Family Daycare - Practice Makes Perfect

So often when we plan curriculum it is to teach new skills and ideas. But, I think we loose something in this approach - I mean it gets busy, frantically creating 'new learning opportunities', and photocopying activity sheets...

Where is the opportunity for kids to practice in this revolving door of new skills?  Wouldn't we be doing the children a better service by creating a gentle place to practice their current skills? Wouldn't we be doing ourselves a service by exchanging our time spent photocopying worksheets with time spent in a child's world?

I think the importance of practice in curriculum planning gets lost and we must reclaim it; "...frequent repetition of activities develops a sense of comfortable familiarity and mastery, which not only helps children learn but builds self-esteem." (p.9 Klein, M. Diane et al, 2001.)

Banana Bread learning to walk

This is illustrated simply when we think of a child learning to walk. In order to learn to walk independently a child must take hundreds of thousands of steps cruising/holding on furniture. It is the hundreds of thousands of steps of practice that result in the mastery which leads to independent walking.  Offering the child new ways to walk, comparing the child to other walkers, or calling their name across the room will not promote their walking. Practice will.

Practice is key to mastery, and it should be the foundation of our curriculum planning to provide natural, un-pressured opportunities for children to practice skills. Such a curriculum  supports learners in an infinitely better way than frantic, busy classrooms do.

Here are some practical tips (Mahoney & MacDonald, 2007) to incorporate more practice in your teaching:

• Keep the child for 1 or 2 more turns than usual (gradually extend the number of turns the child stays engaged in interaction with you.)
• Repeat activities the child enjoys (children persist in repetitive play because the object or action they are doing is interesting to them - continue the play even if you are getting bored!)
• Find ways to allow practice in your everyday routines (slow down and allow the child to practice even if you can do the task more quickly:)

A great read on this topic is Einstein Never Used Flashcards.

Joyfully repetitive,
Joyfully repetitive,
Caz.