Schemas — recognising and supporting

A schema is a repeated pattern of behaviour through which a child explores an underlying concept. Children may have one dominant schema or several at once. The same schema shows up across activities — if you know what to look for.

1. Trajectory — moving things in lines, throwing, dropping, running fast. Exploring how things move through space.
2. Rotation — turning things round, spinning, wheels, circling, twisting taps. Exploring rotation and circularity.
3. Enveloping — wrapping themselves or objects in fabric, blankets, paper, hiding under tables. Exploring inside / outside / contained.
4. Enclosing — building walls around themselves or objects, drawing borders, putting fences around toys. Exploring boundary.
5. Transporting — carrying things from one place to another, often in bags / buckets / trolleys. Exploring movement and place.
6. Connecting — joining things together, train tracks, building chains, tying things up. Exploring how things link.
7. Positioning — placing objects very specifically (cars in rows, books spine-out, food separated). Exploring order and place.
8. Orientation — viewing the world from different angles, hanging upside down, looking through legs, climbing high to look down.
9. Transforming — mixing things to change them, water-and-flour, paint-on-skin, food smeared into hair. Exploring change of state.

💡 JLK practice standard: a child "doing the same thing again" is almost never being repetitive for the sake of it — they're working out something specific. Your job is to figure out which schema and resource for it.

• I can name 5 or more of the 9 common schemas
• I understand a schema is a deep learning pattern, not a quirk
• I can identify a schema a child in my current room is working on

The instinct when a child does something tricky (throwing, smearing, hiding) is to redirect. The schema-aware response is to provide a safe, abundant version of what they're working on.

Trajectory (throwing, dropping): beanbags, soft balls, ribbon wands, water + funnels, a "throwing tray" of safe items. Crash mats. Outdoor space for running and chasing.

Rotation (spinning): spinning tops, wheels, lazy susans on the snack table, a small parachute, water with paddle wheels, dance moves.

Enveloping (wrapping): blankets, fabric scraps, large sheets of paper for parcel-wrapping, dressing-up scarves, dens with hanging fabric.

Enclosing (building walls): blocks, fences for small-world play, masking tape on the floor for boundaries, hoops to put toys inside, drawing materials with thick markers.

Transporting (carrying): small bags, buckets, trolleys, wheelbarrows, prams, "delivery route" set-ups, treasure hunts.

Connecting (joining): train tracks, magnetic tiles, threading beads, string for tying, sellotape, lego.

Positioning (specific placing): sorting trays, line-up materials, mark-making with grid paper, small-world layouts with named spots.

Orientation (different angles): safe climbing equipment, mirrors at angles, prisms, sloped surfaces, "look at this from underneath" prompts.

Transforming (mixing): water-and-flour goo, cornflour-and-water, paint mixing, mud kitchen, ice melting, cooking activities.

🎯 The principle: a child told "stop throwing" repeatedly will keep needing to throw — because the underlying urge isn't satisfied. Give them the safe, abundant version, and the trying-to-throw-the-puzzle disappears.

• I can name 2 resources for at least 3 different schemas
• I understand "resource not redirect" as the JLK schema response
• I will set up at least one schema-specific provocation per week

Parents often notice the schema before we do — and often see it as "naughty" or "obsessive." A short, warm explanation goes a long way.

Sample parent conversation: "Have you noticed Amara is loving wrapping things up and hiding under blankets? In early years we call that an enveloping schema — it means her brain is working really hard on understanding inside-and-outside, contained-and-uncontained. It usually shows up around 18 months to 3 years. We're giving her lots of blankets and dens at nursery. At home if you wanted to follow it up, big cardboard boxes are basically catnip for an enveloping schema."

That conversation does three things: it reframes "weird behaviour" as developmental learning · it gives the parent something concrete to do · it positions JLK as paying close professional attention.

When schema behaviour is something to flag (not the schema itself, but the surrounding pattern):

• The behaviour is causing the child genuine distress, not satisfaction.
• The behaviour is genuinely unsafe and our resources aren't enough to redirect.
• The behaviour is the only thing the child does — total absence of varied play.
• The behaviour persists in unusual ways beyond the age range you'd normally see it (e.g. obsessive lining-up at age 5+).

In those cases, talk to the SENCo — this might be a schema OR it might be something else worth gentle attention. Schema awareness and SEND awareness work together, not against each other.

💛 The JLK reframe: "obsessive lining-up" becomes "positioning schema." "Constant smearing" becomes "transforming schema." Same behaviour, different conversation.

• I can explain a schema to a parent in plain language
• I know when schema behaviour is worth flagging to the SENCo
• I will reframe "weird" behaviour as schema-driven learning in JLK Stories

Scenario: Tomi, age 2 years 4 months, has been driving the toddler-team a bit mad. He throws cars off the table at snack. He throws beanbags at children. He drops blocks deliberately, watches them land, drops them again. The team has been redirecting ("Tomi, we don't throw") all week with no change.

Schema-aware response: Folake recognises a trajectory schema. She sets up a "throwing tray" in the corner — soft beanbags, ribbon wands, a target on the wall. She introduces it to Tomi: "Tomi, this corner is for throwing — you can throw the beanbags as hard as you want. At the table we keep the cars on the table."

Within two days the disruptive throwing has reduced to almost nothing. Tomi spends 15-minute stretches at the throwing tray, fully absorbed. The team adds the trajectory schema to his JLK Story for the parents.

What worked: recognising the underlying urge · providing an abundant safe version · clear boundary about where the urge belongs · trusting that satisfied urges don't leak elsewhere.

Reflection prompt: Think about a child whose behaviour you've been redirecting repeatedly. What might they be working on? What could you set up to resource it?

• I've identified a child and a schema-aware resource I could try