Foundation Phase

 

 

'The foundation phase is a vital part of the journey which is based on learning through play, active involvement, practical activities and enhances creativity, knowledge, skills and understanding'(Harnett,P. 2008).

From my previous post you can see how important play is for a child and the foundation phase focuses on learning through play. The foundation phase covers children between the ages of 3-7 years old. Jean Piaget's views support those of the foundation phase as he believed 'children actively construct their own knowledge' and explore the world to make meaning for themselves.

 

The children learn through areas of learning rather than subjects for example, the area of learning could be 'the seaside' and then the children would carry out tasks relating to the seaside but involve maths, geography and many other subjects all at once. The children will learn more this way as they will be more interested and they will not know they are learning maths they may just think they are counting crabs.

  The seven areas of learning are:

-Personal and social development and well being

-Language, Literacy and communication skills

-Mathematical development

-Bilingualism and multi-cultural understanding

-Knowledge and understanding of the world

-Physical development

-Creative development

(Tassoni, P. 2007)

 

 

 



 



Children learn best through hands on experiences and the foundation phase offers this to the children. Bilingualism is one of the areas of learning and this gives an equal opportunity for all children and gives other children a chance to learn other languages. All children learn in different ways and as there is a variety of tasks to choose from they can be independent and make their own decisions on how they want to learn. By giving the children the freedom to choose how they learn it will give them benefits in the future as they are able to make decisions for themselves. Although the children have freedom there is a 'balance of child-directed and adult-directed activity'(Palaiologou, I. 2010).

 

  The children are assessed through observation and I feel this is a good thing as the observer can assess the child without them knowing and without them feeling under pressure. The observer can witness how each child directs their own learning through the use of play and hands on activities.

 

'Children plan and review their own work in order to develop positive attitudes towards learning'(Harnett, P. 2008).

 

I feel that the children learn more if they plan and review their own work compared to if the teacher does as they can work out themselves what they have done wrong and what they need to do in order to fix that problem. They can plan their own tasks in the way they think they will learn best. It is a good start in preparing them for the future and for being independent individuals. Learning is supported indoors and outdoors and so all children are given the chance to experiment in all areas. I like the foundation phase because children are learning new skills as well as having fun.

 

References:

 

Harnett, P. (2008). Understanding primary education developing professional attributes, knowledge and skills. London, Routledge.

Palaiologou, I. (2010). The early years foundation stage: theory and practice. Los Angeles, Sage.

Tassoni, P. (2007). Child care and education: cache level 2. Oxford, Heinemann.

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