Fidget Bottom Alert!

[Guest]

Help!

 

I am running out of ideas to get one girl in my class to join in with activites on the carpet (she is 5 in a reception class of 27! and growing by the day!- 2 newies today!) she will come and join us but not sit with us, always fiddling with anything she can get her hands on - i've tried giving her a picture velcroed to the carpet to sit on but she just ends up taking it with her whilst she shuffles across the carpet and other children!

i don't want to give her a cushion because feel that the rest of the children woulkd want one too and funds won't run to 27 cushions!?!? she is extremely attention seeking and very stubborn, the younger of a twin and therefore 'middle child' in the family.

anyone any ideas how i can stop this child from disrupting the rest of the class and stop my going insane!?!?!?!?!?!!?

[Guest cat33]

Hard one Sarah. My only suggestion is that she is your "helper" and has to "hold" something for you when on the carpet. A soft toy or a book have worked for me. Doesn't matter then too much if she plays with it, as at least she is on the carpet and therefore gets you praise!<_< Chris

[AnonyMouse_73]

Sarah, I always have several of these every year, and usually find that lots of praise for those that are sitting in the group more often than not does the trick with patience. But one thing that did work well with a reall fidget was a hoop- they sat inside a hoop when thery were in a fidgetty moodand it 'helped'them to settle. Dont know why on earth it worked really but it did.

We didnt need it by the end of the year.

Good luck

[AnonyMouse_79]

Hi Sarah,

been thinking about this one and I think it really is somewhere that your knowledge of the child takes you.

 

Personally I've never had any luck with cushions. Tried a garden kneeler once to mark the spot but that wasn't any better, everyone wanted one!! and why should one be rewarded for behaviour you were trying to modify.

 

The sticker route can be good, although again I personally have difficulty with that as everyone wants one,

so you need to get the other children on side to help, if they understand it can be easier.

 

I think some circle time and good listening, sitting reinforcement could help but you know what you've already tried and presumably you've been there too?! Often brain gym activities can help. Plus the praise etc for everyone else. Don't give stickers to the others as children very often have no concept of the time involved, ie if they've sat still for one moment they've done it!

 

Perhaps, when you're back this term the behaviour won't be as extreme? How old is this little girl? Does she have learning problems, can she see you, hear you ok? When does she get fidgetty?

 

Sometimes children also respond to a very firm no, especially if you explain to her why you don't like her behaviour.

 

I think I would try explaining to her and the others and give her the opportunity to choose where she is going to sit oince everyone else is ready. Even on a chair might help although I don't like htat one either!!

 

Good luck. Lets us know how you get on.

 

Susan

[AnonyMouse_1490]

Hello Everyone,

Personally I like to treat all children the equally. Although I know they all have different levels of concentration. I feel that challenging children may feel rewarded if given something differnt to sit on. Then its not fair on all the others.. At circle time I always sit the fidgets opposite an adult who maintains eye contact with the child. I find that at the start of a new term children are able to concentrate on a group activity if they are sitting on a chair. I try and sit the younger or less mature ones next to a child with good listening skills.As the term progresses and they improve we use carpet samples donated to us by the local carpet fitter. They are about 18ins square. They all have their own space. I try not to make this area too bright and colourful during this part of the session so they are not too distracted. We use The here we go round book for activities . It is brilliant

[Guest]

A tricky one and there are some good suggestions here, but I agree that it is difficult to be seen to be rewarding a child's inappropriate behaviour with something special such as a cushion or a chair. It is down to knowing the limits of the individual child - personally I try to keep time on the carpet to an absolute minimum anyway bearing in mind the very short concentration span of most 4 year olds - seem to remember someone from Accelerated Learning telling me that it is about a minute per year of age (?). I've found rewarding the children who can sit properly is a real motivator for some children - Sticker Factory make a great range of stickers which say things like "I can sit and listen" or "Good listening" which I hand out at the end of some sessions - we also have a Listener of the Week award with a prize.

[Guest]

It sounds to me that you need to create a specific plan for dealing with this behaviour. In order to do so, you need to consider possible reasons why the child is unable or unwilling to sit. Is there a hearing difficulty? An emotional need for attention - ie, does she behave inappropriately at other times to gain attention? Is she a strongly kinesthetic child, needing to be on the go at all times? Is she just unable to sit - is she just too immature? Is she struggling with the content being delivered? How long can she sit? Could she manage the first two or three minutes? Could you then very gradually build up to longer?

