Couple of contrasting articles!

[AdeleMarie88]

I don't know if you all saw the article in the news last week about 1 in 8 children going to school unable to hold a pen? And that nurseries need to do more? (Presumably us childminders too?)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26853447

I read it and starting my childcare career, 8yrs ago, in a nursery, I felt very insulted. However I also realised that yes there are an lot of awful private day nurseries that are failing to meet a child's basic needs.

Anyway , a friend of mine reposted this on facebook;

http://www.singlemotherahoy.com/2014...l?spref=fb&m=1

It's an interesting read, not sure I agree with everything the mom is saying. As much as all the paperwork frustrates me, (it frustrates me just as much when I know some parents aren't reading it) I also believe it is very valuable to me, and even if it wasn't all a requirement, my observations have proved to be such a god send in the past- I'm sure I would continue some kind of Written record myself!

Just wandered what all your thoughts are? Xx

[AdeleMarie88]

The irony also struck me how parents want cheaper childcare! Government are saying children are lacking vital skills, and one parent says they don't need all the paperwork- arrrrggggh what are we supposed to do?! X

[Simona]

I don't know if you all saw the article in the news last week about 1 in 8 children going to school unable to hold a pen? And that nurseries need to do more? (Presumably us childminders too?)

BBC News - Nurseries not preparing children for school - Ofsted

I read it and starting my childcare career, 8yrs ago, in a nursery, I felt very insulted. However I also realised that yes there are an lot of awful private day nurseries that are failing to meet a child's basic needs.

Anyway , a friend of mine reposted this on facebook;

Single Mother Ahoy!: Do We Expect Too Much of Nurseries and Pre-Schools?

It's an interesting read, not sure I agree with everything the mom is saying. As much as all the paperwork frustrates me, (it frustrates me just as much when I know some parents aren't reading it) I also believe it is very valuable to me, and even if it wasn't all a requirement, my observations have proved to be such a god send in the past- I'm sure I would continue some kind of Written record myself!

Just wandered what all your thoughts are? Xx

This mother's blog did not mention cms at all but we can include ourselves in what she asks: are we expecting too much of nurseries and preschools?
it has been posted in the general discussion section

There is another wonderful blog also posted in the General discussion section: The wrong notes in the wrong order...worth reading

There are plenty more as well........... all written following HMCI proposals and 'own' views that 2 year olds are better in schools and we are failing to prepare children for school

[zanacal]

The part about not being able to hold a pen always leaves me going 'err?' as my 6 year old (Y2) son still struggles to hold his pen correctly. Neither me, his childminder, his pre school or his school now failed to 'teach' him how to do this, he just struggles with his motor skills and it doesn't come naturally to him. The school use the same tactics most childminders would I'm sure - lots of playdough, lego, using tweezers etc. to practice his fine motor skills and a gentle reminder when he needs to correct his hold (now that he's older). His 4 year old brother holds his pen correctly and has never been 'taught' either. I guess they're referring to children who don't get much opportunity for any of these activities at all? I'm fairly certain teachers find children who can't hold a pen correctly far less worrying than children who can't interact socially with their peers, take themselves to the toilet, change themselves after P.E., eat their lunch independently and sit quietly and listen for reasonable periods of time.

[WibbleWobble]

This has been an issue since gods dog was alive!

When my Emily ( now 26) went into reception she could read, write and had a concept of maths. She was ( and still is a bright little sausage) but the first few days of reception were awful for her. She was very bored - she said it was like play school and was disgusted!

I spoke to her teacher and she apologised... They had noticed straight away Emily was bright and had a stimulated early years experience. However most of the kids had arrived with no experience of books, not being able to hold a pencil and other stuff- they were definitely not "school ready" .

So in a nutshell it's all a load of tosh! This has been an issue for years... It's now being used as a stick to beat us Early years professionals because....



ITS ALL OUR FAULT!!!!


yeah!!!!!


Wibble x

[bunyip]

Three thoughts immediately spring to mind.

1. If 1 in 8 children can't hold a pen, but at least 1 in 3 experience no form of EY childcare at all, how many of the non-pen-holders have never had the chance to hold a pen cos mum's got them watching The Cartoon Network instead of being in nursery or at the CM's? I can only assume this is another baseless government statistic like the one that said we should all hate East Europeans cos they were all coming over here on 1/1/2014 to live in our back bedrooms and despoil our virgins (anyone see The Daily Mail?)

