Schemas How To Underst And Extend Children s Behaviour By Mark Lim, Early Years Childcare http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/ What are schemas? Schemas are patterns of repeatable behaviour which can often be noticed in young children's play. By exploring practising their schemas in different situations, children become more knowledgeable about the world around them. An example of a schema would be a child who carries bricks from one place to another in a bag or pushes a friend around in a toy pram. This would be the Transporting Schema. How are schemas useful? Understing schemas are useful for helping to underst a child s motivation for doing something. From there, we can extend their learning by matching curriculum content based on their individual interests For example, take a child who s interested in transporting exhibits the Transporting Schema. During s play, you d have greater success at engaging his interest by having him move s in buckets trucks, as opposed to asking him to dig or bury objects. Do all children follow schemas? Although children often show particular schemas in their play, not all children will be follow schemas. In addition, some will show one particular schema particularly strongly others will show several at once. Sometimes one schema which has been particularly strong will even seem to fade, possibly to be replaced by another. Please feel free to contact me with any remarks or queries at marklim81@gmail.com By Mark Lim, Early Years Childcare http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/ Page 1
Table 1: Some easily identifiable schemas Schema Transporting Enclosure/containing Trajectory (diagonal/vertical/horizontal) Rotation Connection Positioning Transforming Description of possible behaviours A child may carry all the bricks from one place to another in a bag, the s from the tray to the home corner in a bucket, push a friend around in a toy pram. A child may cover themselves in a flannel when washing, wrap dolls toys up in blankets fabric, cover their with one colour. A child may put their thumb in out of their mouth, fill up empty containers of all kinds, climb into large cartons, sit in the tunnel, build 'cages' with blocks. A child may gaze at your face, drop from their cot, make arcs in their spilt food with their h, play with the running water in the bathroom, climb up jump off furniture, line up the cars, bounce kick balls, throw. A child may be fascinated by the spinning washing machine, love anything with wheels, roll down a hill, enjoy spinning round or being swung around. A child may distribute collect objects to from a practitioner, spend time joining the train tracks together, stick the masking tape form across form the table to the chair. A child may put on their head, prefer their custard next to their sponge not over it, lie on the floor or under the table. A child may add juice to their mashed potato, s to the water tray, enjoy adding colour to cornflour or making dough. Table 2: Child s possible preferences according to schema Schema Connection (joining) surrounding) Rotation (circles) (covering, Trajectory (straight lines) Child's preferences Train track, construction, string, sellotape Dens, in, envelopes, dressing up, wrapping 'presents' Circle, wheels, roundabouts, spinning tops, kaleidoscopes Throwing, woodwork, percussion, football, playing with running water Transporting (moving ) Shopping bags, buggies, trailers By Mark Lim, Early Years Childcare http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/ Page 2
Table 3: Activities according to schemas Connection Cooking Sequence in recipes S (wet) S (dry) Water Fabric Roleplay Tunnels Scastles Filling Funnels Hoses Bridges Sawing Threading Weaving Knitting Filling hbags Arranging furniture, cushions, bricks etc enclosure Picnic food Swiches, mince pies, pasties, stuffings Putting away treasure objects Tunnelling Filling bags socks Filling pipes Collecting in yogurt pots, funnels Washing Filling up funnels boats Blow bubbles Rotation Stirring, whisking, mixing, washing Liquidiser Rolling pastry out Archimedes screw S wheel Sprinkler Circular sewing Pom-poms bags Taking turns Filling bags Dressing up Dolls in cots, prams Dressing dolls Blankets over tables Transporting Trajectory Shopping for ingredients Taking to oven or fridge Giving food S buckets trucks Trucks Trails out Popcorn Chopping in Digging Things with holes Hose pipes Things with tubing Pouring holes Bubbles Pumps Sprays Squeezy Sewing Knitting Weaving Playing post Appropriate people/milk ways of people 'Moving house' running, throwing, kicking in Pulling toys on role string By Mark Lim, Early Years Childcare http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/ Page 3
Small world Train track People Cars Layouts Animals Computer Loading Word processing Printing Games puzzles Paint Dominoes Jigsaws Matching tessellating Magnetic fishing Patterns Workshop Sellotape, string,, glue, junk modelling, kites, threading Books Graphics Feely Lotto Borders for pictures Bubble Covering s Masks, hats, Wrapping up, crowns, tape Putting Papier mache in books Opening closing books Calendars Envelopes Writing in little books Letter Sequencing patterns Turn-taking Incy wincy spider Number top Mixing paint Finger Paint rollers Marble containers or vehicles Cars Cars tractors ramps Trains Collections Layouts Printing work Pressing buttons Whisper Snakes ladders Ludo Carrying paint/water to object containers or vehicles Repetitive Going to stories library, taking rhymes books to special places Round paper Spirograph Throwing dice Snakes ladders Spray splatter Blow Squeezy bottle Paper aeroplanes Toy parachutes Elastic b Catapults Sending Rulers receiving Drawing/ letters, parcels writing messages about cars, planes. By Mark Lim, Early Years Childcare http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/ Page 4
Small construction Large construction Marble run Putting away Houses Bricks blocks Outdoor play up Circle Gardening Parachute Obstacle courses Hose pipes Music sound Malleable Woodwork Percussion Connecting modelling Nails, nuts, bolts; wood to hammer Investigation Electric circuits plumbing Houses for for Hiding in or under Tents, dens Hide seek Parachutes Playing in boats Cog wheels Cog wheels Sprinkler Skipping Hoops, quoits Rolling tyres down hill Wheeled toys Circular obstacle course Headphones Record player Rounds, chants Ring Models with inside Covering pies cakes Microscope Binoculars Bottles, collections Seeds bulbs Mixing dough Rolling balls Drill Vice Giro scope Cogs Wheels Spinning tops Kaleidoscopes Models with wheels Models with wheels Trucks for collecting carrying Road Suitcase Moving equipment Taping music Listening imitating Dough to oven Carrying cakes in egg with wheels Collections Snail trails Building demolishing towers, marble run rockets, fast trains Watering - pipes cans Flags, nets Running, hitting, throwing aiming Balls, bats, skittles Percussion Garlic crush Hammering throwing clay Hammering Sawing Catapults Rotators Reflection Sources: Schemas by Juliet Mickelburgh, The Foundation Stage Forum (http://www.foundationstage.info/newfsf/articles/members/fsfarticle_186.php) Schemas, Dorset County Council (http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=357248) By Mark Lim, Early Years Childcare http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/ Page 5