What can teachers do to make the classroom environment more conducive to children’s learning and development?
Page 4: Temporal Environment
The temporal environment refers to the timing, sequence, and length of routines and activities that take place throughout the school day. It includes the schedule of activities such as arrival, playtime, mealtime, rest time, both small- and large-group activities, and the many transitions that tie them all together. Predictable schedules and routines create a sense of security, help young children learn about their world, help them adjust to new situations, and prevent challenging behaviors. Daily routines also help young children say good-bye to parents and feel safe and secure within a nurturing network of caregivers. For example, reading a book together every morning in the same cozy corner of the room can help children prepare for the difficult separation from their parents. Following is an example schedule for preschool.
The temporal design of the classroom environment is dependent on the type of program, the length of the program, and the age of the children in the program. When designing the temporal environment, teachers should create schedules that meet the unique needs of their program, children, families, and staff. Teachers should also keep in mind that every group of children has its own personality; what worked well one year might not work well the next. When planning and implementing a schedule, teachers should consider the following.
Children need to have times to engage in high-energy activities as well as more quiet ones, and these should be alternated throughout the course of the day. Doing this is one way to help prevent challenging behaviors. For example, teachers might consider following a circle-time activity that involves a lot of sitting with one that allows more movement. Further, the amount of time children spend in any type of activity should be based on their age and developmental levels. When scheduling activities, teachers should:
- Make sure that children have frequent opportunities for movement. Teachers can embed short dance parties, stretching, or group exercise into more sedentary activities.
- Use cooldown activities to help children better transition between high-energy or exciting activities and lower-energy ones. For example, when children come in from outdoor play, they might be instructed to get a drink of water and sit with a book until the next activity begins.
Transitions are an essential part of every classroom schedule. Handled well, they provide children with the opportunity to be successful, manage their own materials, and demonstrate their capabilities. When not managed well, however, they can become a time of chaos, leading to increases in challenging behavior and greater stress for the teacher and children alike. Smooth transitions can appear almost effortless, but experienced teachers know they require planning and attention to detail. To create successful transitions, teachers can:
- Provide clear signals for transitioning from one activity to another (e.g., give a two-minute warning, turn lights on and off, ring bell, sing a song).
- Establish rules about clean up (e.g., putting toys away at the end of free play center time).
- If possible, have a staff member available at each new activity to greet the children as they arrive. If this is not possible, make sure the children know what they should be doing.
- Be prepared for the children and be ready to begin the new activity as soon as they arrive.
- Consider what children do before they arrive in the classroom each morning. For example, children might have extended bus or car rides to school during which they have been required to sit. If the first activity is opening circle, these children might find it difficult to sit again for an extended period.
- Limit the amount of time children spend waiting in transition (e.g., in line) and limit the number of transitions children make during the day.
Children need to be taught routines, schedules, and what they are expected to do during activities and transitions. By establishing clear expectations, teachers not only help children understand how to participate in all classroom activities in a meaningful way but decrease the likelihood of challenging behaviors. In addition to teaching routines and schedules, teachers can:
- Review them throughout the day.
- Develop schedules that are easy for children to understand (i.e., using simple language or visuals).
- Post the schedule to help children and teachers be aware of it and use it.
- Try to keep routines consistent but prepare children for changes to the schedule when necessary. For example, on a rainy day remind the children that they will play indoors instead of outdoors.
In this interview, Erica Roy discusses how she makes transitions smooth and predictable.
Erica Roy
Kindergarten teacher
(time: 2:52)
Transcript: Erica Roy
When students know what’s coming next, I think it really helps them feel more secure and less anxious. I think with adults too—like for me, I need to know what my whole day is going to look like before I get started. So I think the little ones do as well. I think educators can support children in classroom transitions by making transitions feel as smooth and predictable as possible. And how we can do that is by using things like a visual schedule, which is always up on the board. I include what our day looks like so that students know when we will be transitioning and what will be coming next, but also visuals to remind them when they’re arriving, what order to do all the steps, and what steps need to get done. And that really helps keep students on task. I also use a doorbell and special sound that students know that when they hear that sound, that means we’re cleaning up or it’s almost time to clean up or it’s time to start transitioning. I’ll try to give five-minute reminders, two-minute reminders verbally. Then when they hear my doorbell, then they know, “Okay, it’s time for us to clean up.” And then when we have bigger transitions, like going from recess time to math time, we do calming strategies together. We will take some deep breaths as we transition, take a moment for some mindfulness, maybe do some stretches if we need to. I’m mindful about what is coming next in our day, and if it’s a time where I need them to be more focused, we’ll do some of these calming strategies and find some time to get grounded and reset a little bit before continuing on. And I also think this not only helps our transition but also helps the subject coming next run smoothly and helps keep students focused and engaged during that time as well. I also try to give students some ownership over the transitions when I can. The most popular one is our line leader. It makes them feel actively involved in the routine, gives them that responsibility, and it also helps them feel more in control during transitions. I’ve also found that special spots help them feel more in control as well. I feel like it lessens that overwhelming feeling because when they’re stepping into line, they don’t have to worry about “Where am I going to go, or what if this one comes in front of me?” Then when it’s time for cleaning up, we have our special sound that they hear. They know it’s time to clean up. And we also like to use songs during cleanup time to keep us focused. And on the other side, if routines are inconsistent or unclear, it can cause confusion and frustration for children and just chaos within the classroom as a whole, which could also lead to challenging behaviors or disruptive behavior because students are feeling overwhelmed and anxious themselves.