 

Whilst I agree that all children need to be treated fairly, that doesnt mean that all need to be treated the same. What is right for one, is not necessarily right for another. I do think, though, that the use of extrinsic motivators (stickers, prizes, and even excessive praise) needs to be done with caution. You don't want the reward to become the motivator!

 

Here's an extract from The Thinking Child that may help - your story reminded me of the example I gave of Kishan developing listening skills:

 

For example, last year, when Kishan attended a day care centre, the practitioners wanted him to be able to sit on the mat for story times without shouting out inappropriately or disturbing other children by touching or climbing across them. They drew up the target:

 

To be able to sit on the mat for one short story (maximum four minutes) without touching other children.

 

The practitioners made the decision at this stage to focus on helping Kishan to learn to sit still and not to try to modify his inappropriate shouting out. After Kishan had achieved this target, they agreed that they would draw up a further action plan to help him to learn not to call out. They included a specific time limit to the length of time that they would expect Kishan to sit so that there was no ambiguity about their aims.

 

The next stage was to decide how they would help Kishan to achieve this target. Their action plan included ideas about how they would use The Three A’s system, which we discuss in the next section, to help them to achieve the goal:

 

Mrs. X to sit on chair by door during story time. Kishan to sit by her feet. Mrs. X to use affirmation, ‘Kishan is good at sitting still,’ before the story begins.

If Kishan tries to move away, Mrs. X to put hands on his shoulders and turn him gently back.

If Kishan continues to move away, Mrs. X to calmly take him to the Quiet Area to read a book of his choice, then allow him to play for the remainder of story time.

If Kishan sits for the short story, Mrs. X to acknowledge by give non-verbal feedback and then take him to the Quiet Area to play until story time is over.

 

By being very specific about how a target is going to be achieved, the chances of success are raised considerably. Notice that the practitioners did not include any direct reward system in their action plan. They planned to use affirmations and acknowledgement, but decided that Kishan’s target and behaviour was not challenging enough to warrant an extrinsic motivator such as a sticker chart. They wanted him to learn to modify his behaviour for its own sake. The ‘reward’ for Kishan of learning to sit for the story time was to be the pleasure of hearing the story itself: Kishan needed to become self-motivated to sit and listen.

 

Yet other children, usually due to external factors that are outside the practitioner’s control, do need a method using extrinsic motivators to modify their behaviour. In these cases, the important principle is that the reward system must be used only for as long as it takes to modify the behaviour, and no longer. The child needs to learn that the appropriate behaviour brings about its own rewards, and so the practitioner needs to work hard to help the child to ‘wean’ from extrinsic rewards.

 

Do you specifically teach and reinforce listening skills? Good Listening and Good Sitting rules and posters may be of help, as may role playing Good Sitting at different times with the child, and practicing the desired behaviour.

 

Angela, you are right, the concentration span for a child is about their age less or minus one minute. So for an average five year old, it would be between four and six minutes. Of course, it sounds like this little girl has a below average span, so it may be that her maximum is two or three minutes at the moment, and she needs targetted help to increase that span.

 

If she is hugely kinesthetic, activities that include movement will help her - eg actions to the story. Again, there is information about this in The Thinking Child. Can you get a copy from the library or persuade your HT to invest in a copy for the school library? If that's not possible, if you email me via my website at www.acceleratedlearning.co.uk I could send you some additional relevant extracts, if that would be of help.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Nicola

[Guest]

Thanks Nicola - i have already bought the book but am having trouble finding time to read it!

the girl in question does have an emotional need for attetion - she constantly seems to be craving the attention of every dult in the room - whereas her twin us the complete opposite.

i have the good sitting, looking, listening posters in the room and try not to say you are not sitting good but point out those that are in the hope that she responds to thier good sitting. which she is starting to do.

at the moment the situation is not being helped by the fact of 2 new boys to the class taking the total to 27 - 18 boys and only 9 girls!! the new boys have specific difficulties of thier own and i am feeling that the noise levles are rising and the amount of time taken to settle on the carpet is increasing but hey starting to waffle now.... must go and do some planning - thanks every one for your ideas i will keep trying!

