Circle Time Starter Cards

I bought a set of Circle Time Starter cards which are useful -- they are nothing revolutionary and nothing that any of us couldn't make ourselves, but for £4.95, they save some time and effort (think clipart, mounting, laminating etc.), and clearly define the discussion topics. In fairness, there are 4-5 in the set of 20 where the wording is not consistent with the language of PBs, but most of them are and also are easily accessible for all ages. I will use them in Early Years but they would work up into KS2 as well. Examples include "I feel safe when.....", "I feel lonely when....", and "When I am healthy, I feel.....". Again, nothing life-changing but a convenient and ready-to-use resource to generate valuable discussions with children and encourage them to practice aknowledging and articulating their feelings and enhance their self-awareness. Available at PTS (Primary Teaching Services)

www.primaryteaching.co.uk/detail.php?pro...RN00176~0010CAT00466

Will report back when I've tried them out at school!

judith

Thanks for sharing these Judith and I agree that they look like a helpful resource especially when the person using them can use their knowledge of the language of safety to make revisions/edits. I used to really enjoy using Circle Time to teach PBs and the skills of problem solving in a one-step removed way. Your post has also reminded me of some recent Foundation PB training where school staff described how they had implemented a whole school Restorative Approach which fits beautifully with the PB process. They fed-back how students are now able to 'call a circle' to discuss issues that they felt unhappy, angry, unsafe etc. about and which lead to peaceful resolution on most occasions! I'm looking forward to seeing it action soon

The Circle Time Starter Cards from Primary Teaching Services are really useful -- they have now been used by various staff in our nursery including support staff and supply teachers and are a really simple way to generate discussion/comments from children. Also, are very easy to differentiate. For early years children, they are consistent with a lot of the curriculum guidance for Communication and Lanugage and Personal Social and Emotional Development. Definitely worth the small investment (£4.95).

judith

I used a book the other day which I would like to mention here in case others may find it useful.

I am working with two young children in play-based sessions 3x per week as requested by their social worker to support them and to gain a greater sense of what is happening at home for them. One child exhibits a great deal of anger at home. I found a book at school called "When I'm Feeling ANGRY" by Trace Moroney. It is very Early Years; short in length with simple illustrations. The main character is a rabbit and on the cover, he is furry, then throughout the book, pictures of him are embossed adding a multi-sensory element to the book which appeals to little ones, especially children who may not be used to being read to. The messages are simple and easy for small children to identify with. At the end, it reminds children to talk to someone.

It was short and sweet and, used alongside various other resources and activities for the work we are doing, was a helpful little story which suited the children's ages (4 and 5 year olds, but would be fine for 3-6 years).

There are three others in the series, I would be interested to know if anyone has read or used these (When I'm Feeling SAD/HAPPY/SCARED) ?