Planning in the Moment with Young Children: A Practical Guide for Early Years Practitioners and Parents

Review

"Planning in the moment has transformed both our practice and ourselves here at Gunter. It has taken us from interferers to interactors, privileged to play with the children in our setting. Children are demonstrating far higher levels of interest and involvement, persevering and showing a ‘can do’ attitude whilst creativity, critical thinking and motivation for all is evident in the constant thrum of activity. For the teaching staff, planning, preparation and assessment is now a celebration of children’s learning, inputting the children’s ‘wow!’ moments, contributed by all the staff, is a delight and leads naturally to knowing what’s next. The change has given us the freedom to teach in accordance with children’s needs and in a way that is nourishing for them and us."Chris Dingley, Early Years Lead, Gunter Primary School, Birmingham, UK"We began putting Planning in the Moment into action in September 2017 after some considerable time getting our environment right. At the end of our first year I can see how it has benefitted both staff and the children in our care. The staff are now much less stressed and relaxed and are free to spend quality time with the children, ensuring that no teachable moment is missed. They have all commented on how much better they feel they know their key children. The children’s personal, emotional and social development has surpassed that of previous cohorts. They are much more resilient, independent and show an excitement for learning, safe in the knowledge that the adults will follow their lead."Nikki Smith, Manager, Little Learners Pre-school, Waltham Cross, UK "Having used ‘in the moment planning’ all year we have seen fantastic results. The children have amazed us with their independence, desire to learn and ability to reflect on their own learning. Our GLD is the highest it has ever been but more importantly the children are happy, engaged and truly involved and excited by their own learning. Our journey to fully implement in the moment planning has been wondrous. I can’t thank Anna enough for giving us the confidence to teach in a way we love. It has been a leap of faith for everyone but has been totally worth it and I would recommend it to anyone."Suzi Strutt, Early Years Team Leader and Reception Teacher, Thorley Hill Primary School, Bishop’s Stortford, UK"The book explores ways of maintaining a strong link to practice, providing examples of how practitioners can integrate spontaneous planning and rich adult-child interactions into their everyday practice. It also makes clear the obvious points that if you are planning and responding, adapting and treating each child as unique, while working within the foundation stage, then surely each child has the best chance possible of achieving good levels of development."Neil Henty, Early Years Educator

Chris Dingley, Early Years Lead, Gunter Primary School, Birmingham, UK

"Planning in the moment has transformed both our practice and ourselves here at Gunter. It has taken us from interferers to interactors, privileged to play with the children in our setting. Children are demonstrating far higher levels of interest and involvement, persevering and showing a ‘can do’ attitude whilst creativity, critical thinking and motivation for all is evident in the constant thrum of activity. For the teaching staff, planning, preparation and assessment is now a celebration of children’s learning, inputting the children’s ‘wow!’ moments, contributed by all the staff, is a delight and leads naturally to knowing what’s next. The change has given us the freedom to teach in accordance with children’s needs and in a way that is nourishing for them and us."