Sarah

[Guest]

Sarah, two things occur to me. One, that she is a twin. Have you talked to her parents about how the deal with the sibling issues? It sounds like she is in competition here for attention, maybe this is something that she feels at home too. I'd get their insight at this stage, if you haven't already. Also, don't fail to give attention to the twin just because she isn't demanding it - this will probably be affecting her too! But don't also fall into the trap of "Oh look at Twin A, she is sitting nicely" as the mental response of Twin B would be "Oh, there she goes again, being perfect - I'd better do something different to get attention here"

 

The trouble with proximity praise is that it doesn't always work! And it sometimes has the opposite affect!! ie, the child will do more of the wrong thing, and feel resentment and maybe stubbornness about doing the right thing. I'm not a huge fan of proximity praise, for several reasons, this being one of them. It may at times get the desired behavoiur from the other children, but it sets up some comparisons and a sense of competition if you're not careful. This is just something to think about, I know it challenges what we have all been taught over the years. But feel free to disagree and argue with me about this - I've used proximity praise freely over the years and have only just started to question it!

 

I think it is better to act directly with the child whose behaviour is an issue. I'd draw up a direct plan for her, and deal with her as an individual. I would use language like "Susan, could you show me good sitting now?" or "Susan is so good at sitting, can I see it now, please?" The power of language and positive affirmation is incredible. I dont think that implied meanings, like "Oh, Susan, look, Jennifer is doing good sitting" are helpful. First, a young child may well not 'get it', and second, it has implied meanings that the child may take away - in fact, all the children are hearing a message like "Jennifer is a good sitter, but Susan isn't" which then possible extends to "Jennifer is a good girl, Susan isn't." And so the problem perpetuates. Susan feels resentful, Jennifer feels smug, and the other children put subconscious labels on both Susan and Jennifer.

 

If the other children regularly hear about Susan's strengths, then Susan becomes a success in their eyes. Its not enough to say that we shouldnt say negatives about the child who isnt conforming - we need to ensure that we are creating the right image and self image for the child by affirming positives. (There is a section in Thinking Child about the power of affirmation)

 

This may sound a lot to take on right now, it takes some rethinking of old assumptions, and we are all under pressure - and only you know the dynamics of the children in your class. I hope this is of help, and that you make some progress soon.

 

A book that I love, that isn't directly about preschool but has a great insight into rivalry, and for me, challenged some of my age-old thinking, is Siblings Without Rivalry by Faber and Mazlish. It's an essential read for anyone with more than one child, and I think it's wonderful for practitioners too, who deal with children who often fall in competition for time and attention.

 

(Subtle hint - If anyone considers ordering this book or any other, do click through to Amazon via Steve's link on the homepage here, as he then gets a commission that helps towards the running of this forum. )

 

Hope this helps a little!

 

Nicola

[AnonyMouse_79]

Nicola, never heard the expression "proximity praise" before although I do know what you mean by it.

It is something that I have actually never been particularly comfortable about as I do feel it sets one child up against another, which is what you are also saying!

 

I do think children need to know that you don't approve of their behaviour and sometimes the rest of the group needs to get that message too so that they don't join in. So many times I have seen children thinking "if they can do it & get away with it perhaps it'd be fun to have a go too"!

 

Think you need to look to the parents for some clues too Sarah, if you haven't already done so? Don't compare the girls though except perhaps to say they are very different in school, what are they like at home? Did you home visit?

 

Good luck.

 

Susan

[Guest]

"I do think children need to know that you don't approve of their behaviour and sometimes the rest of the group needs to get that message too so that they don't join in."

 

Susan, I agree. Although I think that we can sometimes underestimate children's ability to work out that whilst Colin has difficulty sitting at his desk, they don't, so they don't need the same IEP as him. We can tend to worry overmuch about other children copying undesired behaviours or feeling resentment at the individual treatment of Colin. If the needs of each child are being met, they can accept differences, in my opinion. A quiet correction if they start mimicking an undesired behaviour, followed by a swift acknowledgement of their good behaviour, will generally nip this in the bud.

 

Not all children need the same thing, and I believe that we have to accept that it is healthy to treat children differently according to their needs. Meeting needs is not the same as rewarding bad behaviour. I do think though that we should be wary of doing things like giving cushions to children to sit on if they find it difficult to sit on the mat - I prefer a more specific individual approach, like sitting the child next to me or another adult. Special things like cushions are too attractive to other children, and could easily be interpreted as desirable and a reward for inappropriate behaviour. I prefer a more specific, targetted approach.

