said about her drawing (Kellog, 1969). Other studies such as Eng’s looked at changes
in content (Eng, 1999)). In the examples we give, we are looking at children’s
schemas on paper: these are often when children express their schema as an action.
For example, children in a circular schema might be interested in the action of
making a circle on paper. Children may also express their schema on paper as a rep-
resentation of a pattern of thought. Hayward (2005) discusses children’s schemas
through their mark-making. She describes how one child, Chloe, explores her
schemas of lines, arcs and curves through drawings and paintings. This research also
followed the development of one child’s mark making from pre-school to school and
an implication of the study is that knowledge of children’s schematic mark making
would benefit the school curriculum in terms of pedagogy and the understanding of
children’s letter writing.
Children often transfer their schematic experience on to paper.Supporting schemas
To support children’s schemas, it is important to first observe children closely (see
Chapter 10). Early Years teachers need to acquire skills in observing young children
to detect their present cognitive concern. It is also important to be aware of a range
of schemas and have knowledge of the current theory which relates to this area of
child development. Having identified a child’s schema, there are many ways teach-
ers can expand that child’s interest. Often a group of children will have the same
schema: if it is a containingschema then the teacher might read books that have an
‘inside theme’ such as My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes(Sutton, 1984) and provide a
range of containers in different areas for children to fill. There are many possible
ways to support schemas, for example, see pp. 49–51.
Both the psychological and the physical atmosphere that is created within a
setting are of the utmost importance if teachers wish to nourish schemas. The psy-
chological atmosphere sets the scene. Teachers must be willing to be flexible, encour-
aging and caring, and allow the children to be themselves. Transporterscan cause
concern to a teacher who likes everything to be in its place..For schemas to flourish
then Early Years settings have to be democratic, where children and teachers can
negotiate. Play that is valued by the teacher is essential in an environment that is to
support schemas.
The physical environment needs to be well stocked and easily accessible.
Resources do not need to be expensive and objects such as cardboard boxes provide
many interesting experiences for children in a containingschema. Good Early Years
settings supply open-ended resources with creative potential, rather than those that
are plastic. Plastic toys are not multi-dimensional and are not as mathematical as real
things. A plastic apple, for example has no significant weight: you cannot cut it and
you cannot eat it. Each plastic apple looks the same, so children cannot even
compare one apple with another.
Many of the usual play areas in a nursery will foster children’s schemas, including
painting, clay, mathematics, science, music, stories, books and cooking. The outsideMathematical schemas 438657part 1b.qxd 04/07/2006 18:07 Page 43