Nursery World - In the past (1)

Helping children to develop a sense of time may require giving them lots of time. Penny Tassoni considers how to listen to children trying to put things in perspective Gone are the days when a child may sit watching an adult going about their chores and chatting endlessly. Or have they? The Foundation Stage curriculum puts a lot of emphasis on encouraging children to talk, particularly in the Knowledge and Understanding of the World area. Here we find that to deliver a 'sense of time', children will need to spend time with adults.

Gone are the days when a child may sit watching an adult going about their chores and chatting endlessly. Or have they? The Foundation Stage curriculum puts a lot of emphasis on encouraging children to talk, particularly in the Knowledge and Understanding of the World area. Here we find that to deliver a 'sense of time', children will need to spend time with adults.

While some practitioners organise circle times, Judy Harrison of Christ- church School in St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex, has found that these sessions have limitations. 'We are very careful to make sure that circle times are kept quite short. While some children do talk about things that are important to them, others need more individual times. Children can't always talk to order.'

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