Shelf Time for Choice Time: Designing Compelling Materials for Your Classroom

All choice time is not created equal. For some teachers it might mean putting materials on tables or offering pre-set areas like blocks or dramatic play, and then inviting or directing children to where they should go. We have observed that in some classrooms children must stay at a table or area until a teacher tells them they can move. In other classrooms children can start at a table/center and then move when they wish. Finally, in other classrooms children move by putting their picture or name on a choice board to indicate where they are going next and whether an area is full. In a Complementary Curriculum classroom environment, children can go to any area of the room, choose things independently from shelves, and then take them to the floor or table in their own time and complete their own cycles of engagement. They may also go to materials offered in community on tables, but shelf activities are always an option.

What does choice offer children? Why incorporate it into their day and into our instructional practices? How can we offer choice to children in a way that best supports learning?

Putting materials on tables with interesting provocations for children’s activity and discovery is a perfectly fine strategy. However it isn’t the only entry point for children’s engagement with materials. Limiting children’s mobility as they move about the classroom ultimately doesn’t allow children to develop important decision making skills. 

What if we shift our thinking solely from: “What will I put on the tables today?” to “What is on the shelves in the classrooms that children can choose?” and “How can I make the choices more complex given what my children are interested in or ready to do?” Using compelling materials offered in an intentional way is rooted in Montessori and Reggio images of children that trust them to choose what interests them. It means that teachers, much in the way museums do, must curate materials so children develop a deep repertoire of activity. “Curate” literally means to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation. This is an important part of our job as educators. 

It is kind of an equity issue. When we limit children’s ability to make decisions we rob them of a critical life skill. We actually teach them that other people must make decisions for them. Think about these key words as applied to education and your classroom: 

• Independence = I am trusted to make my own choices.
• Confidence = I am in charge of myself and can choose my own work.
• Discovery = What will I do with this today, how will I explore it and discover what it can do?
• Physical Development = When I bend down and choose something from a shelf, carry it carefully to a table or mat on the floor, I am learning how to move my body in space and develop motor planning skills.

Here are some “shelfies” to inspire and the module on Compelling Materials in the Complementary Curriculum Course breaks down how to design experiences for shelves and table tops. Start the course today and bring new life to your classroom!