Activity 3-2:
Making Every Day the
Same and Different

Purpose: In this activity, participants will consider why it is important to create and follow schedules that are flexible and that provide a balance of activities.

Outcomes:
Participants plan a balanced daily schedule that reflects a child's individual and developmental needs.

Participants modify the schedule to take advantage of spontaneous events (for example, to respond to teachable moments).

Participants adapt the schedule, routines, and transitions to meet a child's individual needs.

Materials:
Chart paper, markers, tape
Handout 10: Observing a Typical Day

1. Explain to participants that this activity will focus on the characteristics of good schedules for young children, including flexibility. Tell participants they will observe a child at different times during a single day and use observation recordings to determine whether the home, center, or group socialization schedule should be changed to make it more flexible and balanced.

2. Ask participants to react to the following statement:

A good schedule for young children is flexible. The younger the child, the more flexible the child, the more flexible the schedule should be. An appropriate schedule for a child with disabilities is one that can be easily adapted to respond to the child's skills and needs.

Use questions such as the following as prompts:

What might happen if you had no schedule at all?
What situations might cause you to change the schedule?
Would you ever change the schedule to respond to one child?
What parts of the schedule are never changed?
Why is it important to have a schedule?

3. Review with participants the following characteristics of an appropriate schedule for young children. Ask participants how these features can be reflected in home, center, and group socialization settings. Sample responses are provided:

· Children have opportunities to be alone, in a small group, in a large group, and one-on-one with an adult.

 
At home: A child might play with toys, look at books, or draw-alone, with siblings, or with a neighbor; older children might play with others in the neighborhood; a child might read with a parent at bedtime or help a parent sort grocery coupons.
 
At the center/group socialization session: A child might look at books or listen to tapes alone; use the computer with another child; play house with a small group; learn about dental health from the Migrant Health Program's visiting nurse; and talk with an adult about a painting or block structure.
 

· Children can develop and use physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills.

 
At home: A child might crawl upstairs, laugh with an older sibling, stare at her image in the mirror, and repeatedly drop a toy from her high chair to see what will happen.
 
At the center/group socialization session: A child might pull himself up to stand by holding on to the arm of a rocking chair, smile at a staff member, cry because he is hungry and wants the staff member to meet his needs, and put everything he can in his mouth to experience its taste and texture.
 

· Children have time to play indoors and outdoors.

 
At home: A child might pretend to talk to someone on the phone and take a walk in the grower's fields with her father, a migrant worker.
 
At the center/group socialization session: A child might toss bean bags in a basket and paint at an easel set up outdoors.
 

· Children can engage in active and quiet experiences.

 At home: A child might dance while listening to music, do a puzzle, or look at books.
 
At the center/group socialization session: A child might play at the water table and build with blocks.
 

· Children can participate both in familiar activities and in those that offer challenges or introduce new topics and ideas.

 
At home: A child might set the table for breakfast and learn how to crack an egg on the side of a bowl.
 
At the center/group socialization session: A child might lie on a wedged cushion while building with blocks and wheel her chair to the computer so she can explore how to use a new program.

4. Ask each participant to select a child to be the subject of a series of focused observations. Suggest selecting a child with disabilities or one with limited English skills. Tell participants they will observe the child for three to five minutes at the times specified in Handout 10: Observing a Typical Day and record what the child is doing and saying. Explain that the next step will be to review their recordings to determine whether the schedule is flexible and meets the characteristics described in Step 3.

5. Meet with participants to discuss their observation recordings and schedules. If necessary, have them plan ways to revise the schedules to make them more responsive to children.

6. Encourage participants to discuss their observation recordings and proposed schedule changes with colleagues and the child's parents. If appropriate, staff and parents can work together to implement the revised schedules.

Activity 3-1 | Activity 3-3 | Module 3 | Index