Zoning to Maximize Learning: Highlight
Narrator: Hello, and welcome to this short presentation on Zoning to Maximize Learning. Zoning is a foundational practice, used to organize education staff in a variety of indoor and outdoor learning environments. Zoning can be used with a single staff member or with multiple adults. Zoning will help you achieve a well - organized learning environment, eliminate children's wait time, and prevent opportunities for challenging behaviors. The Framework for Effective Practice describes effective everyday practices that lead to school readiness for all children. There are six parts to the Framework for Effective Practice - a strong equity siding, a foundation of engaging interactions and environments, the supporting pillars of research - based curricula and effective teaching practices, as well as ongoing assessment, highly individualized teaching practices that ensure every child makes progress towards school readiness, and at the center, parent and family engagement.
This presentation focuses on the foundation of the house. Zoning provides adults with specific roles in areas of the learning environment to attend to throughout the day. During each activity, routine, and transitions between activities, every available adult is assigned to a specific area of the learning environment and is expected to perform the necessary set of duties. This maximizes learning and eliminates children's wait time by ensuring that each adult knows where they should be and what they should be doing. There are two types of zoning that are most used in learning environments. The first type is zoning in a group setting with two or more adults. Education staff spread out around the environment, and each adult is responsible for a specific job or set of duties.
The second type of zoning is one - on - one zoning. In one-on-one zoning with more than one adult, a specific adult is responsible for the supervision of one child throughout specific activities, routines, or the day. In family childcare settings where there may only be one adult, instead of planning where adults should be, the adult plans for where the children will be. This means intentionally preparing activities in some areas of the learning environment and visually closing other areas. Here's a map of a learning environment to illustrate zoning. In this learning environment, there are three adults. During free play time, each adult is assigned to an area or a zone. One adult is assigned to Zone 1, the art and math areas. This educator remains in this general area and helps support children as they participate in art and math activities. Another adult is assigned to Zone 2, the block area and the sensory table. And a third adult is assigned to Zone 3, the dramatic play area and the library corner.
Here is a map of a family childcare center. In this family childcare, there is one adult. During free play time, the adult prepares independent activities for the children in Zone 2, the block and dramatic play areas, and closes Zone 1. The adult sits on the rug with the infant and positions themself with their back towards the kitchen, ensuring they have a clear sight of the learning environment. These are just two examples. Zones will change based on the number of available adults and the layout of the learning environment. When educators plan how to use zoning in their learning environments, it can help assign responsibilities. In this chart, the left - hand column lists the activities for the day. The top row contains the names of the education staff. In the cells of each chart, each staff member has an assignment. This chart helps the education team organize their day and prepare for unexpected events.
In the first row, it's arrival time. Each staff person has planned responsibilities. Person A greets the families and children and helps them put their belongings away. Person B organizes and gets ready for breakfast in response to any unexpected events, like supporting Person A if a child is hesitant to enter the environment or to support caring for an infant who needs a nap or diaper change. In the following row, at breakfast time, each staff person is assigned to a breakfast table. The chart continues with designated roles and responsibilities. Zoning means that adults are available to interact with children in a specific area, and the children can be more engaged in learning activities. This maximizes learning by supporting the adult to fully engage and being present with the children.
Zoning increases staff efficiency and staff confidence. It empowers staff to know where they need to be, what's expected of them, and they can see that they have an important role in the education setting. Zoning frees up time, staff members can communicate more easily with each other and with the children. It is helpful to plan for zoning when creating a daily schedule and lesson plan. Use the chart provided or add zoning to your planning process to plan for zoning throughout the day. Having a zoning plan can be helpful when a substitute educator is in the environment. They will clearly see what areas of the room, duties, and tasks they are responsible for. Additionally, having a zoning plan is beneficial when responding to unexpected events like a fire or earthquake drill. This short presentation highlighted the importance of zoning in the early learning environment.
Thank you for listening. For more information and more examples, check out the zoning tips, tools, and other resources.
Watch this video to learn about zoning practices that maximize learning and support an organized learning environment. Which practices will you try in your program setting?
