb safely – watch him when he is outside in the older children’s play area, as he will try to climb anything.

Major developmental tasks currently working on

Enjoys talking, interested in large motor skills, particularly climbing and running, having trouble coping with sharing adults’ attention.

Engage in conversations, try to give extra attention.

Main interests Enjoys books. Spends time ‘reading’ by himself. Asks for new books to be read aloud to him.

Ensure books are of interest to him; try to find books about babies.

Particular strengths Language skills

Climbing skills

Lots of conversations, as above, and opportunities to climb safely.

Challenges Coming to terms with Cody’s increasing competence. J challenges adults here and at home. Is having trouble separating from mum.

Give choices where possible; be firm when there can be no choice. Be sure adult is able to help J and his mum separate. Establish a ritual and try to stick with it.

Likes and dislikes Loves fruit and enjoys books See above

Other Mum and Dad seem pretty worried.

Try to reassure parents that J’s behaviour is normal for age; give them all the good news about J that we can.

Some provisions that might be suitable for Jaiyra include:


• dramatic play area set up as a home with babies, change tables, clothes and other ‘baby’ items.

• Read book about a new sibling. Talk about new babies and how people feel when a new baby comes along. As Jaiyra is only a toddler ensure language simple and appropriate.

• When ever possible label emotion terms so he can begin to match his feelings with the words. Tell him what other people are feeling.

After looking at the above provisions it is time to plan one of them. Practise doing so yourself and then at the end of each section compare your answers with mine. Please remember our ideas may be different but it doesn’t necessarily mean yours are wrong. Check all the way through that you are putting an emotional emphasis on the plan and have sufficient detail. Someone else should be able to pick up your plan and do it as you have planned.

Let’s start by choosing one of the above experiences. Begin with the dramatic corner being turned into a baby bathing/changing/feeding area.

Jaiyra: dramatic play experience

Planning format


Name of experience: Babies/Dramatic play Date/s presented: 4/10

Number of children: One Names and age of children:

J (23 months)

Reasons for choosing this experienceIn this section we need to be giving clear, appropriate reasons justifying why we have chosen a particular experience. These should be based on the specific skills, capabilities and interests of the children. We also need to cross-reference to our observations and background information.

There may be several reasons why you have chosen a particular activity. You may have planned one activity for a number of different children but for a variety of different reasons. It may be a physical experience for one child but a social/emotional activity for another, and yet for another there may be a problem-solving emphasis.


Jaiyra: reasons for choosing the dramatic play area


In the observations of Jaiyra, he appears to be unsettled by the arrival of a new baby and the challenges of dealing with this situation. He appears unsettled when Mum leaves and seeks adult attention. By involving him in caring for a baby, I am hoping to give J the opportunity to care for a baby and take on a nurturing role.

There is no one right way to write a rationale but generally it will include:

• the observation/s that the experience relates to• clear, valid reasons for doing this experience• brief background information if appropriate.

Developmental priorities or learning opportunitiesIn this next section we need to identify the details of the area of development that we are intending to support and the skills or learning we want the child to experience. The priorities or opportunities should indicate the main focus of the experience but should not predetermine or limit the learning opportunities that children may experience. Remember you must link back to your reasons for planning this activity. What do you want or expect the children to be able to achieve? What might they get out of this experience?

My reasons for presenting the dramatic play area set up for babies for 23-month-old Jaiyra were based on the emotional domain, to give him the opportunity to come to terms emotionally with having a new sibling.

Jaiyra: developmental priorities/learning opportunities


Focus: Jaiyra will have the opportunity to express his emotions regarding a new sibling through dramatic play.

Priorities/Learnings

caring for and nurturing a baby

labelling emotion words – happy, sad, grumpy

bathing a baby

When you look at your developmental priorities or learning opportunities you should be able to say whether the experience supported the development of the area and skills or learning that you had identified. If the developmental opportunities or priorities were not demonstrated by the child then you need to look at your observations and the experience to ensure that you are providing an


experience that is developmentally appropriate for this child. Learners often find this section one of the areas that requires most practice. Remember, when identifying developmental priorities or learning opportunities you need to ensure that they are specific and relate clearly to the reason and the observed needs, capabilities and/or interests of the child.

Describe how you will set up the learning environment for this experienceThis should be one of the easiest sections to do. The key here is to be thorough. If someone else is going to take your experience, they need to be able to prepare for the experience appropriately. Therefore you need to be specific. What books, songs or equipment are you going to use? Where in the room do you want to set up the experience?

The preparation for Jaiyra’s experience might look like this:

Jaiyra: How I would set up the learning environment


Dramatic play area set up on outside verandah.

Clear away tables/chairs kitchen area and replace with bedroom furniture.

Have several cots set up with change mats on tables.

Ensure supply of cotton balls, water, towels, face cloths.

Have two baths with 5 cms of water on low tables.

Adult needs to remain with experience to provide support and encouragement at all times and to supervise the water as many of the children in the room are nearly two or older.

How will you involve the children in the experience?

In this section you must describe the procedures and strategies you will implement to support development and learning in enough detail so someone else could easily implement this experience. What exactly are you going to do? In what order? What questions are you going to ask? How are you going to introduce the activity to the child? How will you conclude it?