 

We do have to differentiate somewhat between a behaviour that is intentional and one that is because a child either isn't developmentally ready for something (eg sitting on the mat for five minutes) or is driven to that behaviour because of an unmet emotional need.

 

The disturbing aspect of proximity praise for me is that it is intended to persuade another child into a desired behaviour, rather than considering the 'misbehaving' child as having needs and requirements of their own. It just 'feels' uncomfortable to me, although there is no doubt that superficially it 'works'. I prefer the format of "Oh, everyone is sitting so beautifully" to "Look, Claire is sitting beautifully", as it does not pit one child against another. Or "Can we all do good sitting now?" or "I"m so happy that everyone is about to do good sitting".

 

I think that there are many ways to use praise sparingly to gain a desired response. Praising another child to make the first one want to get the praise himself is, to my mind, a negative tactic.

 

Anyway, I'm rambling and my toddler just woke up, so I'll finish!

 

Nicola

[Guest]

Well, this thread got me thinking - I tried some of this at school today - not sure about the results yet, but I certainly felt better! Saying to a child "I know you can sit well, why don't you show me" seems a really powerful 'tool'. I've had children in my class tell me that so-and-so is really naughty, aren't they, and I knew it was my fault that they have developed that perception. Just a chance to think about this is great for me, and great for the children too!! Thanks everyone.

 

Dianne xxx

[AnonyMouse_1490]

Well I tried this attitude with my 5year old grand-daughter yesterday. She doesn't enjoy having her really long hair washed. Instead of bribing or using the "nit threat". I used the positive approach and it worked.She was happy to show me how nicely she behaved while her hair was washed and combed . During our early staff meeting today we talked this through and agreed that we will try to follow this option I was not sure that I had sold the idea to the staff untill one of them noticed when reading all the plans for "Chinese New Year "it pointed out that a positive approach was a custom. I find if staff feel they have thought of the idea themself they are more enthuisiastic to follow my ideas.

I am more comfortable using this way to promote good behaviour than using stickers.Challenging children often do get a bad reputation from the others . They often get blamed for doing things by the others when they are absent. It is because the group have learnt their name because I keep calling their name out. Hopefully this will change.

Although I have been working with young children for many years I am very gratefull to learn new approaches. I am very interested in Emotional Intelligence I went to an early years workshop on Emotional Intelligence and it was so interesting. More importance should be given to this.

[Guest]

Hello to everyone on this topic,

 

Two positives have come from my reading these contributions. Firstly, it is so comforting to find other people have behaviour issues in their classes. There is a very similar problem in the class I support between siblings. One will not sit still during circle time and the other started the year exceptionally although the behaviour has deteriorated as the year progresses. I truly believe this is because he sees his sister receiving the attention and he is emulating the behaviour to receive similar attention.

 

Whilst I fully agree that it is important to praise good behaviour and ignore (where possible) the inappropriate, this is not always possible when you are trying to settle the children and you have one or two disrupting the class.

 

The other positive outcome is I have received some tactics in addressing this problem. Behaviour is my achilles heel and unless I manage to overcome this, there is no point in my continuing my development towards teaching.

 

Any other advice or support on this matter would be gratefully received.

 

Julia

[Guest]

Ive been reading this topic with interest as I , in common with others usually have at least one wriggler on the carpet.

This term Im in a multicultural nursery though and I have a problem.

I dont know the names of the children yet and many are wrigglers. Plus most of the wrigglers are ESL

The permanent staff simply call out the childrens names to get their attention and leave it at that.

I , coming from reception , feel they should be sitting and attending to a story /song etc and not crawling over the other children .

At times ( not only when Im on story duty) the children are like a seething mass as they move constantly. As a lot of them will be moving to reception on single point entry in Sept ,they need to be sitting and listening better than they are at present.

 

I intend to try the 'good sitting ' reminders on Monday - but what else can I do?

 

Up to now I have physically moved the worst cases to sit with me - or placed their limbs in good sitting positions while saying positive things like

" See how well you CAN sit now Sana"

 

This is so the story can proceed with some meaning for those children who are trying to sit and listen.

 

Am I doing it all wrong?

 

Anything else I can try?

[AnonyMouse_1490]

Yes it is a problem but remember young ones only have a very short concentration span. Can the circle time be arranged so children have more involvement using actions/puppets etc

[Guest]

Hello,

 

I have not visited this website for a while as I am stressing over assignments with a deadline in a few weeks but as this thread is pertinent to one of my assignments I thought I would look in to see if there were any updates.

