Learning made fun

“A Great Experience For Someone Else’s Daughter”

Guest post by Emily Sherr, my 18 year old daughter, who is at Durham University studying Education with History,

This Summer I have been provided with the opportunity to partake in a once in a life time experience of teaching for 6 weeks in a Nepalese charity school in Kathmandu called HVP-Central. I have never done anything like this before but the opportunity seemed ideal as I have a great interest in education and want to work with children in the future. I started Durham University this October, and I was adamant that I was going to make the most of it and not let what ifs or fears hold me back. Therefore I knew that when this opportunity arose, I shouldn't let it pass.

The title of this blog post, “a great experience for someone else’s daughter”, is a phrase I’ve heard an awful lot recently and the catchphrase my mum has coined. As you can guess, my mum is slightly, let's say, apprehensive, about me going. She liked the idea in theory, as did I; a chance to see a different country and culture, an amazing way to spend my summer, meeting new friends and learning new things, an incredible boost for my CV and doing something I really enjoy. My parents were therefore fully supportive of my application and the concept. When it became more of a reality, I got an interview and then got accepted, their opinions changed slightly. They still recognised the benefits of the trip but worry certainly set in. The positives soon became negatives; I was going somewhere I’d never been before with a different culture and way of life, teaching 40 children in a traditional classroom, going to a charity school where the amenities aren’t up to the standard of our western expectations - the theory became more appealing than the reality. To be honest, it did to me as well, this is something completely different and way out of my comfort zone. Yet, I know this is something I need to do and I also know it will be absolutely incredible. I wasn’t going to let my parents’ fears stop me.

Nativity Plays - Fond Memories from the Mum Of A Donkey!

MY children's nativity plays were always one of the year's highlights. They were something I wouldn't dream of missing and luckily being my own boss I could gear the Musical Minis term around my own children. I suggest to our franchisees that they should finish classes early at Christmas time so they make sure they have time to watch their children's plays. This is a great advantage of having a flexible business.

I have enjoyed all the school plays my children have ever been in but a few stick out as being really memorable. My all time favourite was when Alex, my middle child, was 3 years old and he was a donkey in his nursery's nativity. Alex was guarding the crib in the stable with a boy called Bruce who was a sheep. The 3 wise men came and left their gifts, which apparently were left in a position slightly different to the one expected. This resulted in the sheep and donkey having a fight on stage struggling to put the gifts in the exact correct place! Alex won and the sheep was so fed up that he went to sleep and had to be woken up at the end. Little did we realise then, that Alex would end up studying drama at University and obviously exact staging was extremely important to him!

Matthew, my eldest, when he was 3 years old was Joseph in the nativity. The cast then performed the Christmas Alphabet and he and Mary (a girl called Imogen) had 'M is for the mistletoe where everybody kissed'. It was really sweet watching these two 3 year olds kiss on cue. I still love the song and made sure it is on our Musical Minis Christmas lesson. Another one of my favourites when was Matthew was at primary school, aged about 6 years old. They were performing a rock nativity and Matthew managed to lead his whole class off stage at totally the wrong time - they all followed him!

The nativity that sticks out in my mind with Emily, my youngest, was when she was about 3 years old and at nursery. One of the scenes was with a girl, called Georgina and a boy, who I can't remember, doing 'I'm a Barbie Girl' with the rest of the nursery dancing around. I still have no idea why they were doing this but it was really sweet. At primary school, when Emily was 5 years old, she was given the task with a few others of playing percussion instruments to accompany the play. Her years of Musical Minis training paid off!

I would love to hear your nativity play stories with your children. They are a very special part of being a parent and I appreciate all the teachers' hard work in putting on a performance, with such young children, that can be remembered for years to come.

 Photo by Flickr jrwi

Do Books Still Have A Place On The Bookshelf?

IS there a book you feel no home should be without? Nowadays anything you want to look up can be found online making reference books unnecessary. Classic books can be downloaded as e - readers. The only hard copies of books that seem safe at the moment are children's books, as it's so important for children to share books with adults and sit down and read aloud together.

Whilst in our house we download books on an e-reader and on an ipad and we do research online, I still like having hard copies of books on the bookshelf. I've spent the weekend pondering over what books are nice to have and have come up with the following:

• Oxford Book Of Quotations
• A Dictionary
• Books of Paintings

I know there must be many more but have drawn a blank. Emily has just heard she has won a school prize and needs to choose a book to have a plaque in. She has won the 16th Century history prize so whilst a history book would be nice it's not essential. She would like a book that she can keep forever and she can dip in and out of. Any suggestions?