2. Is all this "school ready" b0ll0x actually desirable? It is all part of a political agenda to have a South Korean - style child population, spending 16 hours a day in formal 'education' (whilst learning nothing useful) and a youth suicide rate to match.

3. In my day ('ere we go again) an education meant being taught how to think. Today it means being told what to think.

[munch149]

I know a 2 year old who can count past 10, recognises all these numbers and a lot of letters too. Who is this genius that taught him you ask? Cbeebies. So now I'm thinking should I be sitting children in front if the tv all day as they obviously learn more (roll eyes). Children will learn things in there own time at there own pace. We can also help provide them with opportunities to do so but this does not mean they will learn these things by the time the reach school.

They also forget to mention how many of these children were never in childcAre before school as parents play a big role too

[Simona]

Let's not forget that before Wilshaw arrived children were expected to hold a pen and be school ready at 5 and 1/4...now is .....what ...at 2 years of age?

If these children, who he keeps labelling as 'poor', are not 'school ready' maybe he should suggest the DfE reinvest in the Home Learning Environment and help parents with parenting skills rather than cut the funding for that and invest millions in schools to expand for 2 year olds.

Having said that many of the so labelled 'poor' parents are good parents ...while many affluent parents can be poor in their skills
I just wish we could as a society stop labelling people...it is insulting at the best of times

[AdeleMarie88]

What really frustrates me with the "school-ready" term, as some others have touched on, is that it feels like another way of teachers deflecting the responsibility. No child, as teachers should know, develops in a linear way, we all learn at our own pace. Granted, children need to be stimulated and encouraged to develop, but not every 2.5yr old comes into my care potty trained, so it's my job to help them. If a school aged child can't hold a pen, what is the school doing about it? Why are early years getting blamed? Can teachers not just do their jobs?

My very cynical and perhaps unbalanced view of teachers comes after a week of my 5yr old mindee coming home in wet clothes because she had an accident and they wouldn't change her!! When asked why she had an accident they couldn't answer, nor did they know the exact time, so she could have been sitting in wet clothes for a while! When mom and I asked the mindee if she was ok, what was happening, she burst into tears, and recalled a long saga of how she was being made to sit at the front of the class because she was told she was too slow when doing the practice SATS test, and was humiliated and told she can't move out of her seat and must answer all of the questions in the paper. She managed to finish all the questions in one test and the teacher waved her work in front of the class and said "look look M eventually finished all the questions, shall we see how many she got wrong?"

How disgusting is that?! Another story of how dreadfully schools are failing children. It seems to me teachers need to receive better training in how to teach children, rather than blame nurseries and childminders for everything!

Phew rant over! X

[Simona]

What really frustrates me with the "school-ready" term, as some others have touched on, is that it feels like another way of teachers deflecting the responsibility. No child, as teachers should know, develops in a linear way, we all learn at our own pace. Granted, children need to be stimulated and encouraged to develop, but not every 2.5yr old comes into my care potty trained, so it's my job to help them. If a school aged child can't hold a pen, what is the school doing about it? Why are early years getting blamed? Can teachers not just do their jobs?

My very cynical and perhaps unbalanced view of teachers comes after a week of my 5yr old mindee coming home in wet clothes because she had an accident and they wouldn't change her!! When asked why she had an accident they couldn't answer, nor did they know the exact time, so she could have been sitting in wet clothes for a while! When mom and I asked the mindee if she was ok, what was happening, she burst into tears, and recalled a long saga of how she was being made to sit at the front of the class because she was told she was too slow when doing the practice SATS test, and was humiliated and told she can't move out of her seat and must answer all of the questions in the paper. She managed to finish all the questions in one test and the teacher waved her work in front of the class and said "look look M eventually finished all the questions, shall we see how many she got wrong?"

How disgusting is that?! Another story of how dreadfully schools are failing children. It seems to me teachers need to receive better training in how to teach children, rather than blame nurseries and childminders for everything!

Phew rant over! X

I agree with so much of what you say seeing our point of view and that of the teachers as well...we seem to be going round in circles in an ever increasing 'blaming game' philosophy: we blame teachers, teachers blame us and the govt and the regulator blame everybody!