 

Unafitz, I loved your description of the children 'crawling over the other children'. I know it is not funny but it made me giggle - that's exactly what they do.

 

I do believe this profession needs to be tinged with an aspect of humour and I think Unafitz, you have provided that for me.

 

Sorry that's no help with your wriggling problem - hope someone with more experience solves that for you!

 

Julia.

 

p.s. can anyone point me in the direction of evidence to support the fact that attention span is plus or minus one minute of child's age?

[AnonyMouse_1999]

We quite often have "wriggle time" immediately before a story or circle time! The children's favourite is when I ask them to put imaginary glue on the soles of their shoes. They all mime painting their shoes with glue and then feet cannot move BUT everything else can! It's amazing how energetic they can be especially when encouraged " ooh come on I think we can wiggle our arms a bit more and what about our shoulders etc etc. Finally they wave the imaginary wand to remove the glue and and sit on their bottoms. I have made it sound quite lengthy but I am talking of a few minutes and 9 times out of 10 they are ready to sit nicely after a burst of using such energy! Works for us so thought I would share it!

[Guest]

Wow, Julia,

 

I have the most amazing attentiion span (based on my age).

 

More seriously, something that I had always been told was, that until gross muscle development was all in place, we could not expect children to sit attentively. Apparently, until hips and lower body are developed, we have no chance of getting children to do anything that requires their attention. And children without this gross muscle development cannot sit on chairs for any length of time.

 

Funnily enough, I have been looking at a child with all sorts of motor problems. He is almost 3, has an immature gait, he cannot sit on the floor without a firm "cuddle".

 

Contrary to all the expert advice, I have found that his attention span and his fine motor skills are improved many-fold when he is on a chair and doing a table-top activity. My theory is that it is control of his lower body that causes the problems. When he doesn't have to think about it (he is on the chair, and that is it) the rest of him can do what it wants to.

 

Obviously, the gross motor skills neesd to be developed, but the fine motor skills and attention span are not contingent.

 

I was quite enlightened.

 

Diane.

[Guest]

hello

When i have a particularly restless child i take a photo of them doing 'good sitting' next to 'Friendly' a special doll that i use to introduce the golden rules. This photo is then laminated and given to the child to act as a visual reminder of how to sit well at carpet time. The child keeps the card in their lap or on floor if they prefer. After this, i use a rocket sticker chart - if she fills up all the windows in rocket because of her good sitting she gets a reward.

Hope this is useful

take care

Hum

[Guest]

Hi

I know it has been a while since this forum was last added to but having recently joined the forum I am still getting to find the different debates.

This topic is fantastic. I have just finished my first year of teaching, and am going back to teach Recption class again next month. Although I do enjoy my job the hardest challenge last year was behaviour issues. I felt so useless that I couldn't control the children. I too had children who wouldn't sit still, who called out etc. My school is very keen on the positive praise techniques. Although I agree this can have some benefit I have my doubts and personally feel the school is OTT on this approach. There is a lot of proximity praise encouraged, and only focusing on the good behaviour but on a bad day there wasn't any good praise to say- unless I caught a moment for saying ' well done Jo for not bashing him over the head until he cried' type moment!

It will be a different set of children next year and I am trying to be positive but to be honest I am dreading going back- or at least I was! Now I've found I am not the only person who has difficulties in the classroom and I've got tips to try- eg. show me that good sitting I know you can do, I am feeling much more positive. Thanks everyone and any more tips that people discover- please pass them on!

Karen

[Guest]

Hi Karen and welcome!

 

The first thing that occurred to me reading your post, was that you maybe need to look at when the children are being expected to sit, and for how long. You need to be sure that what you are asking of them is reasonable before you think next about strategies to get them to sit well. For many young chidlren, what is asked of them is simply impossible! Then, when you are trying to deal with the ones who cannot sit that long, the others get restless from waiting! Things get worse from there....

 

So, I would sit and think about the expectations of the children in terms of timing (ie when they have to sit), how long they sit for, and the physical surroundings (ie where they have to sit). Often subtle changes such as to how much space you have and what time you ask them to focus can make all the difference. Asking anyone, for example, to sit still when they are hungry/tired/thirsty/uncomfortable is a recipe for disaster!

 

Once you are sure that what you are asking is reasonable, then you can focus on strategies to improve listening skills within those reasonable parameters. Don't forget that children in reception are still very young, especially if you have one intake. Years ago, they would not have even been in full time school! Your expectation of what they can manage can increase as the year progresses and you see them mature.

