Make your kids yoga plan work for you and not against you

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Last week I talked about ways to fall in love with your planning process (so if you missed that check it out). I shared how I batch my planning and do it all in one go.
Today I’m going to go into more detail into my process of medium term planning- how I actually do my own plans in a really simple way! So I’m just going to break down my system of how it works best for me.

I am not saying this is the best or only way to do this, just that it is the way I have found to work for me. I think it can be really helpful to learn each- others’ ways of doing things to magpie ideas that resonate or make sense for us. You may have a completely different way that works for you and of course that is fine! As I always say to those who are working with me, we are all different and need to find our own ways of working that suit our styles.
 
Reflection
Firstly, I sit with the previous term / half term plan and for each year group/ phase / class I think about:

• What did the kids in the classes learn last half term? What are they already able and confident in doing?
• What did I teach, but perhaps didn't really 'land'?
• What did I want to teach but didn't get round to?

I might pop this on a post it or straight into a document on the computer.

Next steps
Then, I spend some time considering:

• What do I think the next step is? What is the natural progression of skills from where the children are at now?
• I write the next step for each group/ phase/ year group.

The next step is usually similar across year groups but with differences based on ability/ stage of development/ age.
If you aren’t sure what the next steps for the children you teach is, you might find a ‘Playful Planning’ session useful- this is where we work together and I help you to map out what comes next for the learners in your kids yoga classes. Email me to find out more.

The actual plans
Next, I start with one year group plan, one I am confident and comfortable with. I plan out how the next few weeks might look for them:

• First, I start with the easy, simple things that I can pop in without much thought, for example, what props I will use each week? What breathing / mindfulness techniques I want to incorporate? This is based on what I haven’t used in a while. (check out my training ‘Props like a Pro’ to learn some great ways that I use props in my classes).
• Next, I add in things that I would like to re-visit / consolidate from the previous term, maybe using the warm -up games as opportunity to remind of known poses, for example.
• Lastly, I look back at the next steps and add those in. This could be new poses or new activities to do with poses that the children already know.
  

 
When I have planned out the lessons for one year group / phase/ class, I use this as a basis to plan my others classes. I like to do mine on the computer, because I literally copy the plan from one year group and edit it to suit the next year group.
 
Personally, I start with nursery, then build up from there, making things more complex with each year group, but keeping certain things the same (such as the props).

If you would like a copy of the planning grids that I use, you can get them here.
 
This is how I have learnt to simplify my planning process, starting with what I know and building up my plans based on ones I’ve already created. It saves me a lot of time and I hope that you find it helpful in saving you time too.

Let me know what you think!
Is there anything that you would like me to talk about? Get in touch to let me know.

x Julia