School used to be the place for children to receive an education when they reached the legal age of 5 and 1/4...now it is the place children go to for... what many have referred to as 'cheap childcare' ....and the place they go to at an very early age which is being lowered all the time to suit politics not the children themselves

What you describe happened to your child also happened to many of our children...coming home wet, not being changed, children often regressing
and so on and on

Teachers are now calling for children to start school at 7 years of age to stop the 'too much too soon' agenda...I agree with that although 7 will never be accepted in this country but age 6 would be more appropriate in my view

Teachers call for pupils to start school at the age of seven to stop them being damaged by 'too much, too soon' culture | Mail Online

[AdeleMarie88]

I whole heartily agree school age needs to be increased, the child I mentioned actually has Swedish parents, and their school life started at 7. Previous to that there is no formal eduction, even those few children who did attend nurseries were never taught to read or write as such, it all happened when the child was interested to learn. They were appalled when they heard about tests at 7 and school at 4/5yrs.

I suppose you are right about the blaming game! Perhaps it's human nature?! I hate the term school-ready though, it's a very unhelpful blanket term, which just gets thrown in the faces of all the hard working EY practitioners.x

[mama2three]

At 3 years a child is ( usually) only using a digital pronate grip - perfectly normal for their age and stage of development. what we all think of as the 'correct' grip ( dynamic tripod) isn't fully utilised until 6-7!!
There are lots of other stages - Ive added a great link I show parents who worry about their darlings 'writing' skills.
If occupational therapists , who really are the experts in this ,are saying 'don't worry if your child isn't holding a pencil properly when they start school' then what more exactly should we be doing?
palmar supinate | Occupational Therapy for Children

[Simona]

At 3 years a child is ( usually) only using a digital pronate grip - perfectly normal for their age and stage of development. what we all think of as the 'correct' grip ( dynamic tripod) isn't fully utilised until 6-7!!
There are lots of other stages - Ive added a great link I show parents who worry about their darlings 'writing' skills.
If occupational therapists , who really are the experts in this ,are saying 'don't worry if your child isn't holding a pencil properly when they start school' then what more exactly should we be doing?
palmar supinate | Occupational Therapy for Children

...send this article ...based on professional advice and physical development.... to Wilshaw et al?
Thanks for reposting this ...it is a very useful guide and one I have printed a long time ago to share with parents when we get to the 'encourage writing skills' stage of development

[bunyip]

Is there any empirical evidence that one William Shakespeare could hold a pen (quill) correctly as an adult, never mind as a child?

Anyway, didn't I read somewhere that he was a 'failing pupil'? Clearly didn't get off to the right kind of start, so obviously never made anything of himself....


To be a pupil of the new curriculum, or not to be a pupil of the new curriculum – that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The subtractions and additions of outrageous formulas
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles – the battle of 1066, specifically -
And by opposing end them. To cry, to sleep–
No more–and by a sleep to say we end
The toothache (the dentist did warn us) and the thousand unnatural shocks of overloading the brain
That a five-year-old flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation (don’t worry, we will soon know what that means)
Devoutly (and that) to be wished. To cry, to sleep–
To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, where’s the grub (hey, have you forgotten we’re still kids?)
For in that sleep of the death of childhood what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil (a physics term, we think)
Must give us laws. Where’s the respect
That makes disaster of so long strife.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of times tables,
Th’ education secretary’s wrong, the proud parents confused
The pangs of despised Gove, the law’s delay,
The insolence of the office of the Department for Education, and the spurns
That patient merit of th’ unworthy mistakes,
When he himself might be made quiet,
Without his teddy bear? Who would forget his teddy bear (Mr Gove, apparently)
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after nursery,
The undiscovered syllabus, from whose scorn
No pupil returns, the new algorithm puzzles,
And makes us rather bear (don’t mean to harp on but where has mine gone?) those ills we have
Than fly to other curriculum’s of other countries that we know not of?
Thus science does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of evolution
Makes us sick with the pale cast of thought (solar system? Speed? Evolution? All in primary school? Help!)
We are enterprises of great titch (we are only small) and easily out of the moment (did someone say ice cream?)
With this regard their blackcurrant Ribena turns awry
And uses the name of fractions. — Soft you now,
The fair school-leaver! – Robots? In your dreams
Be all my revision remembered.

[Emra81]

Amazing bunyip!

[MessybutHappy]

Bunyip, you've missed your calling!!!

[Simona]

The Bard will be turning in his grave !!!!

[bunyip]

I can't claim authorship of that one: copy/paste from some other site.

Stealing from one author is plagiarism. Stealing from many is 'research'.