 

If I was ever asked what was the one most common thing that the pre-qualified teachers and NQTs I worked with found most challenging, in my experience, it was getting the children to listen to them! It is a skill that can take time and determination to develop. One thing I always tried to do was to drop the word 'control' and replace it with 'engagement' and 'co-operation'. There is a difference. I"m not sure that it is possible to control a four year old, but you can make the environment conducive to co-operation - although it takes work and determination!

 

Hope this is of some help!

 

Nicola

 

PS, I just re-read what I'd written and smiled at the thought of ever 'controlling' my own almost four year old, let alone a class of 25 of them!!

[AnonyMouse_1490]

Welcome to you Karen.

Yes behaviour is an ongoing problem if children are asked to sit still for too long.You can only expect a minute for each year of their age.Schools now are under such pressure now to produce results but this is not the way forward. Most 5 year old children are naturally chatty and sociable and as Nicola Call says would have been allowed to pursue this life long skill without all the pressure. If a few particular children instigate the disruption try not to let them sit together. I do this by playing a game i.e. call out the name of a child sitting opposite and both children meet in the middle of the circle shake hands,give a cuddle or say a rhyme together. If they HAVE to sit still for longer than 5 minutes break it up by a physical activity i.e. role play a story,do a mathematical activity(6 hops 4 jumps etc) I use puppets a lot to encourage good listening skills. At least you always have someone to praise. If we have a 3 year old fidget we introduce a toy to hold when you speak. Have you read the Jenny Moseley circle time activity book there are some excellent ideas that really do work.

[AnonyMouse_2732]

Just wanted to say, it was good to read Nicola's contribution here. So much of childcare good practice hinges on commonsense, it's good to see it stated (and re-stated, thanks bubblejack!). After all, don't you and I shuffle about if we're uncomfortable or not really interested, never mind hungry, thirsty or dying for the loo!!

Not really constructive, but just wanted to add my two pennorth!!

 

Sue

[AnonyMouse_64]

How right you are Sue. I'm the sort of person who doesn't jiffle a lot but my husband is terrible. He fidgets and fiddles with things and has even been known to break out into song whilst still professing to be listening!!! And he's over 40. I guess that has made me more tolerant than most when the children are struggling to sit still.

[AnonyMouse_2732]

I need to meet your husband - he sounds just like my Dad, and he's 80!!!!!!

 

Guess there's just no help for them?

 

Sue

[AnonyMouse_2732]

OOOOH!!!

 

601 posts! Scary! Have I left my life somewhere? If you find it, send it back please - www. foundatio...........doh!!!

 

 

Sue

[AnonyMouse_64]

Sorry Sue,

 

There is no hope for you. You are now officially a FSF sad person without a personal life. Just content yourself with knowing that you have done it for the good of the rest of mankind.

 

It really is very quiet on here at the moment isn't it...........

[Guest]

Yes, it is quiet!! And I"m getting fidgety!

 

I'm looking forward to everyone getting back from their holidays, even if they are not ...

 

Everyone is so right, so much good practice is based on common sense, but we often seem to lose sight of it with all the pressure put upon us. Sometimes we need to just stand back and imagine ourselves in the child's shoes. The demands upon young children can end up being very inappropriate and they set them up for failure. Our job is to make sure that they succeed, whether it is in learning to read, or a simple thing like sitting on the mat for a few minutes or giving eye contact when talking to someone. Those small things add up to a great deal, but can tend to get overlooked as we strive for the bigger issues. What we need to do is be able to stand back and look at the whole picture and the whole child

[Guest]

Thanks for your response. Yes, I completely understand and agree with what you say about what it is resonable to expect a 4-5 year old to do. I have spent a lot of time trying to cut down on carpet time but it can be hard. At the worst times the register was taking forvever and so they'd been on the carpet far too long before the teaching input even started! I then stopped expecting the fidgety children to sit on the carpet, if they could do another activity with the TA and leave the rest of the class to carry on with what they were able to do- ie sit for a few mins!

I do find circle times hard though. Most sessions end up more than 4-5 mins; the intro can take that much time.

As I said I am hoping that the new intake will be a little easier (please, give me abreak!) and it is good to know others have similiar struggles!

PS- Got Jenny Mosely's Here We Go Round book and find it very good!

 

Karen