Photo by Flickr jm3

The Tooth Fairy - How Generous Is Yours?

The tooth fairly has been in the news again.

In a recently published poll which was conducted by www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk children in London are the luckiest. The poll involved 2,091 parents, each with children aged between four and 12 years. The study was conducted as part of ongoing research into the spending habits of British parents.

London leads the tooth fairy rates with each child receiving an average of £5.10 – which works out to around £100 for a full set of milk teeth. Followed by Cambridge who paid £5, Cardiff £4.75, Liverpool £4.50 and Manchester £4.35. The poll found that the Tooth Fairy is least generous when she visits Hull with 5p per tooth. This is followed by Portsmouth, which pays 10p, York 10p, Glasgow 11p and Nottingham 11p.

According to the survey, 61 per cent of parents said their children have a tooth fairy. However, out of the remaining 39 per cent, one-third said this was because they didn't have enough money to let their children have a tooth fairy, while 11 per cent said it was because their child didn't believe in the tooth fairy.

Do the tooth fairy rates in your area fit in with this poll? Inflation seems to have kicked in since my children had milk teeth - they didn't receive £5 a tooth even though we live in London. The whole concept of the tooth fairy did freak Emily out. She had to leave her tooth in the hall with a note to the tooth fairy. The idea of any stranger, fairy or not, coming into her room and going under her pillow whilst she was asleep was enough to really scare her. I can see where she's coming from. Do any of your children have similar fears?

Photo by Flickr Pwinn

Do Children Born In The Summer Really Struggle At School?

There has recently been a report that children born in the Autumn do better at school because they are the oldest in the year.

A child's age on 1st September determines the point of entry in England and Wales, whereas it is 1st July in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, all those born between March of a given year and February of the following year are placed in the same group.

The latest research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)  focuses on England and looks at the test scores and happiness levels of August-born children compared with their older, September-born peers.

It found children born in August scored substantially lower in national achievement tests and other measures of cognitive skills. At the age of seven, they are more than three times as likely to be regarded as "below average" by their teachers in reading, writing and maths.

The study found compared to children born in September, children born in August, on average:

• score substantially lower in national achievement tests and other measures of cognitive skills;
• are 20% more likely to study for vocational qualifications if they stay on in post compulsory education;
• are 20% less likely to attend a Russell Group (high-status) university at age 19;
• have lower confidence in their academic ability and are less likely to believe that they control their own destiny (locus of control) as teenagers

As I have 3 children all born around the Summer months, the research interested me, even though in our case my children's birthdays don't appear to have had any beneficial or detrimental affects. My eldest was born at the end of August, the middle one in mid September and the youngest at the end of June. Matthew, the eldest, had no problems keeping up at school and has always been confident. In fact at age 7, he changed schools and we were given the chance to make him the eldest instead of the youngest in the year, which we did. I do feel he benefited from the situation of being the eldest but I don't think he would have been harmed from remaining the youngest. Alex, my middle child, was nearly the eldest in his year and although he was intelligent was not leaps above his peers and his self esteem and confidence were not high, as the report suggests it should be. Emily, my youngest, has always been one of the youngest in the year. As with the boys she is intelligent and really I can't seen any detrimental affects caused by her month of birth. All my 3 children have gone to top universities.

Whilst I obviously can't argue against the reports findings, apart from wondering if they could be statistically flawed, I do feel it needs to be analysed further. Have the social environment of the children studied been looked at, or the quality of the schools? Obviously, some children in the school year are nearly a year younger than others which will influence their school day at least at the start of their schooling. I think other factors also have an influence e.g. their positioning in the family. An August child with younger siblings can appear more grown up than a September child who is the baby of the family. Also, even though it sounds strange, I think a childs height can influence its schooling. Emily has always been small and I'm sure has been overlooked on some occasions because of this, whereas a tall August child may have been perceived as having more going for them.

Over the years, using the experience from my child psychology training, the thousands of children who have passed through Musical Minis and from bringing up my own 3 children, I have realised that with encouragement every child can achieve its full potential. Some children are slower at grasping certain concepts but with patience and perseverence they can get there in the end.

I'm uncertain as to the actual benefit of the report. If the school year is changed to 2 intakes depending on the month children are born this will still have issues as some children will have 6 months more at school than others. I can't believe that any report could ever conclude that people shouldn't have Summer babies, as that's the first sign of being a bad parent!  A good teacher should be aware of all the childs positive and negative points and guide them to do their best regardless of which month they're born in.

