Registration

[AnonyMouse_5375]

Hi Angela,

 

We have laminated activity cards (A5 size) of every activity on offer during child initiated play. Each card has a picture of the activity on (cut out from supplier catalogues), the word of the activity e.g duplo, and 4-6 white spots at the bottom of the card.

 

Every child has their own peg (clothes peg) in their team colour. We have red, green, yellow, purple and blue teams. Each peg has the childs first name on and their own unique picture, which we also put on their name card e.g. 'Emily' could be in the purple team and so will have a purple peg with Emily written on it and maybe a picture of a strawberry. When children first join us at 2.5 they won't recognise their name but very quickly recognise their peg colour and picture, so 'Emily' will know that the purple peg with the strawberry on it is hers.

 

We hang the pictures of the activities on offer on bulldog clips along the wall where the children place their name cards. We have a picture for drawing, watching and hand washing/toilet which are always on display. The children have to put their peg on one of the white spots on the activity cards. If play dough has six white spots on it and all of the spots have a peg on them the children know that they have to choose something else until there is a free space. We use a sand timer on popular activities so that every child has the opportunity to have a turn. If we have painting on the easel then this will only have two spots on it. We also use small pegs with ladybirds on (from ikea) which we put on the spots so that if for a reason we want to limit a card with six spots on it to four children we will then put two ladybird pegs on the card. The children know they are not to touch these pegs.

 

We find that with in a very short space of time the new children will use their pegs because they copy the older children. Using the peg system visually teaches children to share and take it in turns and we never get ten children trying to crowd on the floor mats or pushing and shoving in the home corner. Children very quickly get to know each others pegs as well and are quick to tell us if 'Thomas's' peg is on the sand picture and he's playing with the farm animals!

 

Above the activity cards we have A4 cards in the team colours where we place the pegs at the beginning of each session of all the children who will be in. Each day of the week a different team gets the chance to choose first after the register so on a Monday the red team chooses first etc.

 

This is probably all as clear as mud but is a very simple and effective system to work. The hard part is making up all of the activity cards to start with. We try to simplify where we can e.g a picture of pva glue and glue sticks covers all sticking activities. This system was recommended by our early years advisors and our local school uses it in reception so our children are very comfortable with it when they move on to school.

[AnonyMouse_75]

I've not heard of that system before Nikki but it sounds a good idea we are looking at ways to make sure we dont have all the children in the sand or paining at the same time and the only thing we could think of was limiting the numbers of aprons!!

 

until last year we hadnt tried any forms of self registration and I think I may have thought your system a bit ambitous but a year on from introducing self registration and cafe snack times we have been amazed at how well children learn to recognise their name cards, our children start at the age of two and within weeks of starting they all know which card is theirs

[AnonyMouse_2732]

Hi Alison,

 

That's how we control most of our activities, it really does work a treat, and as nicki says, the children soon get used to it and disagreements are few and far between. Of course, sometimes we open things out more, but find that children tend to keep things to the same kind of numbers anyway

 

Sue

[Guest]

Hi Angela,

 

We have laminated activity cards (A5 size) of every activity on offer during child initiated play. Each card has a picture of the activity on (cut out from supplier catalogues), the word of the activity e.g duplo, and 4-6 white spots at the bottom of the card.

 

Every child has their own peg (clothes peg) in their team colour. We have red, green, yellow, purple and blue teams. Each peg has the childs first name on and their own unique picture, which we also put on their name card e.g. 'Emily' could be in the purple team and so will have a purple peg with Emily written on it and maybe a picture of a strawberry. When children first join us at 2.5 they won't recognise their name but very quickly recognise their peg colour and picture, so 'Emily' will know that the purple peg with the strawberry on it is hers.

 

We hang the pictures of the activities on offer on bulldog clips along the wall where the children place their name cards. We have a picture for drawing, watching and hand washing/toilet which are always on display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children have to put their peg on one of the white spots on the activity cards. If play dough has six white spots on it and all of the spots have a peg on them the children know that they have to choose something else until there is a free space. We use a sand timer on popular activities so that every child has the opportunity to have a turn. If we have painting on the easel then this will only have two spots on it. We also use small pegs with ladybirds on (from ikea) which we put on the spots so that if for a reason we want to limit a card with six spots on it to four children we will then put two ladybird pegs on the card. The children know they are not to touch these pegs.

 

We find that with in a very short space of time the new children will use their pegs because they copy the older children. Using the peg system visually teaches children to share and take it in turns and we never get ten children trying to crowd on the floor mats or pushing and shoving in the home corner. Children very quickly get to know each others pegs as well and are quick to tell us if 'Thomas's' peg is on the sand picture and he's playing with the farm animals!

 

Above the activity cards we have A4 cards in the team colours where we place the pegs at the beginning of each session of all the children who will be in. Each day of the week a different team gets the chance to choose first after the register so on a Monday the red team chooses first etc.

 

This is probably all as clear as mud but is a very simple and effective system to work. The hard part is making up all of the activity cards to start with. We try to simplify where we can e.g a picture of pva glue and glue sticks covers all sticking activities. This system was recommended by our early years advisors and our local school uses it in reception so our children are very comfortable with it when they move on to school.

54300[/snapback]

 

Thanks Nicki! I don't think we have enough room at child height to display these do they take up a lot of room? Do you use normal clothes pegs or did you buy the coloured pegs from somewhere special?

[AnonyMouse_5375]

Hi Angela,

 

The cards don't take up too much room. We have a section about 1.5 - 2m and you are only looking at the depth of an A5 card. We buy the pegs from Woolworths or supermarkets depending on which colours we need. They are normal coloured washing pegs. We are fortunate that we own our own mobile building and so don't have to put wall displays etc away each day.

[Guest]

At our pre-school we admit the children at 9.15 and an adult is on the door with the register to greet parents and children (and for safety!).

 

Children hang up coats and self register by choosing a peg which hangs on thier name in the hall. We have free play untill 11am. Tidy up tome untill 11.15 when they split into small groups for maths, CLL, singing, music etc. Then outside play untill 11.45 when they come in for storytime and hometime at 12.00.

 

This works really well as their is a formal register taken and children self register. Children settle easily as they go straight to play. In fact I would say this system is particularly good for settling children - especally new ones. Parents all come at diffrent times, dispite the fact that we start at 9.15! This system means they aren`t disrupting a registration session and we have time to talk to them.

 

We have tried various methods over the years, including formal registraton and time has proven this to be the best. Also we had an OFSTED inspection with this system (with a really tough inspector) and they were more than happy.