Patterned Activities: Paving the Way to Competence

So the biggest question is: how to get a child involved in an activity so that he feels competent! The magic bullet for this dilemma is the "patterned activity." A patterned activity is one in which two people participate in one task with each person having a defined role. For example, if books were to be placed on a shelf: one person would give a book and the other person would place it on the shelf. In essence, a single task is divided in two parts so a patterned activity is always done with another person. The pattern activity serves to support the child's ability to learn both how to perform an activity and how to remain in an interaction with another person. As the child gains competence in a given task, he will be able to do that task alone but along the way, as he has learned the task with another person, he will have gained competence both in performing the activity and in regulating to the needs of another person. Obviously, both aspects of the teaching are necessary for life.

There are three basic types of patterned activities:

Giver — put'er: This design is the simplest pattern that can be established for the child. The child is given an object and expected to place it in a receptacle. It can be applied across a wide range of tasks, e.g. markers in a cup, fruit into a basket, books on a shelf, papers on a table, folders in a bin.

Simple roles: This design requires that the adult divides a task into two clearly defined roles. While some household tasks lend themselves to two roles, others can still be divided into two roles for teaching purposes. For example, one person sprays the table and the other person wipes it. One person gives a card and the other reads it.

Coordination: This design requires that the adult and the child move together to perform the task. For example, carrying a basket together, spraying two sides of a chalkboard together.

Key to all roles is that you have a role and the child has a role. The adult should not assume responsibility for the child's role and the child should not assume responsibility for the adult's role. You are in this activity together. You are both competent members and each is expected to do his/her job!