Have you had any issues surrounding which month you or your child were born in? Do you feel a Summer birthday can penalise your child for ever?

Photo by Flickr  Howdy

"A Son Is A Son Till He Takes A Wife, A Daughter's A Daughter The Rest Of Her Life?"

I was reminded of this Irish proverb the other week and have been left pondering over it since. As a Mum of 2 boys and 1 daughter I have brought them up the same but will I lose my 2 boys.

My boys are 23 and 21 and Rob and I like to think that we have a good relationship with them. Matthew, our eldest, has now finished University and is back living at home. Alex is going into his 3rd year at University but has until now, more often than not, come home at weekends. At the moment I do think the boys are close to us and hope this remains. They have had various girlfriends, some of whom we like some whilst others we don’t, but still family has been important to them.

Unusual Doctors Visits

I WAS sitting in the waiting room at the doctors surgery with my daughter, Emily, yesterday. Emily commented how exciting it must be to be a G.P. and have no idea of what problem you will have to deal with when the door opens and your next patient arrives. I thought after a while it must be as routine as other jobs with lots of people coming in with coughs and colds.

Emily and I then started going over all the doctors' visits we had been to with our family. Especially when the children were little we often had doctors visits with tonsillitis, rashes, coughs etc.

Volunteering At The London Olympics 2012

AT the beginning of the month I was invited to attend a selection event and interview as part of the application process for volunteering at the Olympics in 2012.

As a bit of background, people were invited to apply to volunteer at the Olympics and had to complete an application form by October 2010. 240,000 volunteers', or 'Games Makers' as they are called, applications were received. 100,000 people will be interviewed and 70,000 volunteers are needed.

I was excited to be selected for an interview but have been surprised by the response from others. I can understand that some people are against hosting the Olympics due to the cost, disruption etc. associated with them. However, I can also see the pro Olympic argument as to how it can boost the economy etc. Whether people are for or against the London Olympics I think everyone needs to accept they're happening.

The element of my Olympic application that has surprised me is the fact that a number of people, including close friends and family, think I'm mad to volunteer. I actually find it exciting to think that I could be part of the Olympics and see it as a once in a lifetime experience. I don't mind giving a few days of my Summer to help out in whatever area it is felt I would be most beneficial to. The role they are considering me for is Olympics and Paralympics Family Services - whilst I'm not sure exactly what this entails I'm sure it will be both hard work and fun.

As franchisor of Musical Minis I do have experience of both running a business and supporting a team. During the Summer Musical Minis is quieter for me as regular classes on the whole stop during the holidays. If my volunteer application is successful, any Musical Minis work I have to do can be fitted into the hours when I'm not working, be postponed for a few days or delegated to others.

I'm interested in your views. Do you think I'm barmy in hoping I'm successful and giving up some of my holiday to volunteer? I wouldn't be paid, although I understand a London Underground pass and meals are provided so I won't be out of pocket. The hours could be long and at unsociable times. None of this bothers me though. I'd be happy to do a small part to help make the London Olympics a huge success and something that the Country can feel proud of.

Don't believe everything you read: My experience of appearing in the Daily Mail

IN a week when the integrity of British Journalism has come under the microscope I shouldn't be surprised to find myself a victim of false tabloid misrepresentation.

Last week I was called out of the blue by a journalist, Diana Appleyard, who was writing a piece on long term relationships. I was told my details were on file as franchisor of Musical Minis and it had also been noted that I had been married to Rob for a long time.

Rob and I have been married for nearly 25 years and as I was led to believe this was to be a positive piece for Femail, in the Daily Mail, about why some relationships can stand the test of time I was happy to take part. I'm not linking to the piece because of my feelings about it, but I'm sure you can find it very easily if you have a look.

Time To Examine The Exam Boards - Revisited

THIS was published as a post on this blog following last summer's exam results but as the exam boards have already made so many mistakes this year, I thought now would be a good time to share this again - I'm actually dreading what else they can do wrong this year.

The exams regulator Ofqual has launched an inquiry into 10 errors in this summer's exam papers. The regulator said it would be trying to find the root causes of the blunders that have emerged over the past few weeks. Some of the errors were printing errors e.g. incorrect units of measurement, some contained questions with no answers,  a multiple choice question where all the answers were incorrect and a question where the information needed to make a calculation was missing from the paper.

The latest fiasco is that hundreds of GCSE examination papers were sent to the home of a dentist in North Wales instead of the examiner by mistake.