The foundation phase is the statutory curriculum for all children in Wales between the ages 3 and 7. It is carried out in both maintained and non-maintained settings, which are funded by the Local Education Authority. It replaced key stage 1 as of the academic year 2011-2012 as it was deemed to be more successful full than the assessment based key stage 1 as it only assessed the core subject whereas Wales’s curriculum is split into core and non-core subjects.
The foundation phase places great emphasis on the idea that children will learn by actually doing. The children are given the opportunity first hand to experience the world through several means. Different methods are used by teachers to encourage children to think outside the box. Children are challenged with open ended questions about their ideas and thought. They are also given the opportunity to explore and share their ideas. Children are encouraged to discuss different ways of problem solving with their classmates in order to see things from various different perspectives. By interacting with others during activities such as problem solving, children learn basic social skills such as sharing and waiting their turn. Also, the children’s communication skills both verbal and non-verbal improve whilst participating in activities and games with others.
Play is one of the most essential parts of the foundation phase. Play can be seen as a source of relaxation and stimulation for both the brain and the body. It is also a fun way for children to develop their imaginations, creativity, problem-solving abilities and benefits their mental health. When children are actively taking part in play, their speech is improved, their listening skills improve and their imaginations are allowed to run wild allowing them to go into deep thought. All these things in the long run will improve the child’s confidence not just in themselves, but also in their speech and their approach to problem solving. Reading and writing confidence will be improved due to fact the children are listening and using their speech a lot more during play than if they were sat at a desk using exercise books. Also by allowing their minds to run wild, problem solving will become easier as they are able to think outside the box and their ability to problem solve will also improve mathematical ability of the child. Play can also entail role plays which assist children to deal with conflicts they may face in life whether it is at school or at home.
Play also allows children to be creative. When a child is in their own little bubble either in deep thought or when exploring their environment, they become creative in creating their own fun or adventures and simply learn how to entertain themselves and each other. Being creative is something that is deemed to be essential and is something that will be desired especially in adult life. By allowing a child to be creative, you give the child the opportunity to develop into unique individuals because not all children see things in the same way.
Outdoor learning
Taking learning outside the class room can have a positive effect on a child’s education as well their physical and social well-being. Children love being outside with nature and also by taking the children outside, they feel a sense of freedom as they are taken out of the confinements of the classroom. By being outside, the opportunity is provided for their minds to wonder and for them to explore their surroundings. Lessons are made more interesting by using realistic examples whilst teaching, for example real leaves during a science lessons. The children are more likely react in a positive way to this teaching method and the children will be they engage more in activities in comparison to them being sat at desks getting on with textbook work. Also by physically being able to see and feel these things, children will enjoy and be more interested in what they are learning and after being actively involved, will be more likely to remember what they had learnt from that lesson. After being exposed to things within the environment, children will be able to relate to things with more ease after having physically experienced them themselves. The foundation phase emphasises the importance of play in education and by taking children outdoors, they are able to play with the elements of the environment, games which can’t be played indoors, run, skip and jump as they play as they have access to larger areas. This can help with physical education as well as other subjects such as geography, maths, and science; improve their speech, language and listening and also their people skills. Physical education is something schools are working on at the moment, especially with the obesity stats raising year by year. Nowadays, children seem to entertain themselves indoors with films, computers, video games and other technology rather that playing outside. Unfortunately for some children, outdoor lessons may be the only time they are active and play outdoors which is very alarming but not that surprising in the modern times we currently live in. By interacting with others and their environment children become more confident with their learning. Also by introducing an outdoor environment to children a few times a week, attendance stats in the long run should improve as children will want to come to school more. This is mainly due to the simple reason that lessons outdoors are more fun! If children participate in something them deem as “fun” they are going to want to do it again and even look forward to doing it again. Outdoor lessons therefore can be seen as incentive that encourages the children to not just attend school, but also to participate in lessons more as they are genuinely enjoying participating and enjoying their outdoor learning experience. Behavioural problems are reduced within classes during outdoor lectures as the children are given more freedom, are having fun not just whilst they learn but also as they engage in outdoor play and a change of scene is key to reducing this behavioural issue.
