Creating a Flow of the Day that best supports all of the students in your classroom is not an easy task. There are so many factors to consider – transitions, environments, school schedule, planning time. 

So, how do you create a schedule for your classroom that is BEST for children? 

One key message that we keep in mind when creating a flow is: “maximum message, in the minimum time”. We still strongly believe that this is important, especially considering that age and development of the children in our classroom. 

What we know developmentally about children is that sitting for long periods of time in a whole group is not best practice. Some studies suggest that children are able to focus for the same amount of time as their age (e.g., 4 minutes for 4 year old).
 
“But I have seen a teacher do a 30 minute lesson and all of the children were listening”. Interestingly, many children will comply and sit quietly. But are they truly listening, benefiting and taking in what is being shared? 

Focused Learning:

We have shifted to meeting only ONE time as a whole group. We call this time Focused Learning. We plan our Focused Learning time weekly. We think carefully about what the children need and what we they are learning about in the context of their play.

Some things that we do during focused learning include:-Music and Movement-Games (focusing on phonemic awareness, early mathematics, or literacy)-Knowledge Building Circles (to discuss projects or learning happening in the room)-Shared Reading or Read Alouds (with an intentionally planned purpose)-Planned Sharing (sharing documentation, learning stories, writing)-Oral Language Development (discussion about a picture or image – with many focuses)-Focus on Emotional and Social Development

Learning Centres (Indoors):

“Research suggests complex play doesn’t typically emerge until children have been actively engaged for about thirty minutes. In practice, this research implies fewer transitions, allowing longer stretches of time for deeper involvement.”

-Reflecting Children’s Lives, Margie Carter and Deb Curtis

At one time, we had 2 blocks of learning centres indoors. However, we found that the children did not have enough time to go deep into their play. We shifted our day plan to ensure that we had a long period of uninterrupted time for the children to engage in play.

This year, we lengthened the outdoor play block and also lengthened their indoor play block so that there was more time for the children to investigate and explore in depth.
During this time so many things are happening: planned and unplanned small groups, one on one interactions with educators and children, open and free choice in play, and project work. 

Outdoor Learning Centres:
We begin and end our days outside and we love it. Starting the day outside provides so many benefits for children’s well being. They are able to connect with peers and educators both socially and emotionally right away. It provides them with more open space to play and explore. Fresh air provides the children with time to invigorate and awaken their senses before heading indoors.
Having Outdoor Learning Centres at the beginning and end of the day is also a natural transition for the children. They come to school dressed in their outdoor clothing and they need to get dressed at the end of the day before going home. This avoids the unnecessary transition midday of changing their clothing.

Inclement Weather:
What happens if it is too cold or the weather doesn’t cooperate? We try to go out in all weather, but there are times that we can’t get outdoors. On those days, we simply shift our Outdoor Learning Centres to Indoor Learning Centres. During the first part of the day, we would begin with some music and movement to support the children in being active and getting their energy out. 

Guided Reading (Small Group Instruction):
We engage with guided reading during our small group instruction time.

Small Group Instruction:
One big reflection for us was when to do small group instruction in the day. We found that children would get upset and struggle to focus in their small group when we asked them to leave what they were doing during Learning Centres (and rightly so!). It also sends an interesting message to children, leave what you are “playing” and come spend time “learning” with me. We want to show children that we VALUE and RESPECT their time in play. 

So how do we fit it in and make it work? 

We have a small group instruction time twice a day. During this time, we intentionally plan and structure small group learning experiences for all of the children. In the morning, our focus is on demonstrating literacy behaviours and in the afternoon our focus is on demonstrating mathematics behaviours.
Now, we want to be VERY clear that these are not MUST DO jobs. These are NOT centres that the children rotate through. We are very intentional and thoughtful about what each child needs extra time to practice and develop. Further to that, we take into consideration the developmental needs of each child (e.g., are they a sensory learner, do they need more space to move during this time?). 