Jaiyra: How I will involve Jaiyra in the experience


I will invite Jaiyra into the dramatic play area by saying, ‘Jaiyra, come here and look at this. Would you like to help me bath some babies?’ If Jaiyra appears to be willing I would take him to the dramatic play area and say, ‘Look here, two baths and some babies to wash. Do you want to give the baby a bath?’ I would wait for Jaiyra’s response. If Jaiyra is still willing I would say: ‘What do we need to do first?’ I would accept Jaiyra’s response and then talk him through the process. I would describe what Jaiyra is doing and reinforce how we need to care for the baby, saying things like: ‘We need to carefully take off his clothes. Gently wash him. Let’s give the baby a kiss.’ I will use words to convey emotional states whenever I can. ‘The baby really likes getting a kiss, it makes him happy.’

I would stay with Jaiyra the entire experience, encouraging him to care for the baby, giving him one-on-one attention. When Jaiyra has finished bathing the baby we would dress him and put him to bed or feed him depending upon what Jaiyra says we should do. When Jaiyra begins to lose interest in the experience I would transition him to another experience of his choice.

EvaluationThe next part is the evaluation. Here you summarise exactly what happened. Did the experience support the areas of learning and development you identified? What could you have changed?

Jaiyra: evaluation

Evaluation

Overall the experience was very successful. Jaiyra was very keen to bath the baby and was very talkative throughout the experience. He seemed to really like the one-on-one attention. When another child wanted to join in, initially he seemed reluctant to let her. I said, it’s ok Jaiyra, Sam just wants to bathe a baby too. There are two baths here so she can use that one. While I was doing this I made sure that my arm was around Jaiyra giving him physical comfort and reassurance that I was still there.

Jaiyra was able to successfully bathe the baby. He knew all the steps involved with bathing the baby. I verbalised these throughout using words such as gentle and softly. I emphasised the importance of not letting the baby put his head under. At the end of the experience Jaiyra gave the baby a kiss and put him to bed. He appeared to be very interested in the nurturing role and liked giving the baby some attention. We were able to use a number of different emotional terms throughout the experience such as happy, sad and angry.

Follow upAfter we have evaluated the experience it is time to suggest follow-up experiences or strategies in terms of children’s needs and interests or what you may need to do to improve your own performance. They should link very closely to the experience and may be a follow-on of this experience or something that is on a different topic.


Jaiyra: completed plan

Planning format


Name of experience: Babies/Dramatic Play Date/s presented: 4/10

Number of children: One Names and age of children:

J (23 months)


In the observations of Jaiyra, he appears to be unsettled by the arrival of a new baby and the challenges of dealing with this situation. He appears unsettled when Mum leaves and seeks adult attention. By involving him in caring for a baby, I am hoping to give J the opportunity to care for a baby and take on a nurturing role.


Focus: Jaiyra will have the opportunity to express his emotions regarding a new sibling through dramatic play.

Priorities/Learnings

caring for and nurturing a baby

labelling emotion words – happy, sad, grumpy

bathing a baby



Dramatic play area set up on outside verandah..

Clear away tables/chairs kitchen area and replace with bedroom furniture.

Have several cots set up with change mats on tables.

Ensure supply of cotton balls, water, towels, face cloths.

Have two baths with 5 cms of water on low tables

Adult needs to remain with experience to provide support and encouragement at all times and to supervise the water as many of the children in the room are nearly 2 or older.


I will invite Jaiyra into the dramatic play area by saying, ‘Jaiyra, come here and look at this. Would you like to help me bath some babies?’ If Jaiyra appears to be willing I would take him to the dramatic play area and say, ‘Look here, two baths and some babies to wash.’ Do you want to give the baby a bath? I would wait for Jaiyra’s response. If Jaiyra is still willing I would say ‘What do we need to do first? I would accept Jaiyra’s response and then talk him through the process. I would describe what Jaiyra is doing and reinforce how we need to care for the baby, saying things like. ‘We need to carefully take off his clothes. Gently wash him. Let’s give the baby a kiss.’ I will use words to convey emotional states when ever I could. ‘The baby really likes getting a kiss, it makes him happy.’

I would stay with Jaiyra the entire experience encouraging him to care for the baby giving him one on one attention. When Jaiyra has finished bathing the baby we would dress him and put him to bed or feed him depending upon what Jaiyra says we should do. When Jaiyra begins to lose interest in the experience I would transition him to another experience of his choice.


Evaluation

Overall the experience was very successful. Jaiyra was very keen to bath the baby and was very talkative throughout the experience. He seemed to really like the one on one attention. When another child wanted to join in, initially he seemed reluctant to let her. I said, it’s ok Jaiyra, Sam just wants to bathe a baby also. There are two baths here so she can use that one. While I was doing this I made sure that my arm was around Jaiyra giving him physical comfort and reassurance that I was still there.

Jaiyra was able to successfully bath the baby. He knew all the steps involved with bathing the baby. I verbalised these throughout using words such as gentle and softly. I emphasised the importance of not letting the baby put his head under. At the end of the experience Jaiyra gave the baby a kiss and put him to bed. He appeared to be very interested in the nurturing role and liked giving the baby some attention. We were able to use a number of different emotional terms throughout the experience such as happy, sad and angry.

Follow up ideas

Give Jaiyra more opportunities to care for the babies in a one-on-one situation. Use experiences like feeding, nappy changing and other caregiving situations.

Gradually introduce other children to play alongside Jaiyra to share my attention. Plan experiences for Jaiyra and one other child.


References

Curtis D and Carter M (2000) The Art of Awareness: How observation can transform your teaching, Redleaf Press, MN

Stonehouse A (2002) NSW Curriculum Framework for Children’s Services: The Practice of Relationships: Essential provisions for children’s services, NSW Department of Community Services, Office of Child Care. The Curriculum Framework can be downloaded from the NSW Department of Community Services’ website at http://www.community.nsw.gov.au.


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