Birthday Presents: Why I Agree With Myleene Klass

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I've followed Myleene Klass on twitter and Instagram for quite a while now, and her no nonsense photos and tweets make me chuckle. Yes, she's a very glamorous lady with an enviable figure and a celebrity lifestyle, but she's also a mum who seems not afraid to call a spade a spade. Something I admire in people.

So when I saw this tweet from her the other day containing a screenshot of an email from schoolmums requesting money as a present for one of her daughter's classmates' birthday party, I was shocked. Apparently the two birthday girls would like a Kindle and a writing desk ("both educational") so money to purchase these would be greatly appreciated.

Myleene's reply was spot-on, telling the original senders that they should contribute to her daughter's desired present of a unicorn and that they could donate at www.getwhatyouregivenandendthismadness.com.

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Conflicting Roles

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Becoming a parent changes your outlook to things that happen as a teacher. The way you handle situations changes because that could actually be your child. The way a child is encouraged alters, the praise heaped on them, the discipline required; everything changes when you become a parent.

Particularly when your child reaches school age.

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'Be Safe, Be Seen' Campaign

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As a child I had dreadful road sense, to the point that I was 13 years old before my mum let me walk down our street and cross the road to go shopping in the town centre with my friend. I honestly had no awareness of cars around me, or the speed at which they could travel. I remember walking home with this friend, and our elder sisters from the school bus stop one Winter's day, and my friend's sister having to grab my arm and yank me back from the oncoming bus.

Literally no road safety awareness.

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Flatbox Lunchbox (Review & Giveaway)

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Since The Boy started school in September, I've done my utmost to make lunches a fun and enticing thing. Without me there to cajole him into eating everything, I felt it was important to make eating his food an exciting an activity as chatting to his friends around him; it's the main reason that I make him Bento lunchboxes.

He's very fond of having different shaped lunchboxes and lunchbags, and when we were sent the Flatbox lunchbox for him to review, it soon usurped his other lunchbags as his favourite.

children's lunchboxes [Read more…]

Easter Bento Lunchbox

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It never fails to astound me how much The Boy responds to his lunch being presented in a fun way; using a few food picks with cute characters on the top of a bunch of grapes, or a sandwich cutter to transform even the most basic ham sandwich, makes lunch more exciting to a four year old child!

Easter Bento Lunch Box

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Foot Development in Children: Did You Know? (Guest Post)

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Buying school shoes for your children can be a bit of a minefield. With so many types on the market, varying in cost and style, as well as being equipped with various features, shopping for the humble school shoe can be more difficult than you may think.

Some parents insist on spending over the odds on shoes bought from specialist retailers, where you can end up spending £40+ on a pair of school shoes that, if most children are anything to go by, are scuffed and well-worn within a couple of weeks. You will find that many children in the playground can easily get through two or more pairs of shoes every year, which soon adds up in cost – a price that many of us can’t afford. So, is it possible to scrimp on the cost without affecting our child’s feet and their development? You’d be surprised at how affordable school shoes can be if you head to the supermarket ranges, such as George. But before you do, here are a few facts that may interest you. [Read more…]

10 Tips To Help Your Child When Reading A Book Together

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It seems like listening to your child read a book should be simple: sit down together, and work through the text from the first page to the last.

And in practise that is exactly what we've been doing with The Boy for months. Which is ridiculous because I'd never ask one of the children I teach in school to cold-read a book, and they're over seven years old. So why on Earth have I not been drawing on my professional knowledge with my own child? My son, who is only four years old and just embarking on to the voyage of discovery that is accessible through learning to read.

If I was one of parents in my school, I'd be criticising myself in the staffroom. [Read more…]

A Change Is Coming

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When did my little boy become old enough to start school?

Because it appears that in September, he will be doing just that.

And I'm not ready.

I'd like to pretend that he's not ready but that would be a lie. He is ready. He's ready to have the further stimulation which a trained Reception teacher can offer (I'm juniors trained). He's ready to mix with other children more regularly and make friends. He's ready to learn more formally (not that much more though, thank you Foundation Phase). He's ready to learn the discipline which can only be gained in a classroom.

He's ready.

Don't get me wrong though, he's still very emotionally young and I do think he will struggle with the full days and being away from us for so many hours. However, as the school only has one opportunity in the year for entry, we have little choice but for him to start in September or wait a year.

This is why we accompanied him into his new school a week ago for his induction into Reception. It's the only time that he's been there, and will be the only opportunity before he starts full-time education for the next fourteen years (just writing that is making me cry, he's so little still!). I do have a problem with the lack of link-building, but again can do nothing about it.

We walked down the road, around the corner and into the school. We were greeted, given name stickers (mine said 'Mum', I felt like scribbling 'my' on the end of it), and shown to the Reception class. This is where I discovered that it is a lot larger than the one block that I knew of from when I had a nursery-nursing placement there; in fact they had another building at the back of this with a covered courtyard in between. They had a gardening area, bikes and trikes to ride along the painted road layout on the ground, a small timber trail, climbing frames and a fenced off area. There was so much to explore.

Reception induction

The Boy was completely enthralled with it all, "Mummy! They have glitter and glue! Shall we do some craft? Oh look mummy there's Shopping List! Mummy shall we play some music?" I have no doubt that he will enjoy playing with the other thirty six children, cared for by the two teachers and two LSAs; all seemed caring and 'on the ball'.

We walked home afterwards holding hands with The Boy, him chatting about the activities and his uniform, declaring that he no longer wishes to go to nursery. I exchanged a look with my husband over our son's head, a look that said 'where has our baby gone?'. A look that shared nostalgia for the precious last four years of discovery where we have governed his routine, his learning, his play. A look that realised the days of freedom and nonconformity to a timetable were coming to an end.

A look that demanded one course of action…

Barry Island - Country Kids

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coombe mill

 

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