fay

Love them, the food looks really inviting to touch or eat good job it's washable too.

I do like having real things too but have had the same problems Inge.

Last year we managed real cutlery and crockery, and occasionally food, it was wonderful to see how differently they played with it. Sadly this year we have a couple of very determined throwers and smashers so they have gone for now.

Hi I hope you find a video or someone to help but in the mean time:-

I used the nursery book, with no DVD, and used to try out the movements with the music before I went through it with the children. Like mundia I also changed the music (brought back long forgotten memories of "music and movement" which I hated)

I would not to get to worried about exactly what to do; I imagine there are many different ways of doing it (others may disagree) but I think as long as the children enjoy it and they feel free to move and express themselves your on the right track.

On the rainbow riverstone web site she says "in Write Dance you can never do anything wrong!... it is playful practising"

good luck with it my children love it and it really gives them confidence and freedom to mark make.

was browsing fro something else and came across these.. don't know how they would hold up to group play but they look more interesting than the plastic stuff I always hated..

 

What did you find Inge? When I followed your link it wouldn't open proprely and the all I could see was a matress and a drill, the drill certainly looks more exciting than a plastic one but I'm assuming it wasn't what you had in mind?

We have ours done yearly in school. I don't know how much it costs but we have loads of appliances across the school and it takes a couple of days, the men go round the whole school routing through cupboards as well.Last year we found all sorts of old machines we have to take apart in our workshop area had been tested. I hadn't thought about a price per object we must sort that out before next time, there's no point in having them tested if there not plugged in!!

I think this is a important, I often find myself torn between finishing helping/conversing and the need to help or talk to someone else.

As for how to attract attention we use a variety of methods depending on the children

- some will ask for help directly, we model asking using names

- some are 'persistent patters' so we ask them gently stroke the adults arm

for specific things children may need to ask for

- we have photos and objects (eg a cup) that can be taken to an adult to show what is wanted,

- some children have used laminated pictures on a treasury tag to ask for things, our older EAL and very shy children have found these useful.

-We did have a child who was selectively mute who would sign.

Ok, that's me told. Only used other peoples dishwashers and told to rinse plates so food won't clog up the pipes.

I don't have room for one any more though - the fridge has moved into it's space.

Sorry didn't mean to "tell you off" just inform that dishwashers will only do their part for the planet if used sensibly.

I think it also depends on the age of the dishwasher some newer ones are advertised as no rinse necessary.

Just thought:- I know some human "dishwashers" that you really do need to rinse the plates for

Heheee

I don't see dishwashers as a treat as you have to rinse off plates etc before putting them in so you may as well wash them by hand!

 

 

Well actually you only need to scrape them. if you pre rinse they stop being time and water saving!

 

Dishwashing and Water Conservation: An Opportunity for Environmental Education

Abstract

Technological advances have continued to improve the cleaning and water efficiency of automatic dishwashers. However, research indicates consumers waste water and energy during the dishwashing process through their actions and decisions. To gain more current information on consumer dishwasher usage, a major university conducted a kitchen usage study that asked questions about dishwashing. The study found that consumers use water unnecessarily by pre-rinsing dishes at the sink before placing them into the dishwasher. Numerous factors underlie this behavior. It seems clear that consumer education about proper dishwashing procedures is needed.

 

 

 

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Hi

We are part of a school with an ongoing attendance problem, any ideas for improving on it gratefully received!

so we follow the school policy: parents should phone us before 9:00, if we haven't heard we phone that morning, if we can't contact the parents by phone we leave messages and then we contact social care who have always been very good with advice or follow up , we also have a good relationship with the local police, who are involved with some of our families.

Sadly we have had children go missing because of family violence so I would always err on the side of caution, most of our families are pleased to know that you care enough to call.

I keep mine on my laptop in folders I can show parents when they come it does work well. I have some parents who have safety issues with photos so I if I move them I use a usb with a password on it, just incase it goes missing?

I have been working with OT's who promote alot of shape work before letter formation and then 'handwriting without tears',

Our new scheme teaches capitals first, albeit very briefly, and we have been encouraging independence in name writing so many children have learnt to write their names before being properly taught lower case.

We have a lot of "badly" written names but interestingly a number of children who continue to use capitals or badly formed letters in their name do not go on to use them in their writing when they are taught the correct letter formation.

I find it helps to think about them as signature's - how many adults have signatures that can be easily read? We show children how we write signatures to encourage them to have a go and then later on we talk about writing our signatures and writing for other people and how important it is to write a certain way so that we can write quickly and other's can read it. In general if all the skills they need for handwriting are in place they progress well.

We work hard to develop all the skills the children will need for handwriting before beginning to teach letter formation and as a guide to readiness look for a mobile tripod grip and the ability to draw the following l-O +/ \ X as a minimum (circle should be anticlockwise)and preferably a triangle and square as well.

The shapes are found in the Beery VMI test which is for visual motor integration and it has been used in a number of longitudinal studies and good results at 4/5yrs correlate strongly with progress all through school.

