Long-term planning
A home corner is part of the permanent provision in many settings. It needs careful planning to ensure that children are offered the best possible learning opportunities there.
Accessing the basic equipment in the home corner on a daily basis, children can revisit experiences, develop ideas and consolidate learning over a period of time.
Possible learning experiences
A home environment is, of course, familiar to all children, but there will be considerable diversity in their home lives. This should be reflected in the provision and activities on offer.
Children should be able to explore learning across all six areas of the curriculum in the home corner. However, the area will probably be particularly strong for developing goals in personal, social and emotional development, language and imaginative play.
In the home corner, children have opportunities to:
* talk freely about home experiences
* represent and explore significant events and experiences from home
* explore the role of family members
* explore and build new relationships
* develop an awareness of time by acting out routines such as bedtime and mealtimes, and discussing stages of development from baby to adulthood
* explore and express feelings
* be aware of and respect the needs and feelings of others
* learn about social conventions
* develop a sense of belonging within their community
* celebrate special occasions and cultural festivals
* explore everyday purposes for reading, writing, using numbers and ICT equipment.
Organisation
* Think about which rooms you are going to offer within the home corner.
How many you offer at any one time will, of course, depend largely on the amount of available space.
* Make sure children have adequate space in each room area to move around and play co-operatively.
* Consider introducing a self-registration system to control the number of children in the area at one time. For example, children could place their own photograph or name on a track numbered one to four. When the track is full, no more children may enter.
* Consider links with other areas, for example, making props in the technology workshop or shopping at a role-play shop for a party in the home corner.
* Foster independence by organising equipment in clearly labelled baskets or on templated surfaces.
* Plan for adults to spend time in the area. Invite parents to share cultural knowledge and bilingual skills.
Resources
Equipment such as dolls, dolls' clothes and dressing-up clothes should be available in all rooms within the home corner, and some will be interchangeable between room headings.
Kitchen/dining room
* Sink unit, cooker, table and chairs
* Tablecloth, plastic vase, flowers
* Aprons, oven gloves
* Washing-up equipment such as pan scrubs, dishcloths, brush, tea towels.
* Plates, bowls, cups, saucers, cutlery.
* Pans, pots, baking trays and tins
* Cooking utensils such as fish slices, rolling pins, whisks and ladles
* Storage jars, biscuit tin
* Egg timer, clock
* Recipe books or cards
* Clothes horse, washing line, clothes pegs, empty washing powder boxes, ironing board, iron
* Vacuum cleaner, brush, dust pan.
* Shopping lists, notepads.
Sitting room
* Sofa, chairs, cushions
* Low table
* Photographs in frames
* Writing paper, notes, address book
* Telephone
* Magazine rack, photograph albums
* Imitation fire, fireguard
* Television, video, remote control.
Bedroom
* Bed, cot, pillows and bedding
* Bedside table, mirror
* Soft toys
* Alarm clock
* Bedtime story books
* Jewellery box, jewellery
* Hair brush, hairdryer.
Bathroom
* Shower head, rail and curtain
* Sink unit
* Baby bath
* Baby changing bag with wipes, etc
* Towels, face cloths, sponge
* Soap, empty shampoo and bubble bath bottles
* Toothbrush and toothpaste.
Adult role
* Observe children playing in the area. Make assessments of their learning towards key goals and plan for their next steps. Consider how you identify children's interests and help them to explore their experiences.
* Play alongside children at times, assuming roles and asking challenging questions such as 'How many plates will we need if Tom, Leroy and Kelly are coming for tea?' 'How do you think Susie will feel if we don't invite her to our party?' 'Can you tell me how to make toast for my breakfast?'
* Support children in sorting and tidying up equipment after use.
* Regularly check resources and replace any lost or broken equipment.
Medium-term planning
Practitioners may want to enhance areas of basic provision for a period of a few weeks to support a topic or curriculum focus. Such enhancements can be identified in the form of resources and activities in a setting's medium-term planning.
Topic: animals
Additional resources
Soft toy 'pet' dog or cat, basket, blanket, name disc, collar, lead, toy, food and water bowls, empty food packets, pet care books and information books.
Activities
Preparing for the 'pet's' arrival; finding out about the characteristics of, and how to look after, a particular pet; taking turns and responsibility for routine tasks of 'feeding' and exercising the pet; empathising with feelings of anxiety in a new situation; showing care for a pet. (Settings could develop links with a vet's role-play area.) Topic: traditional stories
Additional resources
'Goldilocks and the three bears'; three graded bowls, spoons, chairs, beds; pan, box of porridge oats, porridge recipe.
Activities
Talking about events and characters in the story, retelling the story in their own words, taking on the role of a character, experimenting with different voices, reading a recipe, pretending to make porridge, comparing size, counting reliably up to three, talking about feelings.
Short-term planning
Short-term planning provides practitioners with the opportunity to respond to children's interests within the learning environment. Interests may develop through child-initiated experiences in an area of provision, from topic-related activities or of a more schematic nature. Whatever the origin, it is crucial that children's learning interests and needs are recognised and supported to sustain motivation and ensure their deep involvement in the learning process.
Case study: Jenny
Observation
Jenny found a large shoulder bag in the dressing-up trolley. She spent a few seconds unfastening the zip and then put a cup, spoon and plastic banana into the bag. Jenny then put the bag over her shoulder and, as she moved around the nursery, added more items such as wooden blocks, small-world people and buttons.
Staff response
Observations in various contexts had highlighted Jenny's fascination with transportation. Staff decided to use the home corner as a base for providing equipment that would enable her to explore this interest further.
Early learning goal
To continue to be interested, excited and motivated to learn Resources
Bags, purses, shopping baskets and trolleys, suitcases, luggage trolleys, backpacks, prams, buggies. In the outdoor home area, staff added a garage and introduced a pedal car with a trailer.
Activity content
* Talk about the resources with Jenny and other interested children.
* Allow the children to engage in self-initiated activities and to use the equipment in ways that interest them.
* If appropriate, encourage them to explore transportation further through imaginative and role play, such as taking dolls for walks in the buggies.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
This series outlines how settings can 'build' effective long-, medium- and short-term plans around the areas of provision. The approach is not definitive, and practitioners can adapt it to suit their needs.
To implement the approach effectively, settings should:
* make planning a team effort to ensure that staff understand possible learning opportunities and how to support them.
* review their planning regularly in the light of their observations and evaluations.
The series builds on information provided in:
* 'The home corner - a guide to resourcing and supporting children's learning', Nursery World, 3 July 2003
* 'All about... Observation and assessment', Nursery World, 6 February 2003
* 'All about...Planning' Nursery World, 6 March 2003
