Ondine

You might be right but I would just say don't be too quick to judge. I have several friends with autistic children, who are regularly told off for "not teaching their child how to behave in public"

Mine liked the same sandwich everyday with different accompaniments. We freeze a week's wholemeal cheese rolls and then DD2 gets to select the extras.

Took older when she was 4 and I'd say she was barely old enough that time. She coped and enjoyed it (but was terrified of the huskies) but there were other small children who never adapted to the cold and cried all day.... We went again when they were 6 and 9 (one of the overnight trips) and that was fantastic. We did the husky and sleigh rides, an amazing walk up a snowy path through the forest just in time to reach the top as the light came up, tobogganing, and meeting with Father Christmas, of course. The 9 yr old was sceptical but prepared to go with the flow and the younger one went for the whole thing.

We went twice with canterbury travel. My now 12 year old still talks about seeing the northern lights from the plane. Brilliant both times

Don't know either of these but have a look at horrible history series. They're bound to have one on the Tudors which might draw her into reading as they are very funny

I have a 10 yr old who still can't manage ear buds so we've had loads of this. We've done fine with the cheapest most adjustable set of over the ear headphones you can find in the airport.

Last year they started in week 2

All depends on the kid and how they feel about being left. I have a 10 yr old who sometimes demands to be left alone for a bit and at other times hates the idea of being home alone.

Well independence is big deal for 11-12. So are there missions you can construct for them? Choose a recipe, shop and cook for it on their own and feed the family? Cinema/swimming on their own? Give them a budget to go off and buy some books/toys on their own? Chessington big hit with my daughter at the moment. We have passes and she seems just the right age for the bigger rides. Check peckham pulse and the summer scheme at Harris fitnEss.

Have a 12 yr old of my own......what kind of ideas you looking for?

My experience is that holiday schemes for 8 and up are out there but typically poorly advertised. Anyone discovered any gems? Mine were going to do the one at Harris Fitness but it was pipped at the post by Coin St who had sports my girls have been specifically asking for lately. So this week they have coached trampolining in the mornings with more relaxed multisports in the afternoons, and next week one has climbing and the other gymnastics What else is out there?

"the little mole who knew it was none of hus business" Great read for all the family!

What about John Grisham?

yum very nice - we will give this a go chez moi

Or Vans - does he like Vans? I get them for about ?22 from Amazon for my daughter

What kind of stuff does he like to wear I'm pretty sure Redmolotov are mail order only so may be too short notice for you http://www.redmolotov.com/ and this sort of stuff - I haven't used this site btw - is just an example of the stuff I was talking about http://www.urbansurfer.co.uk/animal?source=jellyfish&gclid=CLOQsur-hqICFRBk4wodrnhKWQ&T=1275673692&JTID=152802438&OGID=348&network=GAW

T shirt - I have 12 yr old girl and I see her male friends in all the snow boarding/surfing/Animal/Bench Ts. Or there's Red Molotov

I had nice young woman at about 5pm with the usual script but this time the purpose was to save the "youth centre". I told her I don't buy off them any more as I'm not sure it's genuine. She said lots of people are saying that now and went away without arguing

Nancy Spain - Christy Moore - on the 14th floor of the Guys tower watching the sun rise - amazing

R4 is fine. Mine have been listening all along and they just tune in and out - mostly out. The 9 yr old suddenly tuned in this morning when David Cameron said he was moving into No 10 today and wanted to know why he wasn't at home packing.

R4 chez moi. My kids love Clue - and they know to keep quiet about it at school as well!

Mine went to the Villa and then on to thrive in state school from age 7 and I was very happy with that as a pathway. It's been a while but I doubt the Villa is super competitive as that's not their ethos.

There's a good set of Horowitz' Alex Rider series on CD - he might like those.

I no longer read to mine but happily feed them a diet of audiobooks. We started with audiobooks as well as reading to when they were about 4 and it seemed to morph when they became very independent readers, but they have retained their liking for audiobooks and I think it has helped their listening skills a good deal, which is brilliant for school The 9 yr old obsessively reads and listens to Happy Potter and is at different places in the books and audiobooks and quite happy with that! 12 yr old uses a teen reading guide she got for christmas and follows the recommendations in there. So she has recently read and loved Catcher and Mockingbird but listens to younger stuff very happily at bedtime when she's tired. A big Just William CD collection from the Book People gets endless play, for example. She read a set of classics in year 6 - Hound of the Baskervilles, Treasure Island, Black Beauty - that sort of thing and that seemed to suit her at the time.

full list is on the council website