Circle time is probably familiar to many people as a phrase. But it takes some thought and sensitive planning to use it in ways that support children's learning, especially as a strategy to support and promote positive behaviour. Circle time can be used effectively for the broad range of what young children are learning. This article focuses on its application to behaviour.
Circle time is more than having a slot in the day when you sit with the children in a group. It works when practitioners in early years settings or schools have thought about what they will do in this time, how they will do it and the reasons for their plans. Your own adult behaviour in circle time is central to a successful activity.
It is questionable whether circle time - as it is meant by trainer/consultants such as Jenny Mosley - can really work with children younger than three years old (see details of her Quality Circle Time website in 'Other Resources', opposite page). Of course, you can still support their learning about behaviour, but your approach has to be much more individual.
Sitting comfortably
Children need to feel physically and emotionally comfortable in a circle:
* Ensure that the place where you have circle time is comfortable for everyone. Young children cannot focus if a friend's legs are prodding them or play materials fall over behind them.
* Keep the size of the circle small and split up a large group of children if necessary. Each circle needs its own adult, all of whom follow the agreed pattern for that day.
* Three-and four-year-olds really cannot manage a circle of more than about six children. They have to wait too long and there are too many potential distractions. Five-and six-year-olds with experience of circle time will become able to manage a circle of up to a dozen.
* Children feel emotionally comfortable when you take time to explain and establish the ground rules of considerate communication in the circle.
* You also support children's comfort when your own behaviour reassures them that circle time is not just a sneaky way of nagging children. You support them when you show emotional warmth, attentiveness and genuine interest in the children's contribution.
What will work?
Positive communication skills are the foundation to good practice in circle time. You help children learn the skills through your good example, by recapping and encouraging children and through the range of activities you organise within circle time. There are many good ideas for what to do as activities (see 'Other Resources', opposite page). But these will not work if adults break the rules of considerate communication. Look at the skills that follow and think how you could show them through your behaviour:
* Listening to each other: using our ears and waiting our turn.
* Looking at each other with our eyes, because we learn by looking as well as listening.
* Speaking to express our ideas, views and feelings.
* Thinking with our minds and then expressing those thoughts.
* Concentrating by looking and listening to the adult and our friends.
You can use different strategies to help children in addition to your own guidance:
* Some settings pass a talking stick or say that speakers (including adults) need to have doll or teddy in their lap.
* You can help children develop consideration for others by saying things like, 'Thank you for waiting,' 'I think Marsha wants to say something,' or 'Daniel, I'm sorry to stop you there. We need to hear what the other children think.'
* You can also use opportunities to affirm children in their skills. For example, you could say, 'Good looking, Sandy. You spotted that Teddy is all slumped. We do that sometimes when we are sad,' or 'Good idea about how to show that you are sorry, Jamal. I can see that you've been thinking hard.' Circle time can work well to support your broad messages about positive behaviour in the setting. Perhaps you are exploring 'being considerate of other people' in a range of ways over a couple of months. The planned content for circle time can be part of your flexible larger plan. You definitely need flexibility, since you want an atmosphere in which the children feel confident to contribute. Their comments and examples may take you all on a slightly different route from that which you have anticipated.
Circle time could contribute to a theme of 'being considerate':
* Explore with puppets or paper plate faces, 'How do we feel when people are kind to us?' or 'How do we feel when our feelings are hurt?' * Simple role plays or physical games can bring alive ways of saying - and showing - 'Sorry.' It can be a way to tell a child, 'Help your friend cheer up when she is sad', or even to explore the theme, 'Adults have feelings, too.'
Circle time can integrate actual events in your setting:
* You may be able to help a child express thanks for the support of her friends in the setting. For example, Sandy may want to say and show 'thank you' for everybody's kindness while her broken arm was in a sling. You might want to say 'thank you' for all the hugs from the children when they heard that your Gran had died.
* You need to be careful about highlighting individual children for their positive behaviour. But this approach can work as long as you ensure that every child gets a positive mention on an even-handed regular basis. Any activity that builds up real examples, like a 'kindness tree', needs to have everyone's name on it in the end.
Exploring behaviour that is 'inconsiderate' (the reverse of what you want to encourage here) is usually better illustrated by using puppets or stories, as you want to avoid any sense of children being told off in front of the group. You need to deal positively with the behaviour in an individual exchange at the time it occurred with the children concerned. However, if children themselves raise an example, then it is up to you to handle this opportunity in a positive way.
Perhaps the children announce that it isn't fair that Naomi and Harry are so rude to children who want to join their game in the sandpit:
* By following the communication ground rules it can be possible to enable the children whose feelings have been hurt to be heard.
* But Naomi and Harry need to have the chance to say how it is important to them that they have their special game to themselves. Then it may be possible to reach a compromise.
What to avoid
In all the activities around the theme in circle time you need to be reflective about your own behaviour. Practitioners in a team need to be consistent about positive adult actions.
* Circle time is not an opportunity to tell children they 'ought to be nice' to each other. The balance will go awry if this activity turns into adults telling children what to do with not enough listening and discussing. Children will feel 'got at' and they will respond by looking bored and getting fidgety.
* Adults need to set a good example. It is possible to sabotage most of the good work about 'how we consider each other's feelings' if adults punctuate circle time with sharp remarks to children who are 'misbehaving'.
* If Naomi and Harry are whispering to each other, then the adult needs to avoid snide remarks like, 'Naomi and Harry! I think some children are being very inconsiderate today and have broken our rules again!' You are setting a better example by saying something like, 'Whispering stops us hearing what each person is saying. Let's try that again.'
Other resources
You can find a wide range of useful materials from:
* Lucky Duck Publishing tel: 0117 9732881, www.luckyduck.co.uk* Jenny Mosley, Positive Presstel: 01225 719204, www.circle-time.co.uk