Children’s Television
Another educational programme is called “Mr Maker”. Mr Maker promotes arts and crafts. Being creative is essential for a child’s well-being. Mr Maker shows children how to make several items or create artistic portraits mainly using everyday household items along with paints, pens etc. By encouraging children to think outside the box and to be creative, children’s confidence in sharing ideas or expressing themselves through art is improved.
“The neurons” is an up and coming science programme which is new to Cbeebies. The neurons encourage children to figure out mainly scientific problems along with everyday problems using their 5 senses touch, taste, smell, hearing and seeing. The problem is presented to the children then they decided which of their senses, which are given a cartoon character known as the neuron, they would use to deal with this problem. This programme isn’t just getting children to think, it also teaching them about science, their senses and the importance of them.
Promoting a healthy lifestyle is done through the use of cooking programmes on children’s TV. In the most recent survey taken in 2011/2012 found that 9.5% of children aged between 4 and 5 were obese and another 13.1% were overweight. By teaching children about fruit and vegetables and why they need 5 a day through the use of fun energetic programmes, makes children want to eat healthily. Programmes such as “I can cook” and “big cook little cook” are just two of the programmes that do exactly this.
Children love animals and being in touch with nature and there are also nature programmes specifically for children. Each week, the children are taught about a different animal and shown them in their natural environment, animals from elephants to monkeys, tigers to lions. One very success nature programme on the Cbeebies channel is wild about animals.
The Montessori schooling system was founded in the 1900’s by a psychologist called Dr Maria Montessori. Along with the foundation phase,Montessori believed that children learn best
by actually doing. Happy, self-motivated learners form positive images of themselves as confident, successful people. She created specially designed resources to encourage children to become more independent and develop a love for learning from an early age. This approach to learning is seen as a holistic approach as it aims to develop the whole child.
Montessori teachings adapt to the shape and manner of each child’s forever changing characteristics and interests. They follow 4 main stages which every child will go through and reflect their teachings and teaching methods from these. The process in which all individuals follow from birth in order to become adults happens in a series of different stages
The first stage in the process of development occurs from birth to age six. At this stage, children are sensorial explorers so using everything from taste to touch sight to hearing to smell to come to understand what they are actually experiencing. By doing this they are by absorbing every aspect of their environment and surroundings and their language.
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The second stage is between the ages 6 to 12 where children become conceptual explorers. “They develop their powers of abstraction and imagination, and apply their knowledge to discover and expand their worlds further.”
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In the years between 12 and 18, the children become humanistic explorers where they seek to understand their place in society and also how they are able to contribute to it.
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From 18 to 24 years of age you are seen as young adults. Young adults become specialised explorers “seeking a niche from which to contribute to universal dialogue.”
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Because of this process their teaching methods are not like any other. They don’t follow the traditional schooling method which consists of testing and examinations. They believe that examinations and formal methods of teaching aren’t important and focus on the social well-being of each individual child and their development. These schools are small in number and are usually private schools. The classrooms consist of children of various ages and are relatively small in size. Children were allowed to work freely and with each other improving their language, speech, social skills, problem solving abilities and were given special educational tools to assist them in their learning and also to keep them interested in their learning. Even though they weren’t tested in the traditional way, children were still assessed in regards to their mental abilities, academic abilities, social and behavioural skills. By using this approach in their schooling, it’s been proved that the pupils out preformed those who attended state schools. Some examples were children aged 5 were better prepared for reading and maths than those who attended state schools, and children aged 12 were significantly more creative in their writings and their sentence structures were at a very high intellectual level. Some of the biggest differences between Montessori students and state school students were seen in social skills and behaviour. Montessori children displayed a greater sense of justice and fairness when dealing with certain social situation and when interacting with others, it was in a more emotionally positive way. They showed a real sense of community within their classrooms making sure everyone felt that they belonged and were equal. In negative situations, children from Montessori schools responded in a positive and optimistic way showing greater levels of maturity.
References
Outdoor learning -
Children’s TV-
Montessori Schools-
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