IMPORTANT to note… we do NOT believe that this is when math or literacy happens. We know with confidence that children demonstrate mathematics and literacy behaviour throughout the ENTIRE day. We capture this learning outdoors, during learning centres, over lunch, and during transitions. 

We have seen already that the skills practiced and learned during small group instruction are TRANSFERRING into play. It is amazing! We are able to support them in scaffolding these skills in a genuine context. And in turn, when we observe needs in play we make note and design opportunities for the children to practice and strengthen those needs in small groups.

What does it look like? The students go to a designated activity (chosen by educators) for about 10-15 minutes. They stay at this activity until we slowly transition for lunch. 

During this time, one educator supports a small group (e.g., teaching a math small group, reading aloud to children, small group reading instruction) and the other educator floats and supports the other student small groups. 
As you will see below, the small groups are NOT worksheets or closed tasks. We also understand and try to plan for all of the activities to capture all four frames (not “just literacy”). The small groups provide a time for the children to communicate and connect with different peers in different contexts.

For more on Small Groups, check out this blog post.

Supporting Literacy Behaviours (Small Group) Examples from Beginning of the Year:
– whiteboards (practicing their name, letters)
– playdough (developing fine motor, adding name tags for letter formation)-book nook (opportunity to handle, engage with different books of interest)
– puzzles (spatial awareness, developing communication skills)

Supporting Mathematics Behaviours (Small Group) Examples from Beginning of the Year:
– magnetic building materials (exploring 2D and 3D, communication, spatial awareness)
– lego (fine motor development, spatial reasoning, communication)
– math games (support turn taking, early mathematics skills such as subitizing, number sense, matching)
– simple math provocations (magnetic numbers, playing cards, gems)
– measurement in sand or water (measuring tools – cups, spoons)

Gym:
We are usually given 2 gym periods a week. We do always go to the gym when scheduled. Since we have 2 long blocks of outdoor learning, all of the children have opportunities to engage in organized gross motor games outdoors daily. 

Nutrition Break:
During Nutrition Break, we spend the full 40 minutes in the classroom instead of half indoors and half outdoors. Students bring their backpack into the classroom and put it on the back of their chair to ensure all of their belongings stay organized. 

We wait until all students are seated before students open their lunch, this ensures that they all begin eating together. While we are waiting, one educator will engage with the children through songs, a book, or a game with transition cards.

Once all of the children have found a spot, we review expectations everyday to support their understanding and independence. 

• “Is your backpack on your chair? Is your lunch bag in front of you?”
• Reminder to tuck in chair to help keep their space clean and crumbs on the table
• Reminder to raise hand if they need something during lunch (e.g., throw out garbage, go to bathroom, get a drink, need help with something)
• Reminder to put everything away and sweep/wipe up their space at the end of lunch (educator will check their space before they can transition)

Lunch provides an opportunity to teach real life skills (e.g., if you were at a restaurants, you wait for everyone to have their food to start eating). We also coach students and invite older students as lunch helpers to teach conversational skills (e.g., asking and answering questions).

Students are given the full 40 minutes to eat. Many of them need extra time, especially in the Fall as they are learning expectations, opening new packages, and often overstimulated. 

After lunch, students raise their hand to have us check their spot to ensure that it is tidy and nothing has been forgotten (e.g., water bottles, utensils). If they are done really early, we will provide them with some playdough to use in their spot while waiting to transition. After 30-35 minutes if students are done they are sent one at a time to transition. In the morning, they put away their backpack and start in Learning Centres and in the afternoon they go to the hallway to get ready for outdoor learning.

Transitions through the Day:
We always transition students together. We know that transitions are a challenging time for some students and in order to best support them we approach them as a team. After our small group learning, we slowly transition students to Nutrition Break. We prompt groups one at a time to wash their hands. This provides students with more time to practice hand washing and less students lining up at the sink.

OVERALL…
It is important to be mindful that every school has different expectations and guidelines. Somethings may be out of our control as educators (e.g., when our planning time falls). Think carefully about what things can be controlled and changed. You may need to have courageous conversations with team mates and/or administration.