parkview

Our daughter goes to a lovely, small private school and the teachers never get any presents, be it Christmas or end of the school year. I've noticed no one was giving them anything, so we didn't want to start it, even though I would be happy to get a card and maybe some nice chocolates or flowers, especially as the teachers are very dedicated and lovely. Interesting how different the experiences are.

How about a science lab for younger children, something like this: http://inspiringtoys.co.uk/4m-kidz-labs-kitchen-science/?gclid=CNrsgOrTqb8CFVIPtAodQHoAaw The volcano is a big hit with all kids I know.

There's a lovely toddler music group on Wednesdays at St George' church at the corner of Vancouver and Woolstone Road. That's not too far from Perry Vale.

You will find that the vast majority of private nurseries will not give you the flexibility of choosing the hours you want for free. Many will actually not even offer completely free spaces but will require you to take extra hours which you have to pay for. So they will deduct 15 hours, but you will have to pay for the rest. The problem for the nurseries is that what is free for you is a loss for them, as the what they get for your free hours doesn't cover their costs, so they have to get the money somewhere else. The school nurseries can offer free spaces because they can even out the loss through the funding the school receives.

What does his journal say? Are there observations about his speech? You should have access to all observations and the journal. We were told that this is a legal responsibility of the nursery. If the team has a concern, the key person / team leader / manager should approach you, not just any member of staff. Accusing the parent on the basis of assuming that you don't talk to him in the right manner - it sounds very unprofessional to me. I would be furious if someone did that to me. If they had a real concern based on observations, they should present you with an IEP, an individual education plan. You should be part of discussing how you can work with your son. What have they suggested to you? Speech and language therapy? From what you describe I get the feeling that this nursery is not managed well, even though I don't know it. You should request observations and an IEP - if they can't provide you with this, I would be very worried. Not to mention the accident: this is a very worrying story in itself. Just my gut feeling.

Just wondering why you want your child to be baptised? Are you a practicing catholic? Does it mean something for you or is it a ritual you think is part of your family tradition? I know when I was a child my mum always said that babies should be baptised asap because if they should die they otherwise would not go into heaven. She actually believed this and I assume that's probably the reason why they reacted so unfriendly at your church. I do not believe this and even though I grew up strictly catholic, I am not a religious person. We therefore opted for a humanistic naming ceremony, which was the most beautiful experience, with lots of friends around and poems and personal messages for the child being read by their guidance parents. Yet, obviously, if you are a practicing catholic, baptism has a very different, important meaning for you.

http://www.rose-house-montessori.com Amazing school - they are in Forest Hill though, not in ED.

In Belgium I would recommend stopping in Gent- very nice town, about half way between the coast and Brussels. Personally, I would not stop in Belgium but rather drive through to Germany and take a break just after the border in Aachen: lovely historical town. It obviously all depends on where in Germany you are travelling to.

I would suggest books about what a doctor does written in a way your child understands. Have a search on Amazon - maybe someone here can recoomend one? I find that books help children who are scared of something put their worries into perspective. Books are usually quite good helping children talk about their feelings such as being scared or worried and at the same time see how they can get over them by having a better understanding. I agree that the receptionist is not very professional, but what you say about your GP sounds really nice.

http://piplingsnursery.com/index.html

I don't know enough about Steiner either, but: isn't anthropomorphism what it is all built upon? How can you be a Waldorf school without being based in anthropomorphism? Then you shouldn't call it a Waldorf school, but Waldorf inspired. This leaves you with the task to explain exactlty what you follow and what you don't follow. But why then use the name at all? In my opinion this is what it's like with all religions and cults: you can't really pick only the things you like and leave the others to the side. You can't be a catholic without listening to and following the pope. That's why I stay miles away from any church or cult.

May I just suggest another really great book: it is phantastic because it gives lots of factual information without being too explicit. I have read this to lots of children and they all loved it, from two years onwards: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Willy-Went-Nicholas-Allan/dp/0091892953

"she said she was thinking of going as a cow" - that made me laugh, gwod - congratulations on your down to earth daughter. Otherwise I agree with the sentiment here - I saw this photo recently in a newspaper and it just makes me feel sad: http://www.castlefortjmischool.co.uk/2011/07/prom/prom-2011-020-copy/

I agree with your feelings. If I treat those who should look after me children badly, they will feel upset and stressed and this will have an effect on my children. If I feel responsible for them - especially if they are young and inexperienced-, they will feel responsible for my children. We never had au pairs but rather employed nannies as they were more experienced. But this is obviously also a financial question.

Don't get me wrong - I love computers! But children don't need to know how to use them before they are at least 6 years old. The brain of a young child develops through sensorial exploration, and touching a screen is a very limited sensorial exploration. Of course children won't be damaged by playing the odd game on an Ipad, but I just think it's not necessary and don't ever think your child will miss out if they don't play it. Jumping in puddles and playing in mud is so much more important. Also high quality nurseries do not have computers and they can argue their case and Ofsted accepts it without a problem. Sorry if it sounded too harsh, but I just get frustrated with all these conmputer games when it comes to young children.