In our school we use the “In the moment planning” approach through EYs. Our interactions are everything!
Today this young mathematician was one of my focus children.
He came in to school this morning and started filling the numicon board with pegs.....
Today this young mathematician was one of my focus children.
He came in to school this morning and started filling the numicon board with pegs.....
... but then it was time for register and phonics. I SUGGESTED we make a do not touch sign and MODELLED how to do this....we put the sign on his work....
After the register and phonics session-he headed straight back to his self chosen activity and continued. I PROVIDED some marbles and he sat match a marble to each peg- he did this for every peg.... 
...I WONDERED how many there were altogether and he said we could count. I NOTICED he was not counting with 1:1 correspondence so MODELLED how to slow down and match a number to each peg....
He did this- he got stuck around the 10s numbers so I HELPED although once past these he flew, quickly picking up on the pattern..... Together we counted to 100. I MODELLED writing 100. He copied it but added lots of zeros.....saying it’s hundreds, thousands, millions...
He then began to cover the board with plates. I INTRODUCED vocab like flip and rotate to help him. He covered the entire board and was extremely proud of himself!
I SUGGESTED we could go and show our principal. He picked up the board and......
Dropped the entire lot! He calmly started again. Building it up again-with no help. Other children tried to join in and he wanted to push them away. I MODELLED the language “I don’t need any help thank you” and he told them this before carrying on....
So in the end it was completed. We went and showed our assistant principal. After lunch he returned to it, removed every plate and said he wanted all 10s. Which he did....
And at hometime his mum came into see his play-his work-his maths.....
Just to end this with a moral. This is young learner who finds it hard to sit still and follow teacher instructions. This is a young learner who some might see as needing targeted interventions.....
This is an active, outside kinda learner who would be switched of by workbooks, worksheets, and a day full of adult led learning planned according to a topic web from the last 20 years....
Will he get GLD? Who knows. It’s only February. And if he doesn’t that isn’t about him being behind or struggling. It’s about him being less than 60m old.
Will he fly as a learner? Abso-bloody-lutely.
Will he fly as a learner? Abso-bloody-lutely.
And throughout the whole episode? He was inspiring other children. They stood around “ooo-ing” and “aah-ing”. Others came along and started using the numicon too-in their own ways....
We need to trust in our UNIQUE CHILDREN. They will LEARN AND DEVELOP- if and only if-we build those crucial POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS in an ENABLING PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ENVIRONMENT. These are our EYFS principles. This our teaching and learning....
Put those principles at the core of all you do.
Make the statutory CoETLs and prime areas the core of all you do- and build your specific learning upon this bedrock. This is what our children need us to do....
Make the statutory CoETLs and prime areas the core of all you do- and build your specific learning upon this bedrock. This is what our children need us to do....
...these are the tools, the tools for life, that will see them thriving into an uncertain future. The current pathway for EYs is looking rather bumpy to say the least and is leading us the wrong way. We must hold onto our principles. Be brave and stand up for children....
