Scheduling Considerations – Factors to use when creating schedules are age/developmental level, and attention span of the children; number of hours/days of children’s attendance; and the timing of the elements of the day (Routine, Curricular, and SARA – see last few blogs).
Developmental Levels – Common sense and research tells us that above all else, we must create schedules that match the needs of the children, and modify the schedule to continue meeting those needs as they change. This is necessary in BOTH part-day preschool and full-day childcare programs. (Personal Note: Having taught in and directed both types of programs, I assure you there is no difference in the nature and needs of the children who attend either).
Attention Span – Most children under the age of eight have average attention spans equal to one minute of attention and focus per year of age. One year olds = one minute, two year olds = two minutes, etc. This means that the length of time a child is asked to pay focused attention without being physically active is very short.
(Another Personal Note: This does NOT mean that a young child cannot watch a video or movie for a much longer period of time. That type of attention is not focused active learning! It also does not mean a child cannot work at building a block creation or pretend to be a fairy queen for a long time – so long sometimes that he doesn’t want to eat, pee pee or go to the playground when it’s time to go. That is focus leaning toward obsession – another situation entirely).
To be appropriately involved in the learning process, the child must be actively involved with the experience, the media and materials must be real, and there must be a warm loving adult to provide language and encourage the brain to work.
Young children must not be asked to remain idle for long periods of time waiting for experiences to be set up or for events to take place. Experiences must be offered in short time spans. Infant and Baby schedules must be dependent on the needs of the children and must change as the infants and babies change. Schedules for Toddlers, Twos, Threes, Fours, and Fives can be designed to stretch the attention span by increments from five to twenty-five minutes providing the experiences involve a variety of physical and sensory actions.
Attendance – Thinking developmentally, and appreciating the vulnerability of young children, it is ideal for children under the age of six to attend a program that limits days and hours of attendance to developmentally appropriate numbers, but this is not realistic in every instance. Some children in private preschool programs and most children in day care must be in attendance all five days from morning to mid/late afternoon, no matter what their age.
Teachers MUST create schedules that make allowances for fatigue, illness, boredom, and unattractive behaviors as these are the symptoms of over attendance in number of days per week and number of hours per day. No matter how many days or hours a child attends, the MANDATORY key to scheduling is developmental appropriateness.
Elements of the Day – So, you take each of the elements of your day, both routine and curricular, and create a schedule that allows for all of them. Not an easy task. Here are the elements needing to be scheduled and approximate developmentally appropriate amounts of time needed for each. On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!
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Teach 'Em the Way They Learn 