Circle time

[playfelt]

fruitloop I am going to assume you also have some older kids. What is the point asking a question of an 18 month old child that barely speaks. Yes they will sit, yes they will follow along but we really have to be careful if this is the best use of their time. When you have kids old enough to answer the questions, and lead the way for the younger kids, follow directions, that is great but does not work with just little ones. I guess my question would be if all of the kids in your group over age 2 were not there some day, how well would your routine work with just the little ones and no examples to follow. If you are expending too much of your time to do the leading, the pointing, the finding, the giving them the answers then there are other ways to teach the same skills that would have more meaning than doing a formal circletime.

[fruitloop]

fruitloop I am going to assume you also have some older kids. What is the point asking a question of an 18 month old child that barely speaks. Yes they will sit, yes they will follow along but we really have to be careful if this is the best use of their time. When you have kids old enough to answer the questions, and lead the way for the younger kids, follow directions, that is great but does not work with just little ones. I guess my question would be if all of the kids in your group over age 2 were not there some day, how well would your routine work with just the little ones and no examples to follow. If you are expending too much of your time to do the leading, the pointing, the finding, the giving them the answers then there are other ways to teach the same skills that would have more meaning than doing a formal circletime.

Yes my group was older...2, 3, and 4 year olds. Right now my oldest of the group is 2 so yes, I have changed it a bit. We do still sit and sing songs but they're not old enough to grasp the rest of it...well, except my 2 year old who seems to be a very smart cookie and know all of her colours already. You are right, it is lost on the youngers ones but my 17 month old will sit for a lot of it and participate the best she can. You make changes and adjust things accordingly. I just had a change over of kids and have a younger group now so a lot of things are put on hold for a few months until they can grasp the concepts of it all. I was refering to a bit older group with young ones mixed into it. I do my circle time the way I do because I do a kindergarten readiness program and in kindergarten kids have to sit for a certain period of time.