Including Families
Because different families have different routines, asking them about their routines and schedules and trying to incorporate the ways that they care for their very young children can help create continuity between the program and home. Teachers can also include families by:
- Partnering with them to create a smooth transition for the child upon arrival and pickup from the classroom
- Understanding families’ expectations of their children at home. For example, does the family require the child to sit at the table for the entire mealtime or allow the child to leave when done eating?
- Learning about the child’s activities at home (e.g., preferred activities, high-energy activities, daily routines)
- Sharing the classroom schedule and routines with families and communicating any changes
Including Children with Disabilities
When designing the temporal environment, teachers should be aware that children with disabilities might require additional considerations and supports to fully participate in all the scheduled routines and activities. These might include:
- Providing picture schedules for children who need visual reminders of the sequence of activities
- Being flexible with the schedule and allowing more time to complete transitions and activities for children who need it (e.g., those with motor impairments or developmental delays)
- Understanding that students with medical conditions or physical impairments might have less stamina and tire more easily across the day. As such, teachers might need to adjust their schedules accordingly to include these children in as many of the scheduled activities as possible. For example, in the case of a child who lacks the stamina to fully take part in afternoon outdoor play (a high-energy activity), the teacher can plan a structured activity that requires less energy but still allows them to be included (e.g., tossing a large ball back and forth, throwing beanbags at a target).
- Pairing children up to help each other during transitions
- Allowing for breaks and flexible lengths of participation
- Partnering with families to better understand the individual scheduling needs and routines of children with disabilities
Ilene Schwartz illustrates why visual supports help children with disabilities be successful in early childhood settings (time: 2:13).
Ilene Schwartz, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Special Education
Former Director, Haring Center for Research and Training in Inclusive Education
University of Washington
Transcript: Ilene Schwartz, PhD
One type of support that we use in the classroom a lot to help children with disabilities to be successful are visual supports. Visual supports can range from pictures to symbols to words to photographs to anything that helps make the expectation more clear. They help to make the abstract more concrete. What exactly is it that we expect the child to do. So we can have a visual support that tells the child the steps of a transition; it might be hang up your coat, hang up your backpack, get a book, come to circle. And there may be four steps on a schedule that we give a child with a disability to help them be more successful.
Another thing we do with visual supports is help children with disabilities understand how to use some of the materials in the classroom. For example, in the dramatic play area we may have some play scripts with simple pictures of how to play with the baby dolls: First you pick up the baby then you feed the baby then you give the baby a bath then you put the baby to bed. And there may be pictures to illustrate every step of that chain, every step of that process for the child with disabilities. You can use that same strategy in the block area. So if I have a child with a disability who’s not very skilled with block building, I can have pictures of block structures that are there for them to imitate. I provide the models for visual support so that there’s extra support embedded within the physical environment of the classroom. We can ensure that every child has a schedule so that they know what the expectations are, they know what’s happening next, they know what to expect, and they know what’s required to be successful in that environment.
Research Shows
- Research has shown that picture activity schedules are effective in helping young students with autism complete classroom routines and can increase the engagement and decrease the challenging behavior of young students exhibiting such behavior.
(Watson & DiCarlo, 2016; Zimmerman et al., 2017)
DEC’s Recommended Practices note that environments should “provide opportunities for movement and regular physical activity to maintain or improve fitness and wellness.”
- A study of 150 classrooms at 80 early childhood centers indicated that, overall, children engaged in 41 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day and only received the recommended amount of outdoor play about half of the days. When the recommended 120 minutes of indoor and outdoor play were implemented, most classrooms allocated more time to indoor play, which resulted in about half of the moderate to vigorous activity that occurred during outdoor play. Additionally, findings indicated that following the recommended practices for the amount of time allocated to play had little impact on the children’s physical activity; only 22% of outdoor play was considered moderate to vigorous, which indicates a need for more quality opportunities for active play.
(Willis et al., 2021)
Additional Considerations for Infants and Young Toddlers
For infants and young toddlers, it is important that teachers offer a predictable sequence of routines each day rather than keep to a strict schedule. The schedules and routines must be based on the unique needs of each child within the group care setting. Routines develop naturally when teachers allow children to set the pace. For example, a child who is crying and obviously hungry should be fed instead of having to wait for a set time. Similarly, an infant who is tired should be allowed to sleep for as long as needed.
For Your Information
To help prevent problem behavior when creating the temporal environment, teachers can:
- Allow young children to take a break from challenging activities when necessary and appropriate
- Allow children to participate in a given activity for varying lengths of time based on their developmental needs. For example, a child new to the classroom might be permitted to leave circle time if unable to sit the entire time. Teachers should have quiet alternate activities available in close proximity to the group (e.g., a puzzle at a nearby table) with the goal of gradually increasing the time the child participates in circle time
- Remind children of the schedule throughout the day
- Create portable schedules that children can carry with them as visual reminders of the sequence of activities
- Limit the number of transitions across the day as well as the transitions that can occur within activities, such as circle time
- Teach and practice expectations during transitions