I hope I have attatched some are ideas for helping children write shapes, but they were written as a SEN programme so need to adapted for wave1 teaching.

There is also a Staffs NHS sheet on pre-handwriting skills, I find giving parents lots of advice on pre-handwriting activities is more useful than showing them how we write letters.

pre_writing_instructions.doc

www.northstaffs.nhs_pre_writing.pdf

Came home today soaked!!!!

The children just love the outdoors we too have followed a forest school approach and really wish more schools would allow it to be cascaded up the school, Children don't Melt' in the rain.

Me too, must get a new coat...

We were outside today we

- jumped and danced in puddles,

- got really 'wetty' feeling the rain on our faces and hanging out tongues to catch the rain, discussed lengths of tongues and curling abilities

- painted the playground and watched as the rain washed it into a 'magic rainbow stream'

- stomped dinosaurs through the primeval swamp that yesterday was our digging pit.

- swept puddles with big brooms, pushing water round in 'giant writing'

- forded and then bridged the river (huge puddle)

- hung cloth in the bushes to shelter under

- took time out in the play house watching and listening to the rain

We had a brilliant time experiencing and learning - unfortunately we ran out of dry clothes, and whilst this did not worry our intrepid explorers we did have some cross parents at home time.

Some parents never seem to understand that when we say we go out EVERYDAY we mean it and a change of clothes, waterproof coats and wellies really are a good idea.

What a shame they can't be thankful that we take their children out for these wonderful experiences and they can stay in and keep dry?

Sorry emz but are you aware of why it is blocked by your LA?

and that every time you visit the site you are generating an income for the owner?

Do you know if this is still true after his sentencing and imprisonment.

I have been moving files on an old laptop with the sparklebox toolbar left on it and saw it was active again, curious I had a quick look, I couldn't see any news of new management, but there are a lot of companies still advertising on it and many are school / child related.

I don't want to use the site, but wonder about the companies advertising on it.

I have written to google ads but until I get an answer has anyone else heard anything?

thank you i'll look at that.

We do too Sunnyday, reading my post I can see it may look as they though the children should use the paper names, but we encourage and support mark making, and like Inga I have found they usually use the same symbols for their signature. The strips are there for those who are not keen to try (which is quite a few of our children this time of year). they are also used for models/completely painted/glue covered pictures and friends names they are an addition to not instead of. If I wasn't encouraging markmaking I would have understood the very negative reaction to them.

I know the one you mean,if only!! Have found a metal changing table with steps so older ones can climb up for just under £300, so not too bad.Thanks for your help

well done could you post details please?

Hi some advice please,

I have been using small paper name strips for the children to name their work. Each child has a pocket of ready made names that they can independantly stick on any work they make, they also use them to name models they want to keep and things for other children. I have found it works well once they know the routine. However it has been suggested that the children should be mark making their own names, some do and I encourage and support this but many aren't keen to try until they develop more confidence.

What do other people think/do?

I like that one too!

I would be very interested to hear about a toddler size changing unit that is reasonably priced. When I was looking I found baby units that were reasonably priced and child units that fall under special needs and are £1000 +.

We have just had one put in, the builder didn't know the measurement but said it was for up to three's, which it does say on it, but our 2 year olds don't fit on it so we are trying to get it changed.

I will watch with interest.

It may not be meant unkindly we have a little boy whose mum's pet name for him is 'fat boy', again a shock to hear it first time round, when he said -mum calls me fat boy we did discuss it carefully. He said it was because he was a big baby and his when his mum played with him she called him 'fat boy', he associated it with fun times, he didn't consider himself fat and and thought it was a funny joke.

Thinking about family names - my mum's pet name for my sister was Fatty Arbuckle and she grew up to be an unscathed and well adjusted adult. Having said that my mum didn't use it outside the family and would have been surprised if my sister had introduced herself as Fatty.

wonderful idea, it makes all the hard work worthwhile when you have moments like that.

Thankyou for sharing, we have had some changes at work and most of us are out of our comfort zone at the moment. I have a whole nursery class in in one intake, never worked with just three's before! I started teaching thinking KS2 was the place to be. so it is lovely to think of your excited little ones and imagine mine will get there, eventually, even if they're next door when they do...

Just wondered if it was usual for FS2 children to attend a daily assembly in a primary school?

I don't about everyone else we have fought long and hard against it. Our assemblies are aimed towards KS2 and not suitable for FS.

I am pleased to say we have now won and don't go daily-

- reception go to KS1 assembly, once a week this is aimed at them with KS1 staff leading and celebrates birthdays and acheivements. This time of year some will stay in early years because they find it difficult to be in large groups.

- nursery go in for very occasional fun assemblies, like dressing the Christmas tree, and again anyone we think will find it difficult can stay in the department.

Hi Lucy many congratulations, I hope everything goes well and you have a lovely day.

Lots of people have made good suggestions, I have had several invites where there was a little card /note for each part of the wedding.

I just wanted to add that I 'see' quite alot of weddings (bell ringer and vicar's wife) and it's very common for people to be invited to some of the celebrations, with only a few close family members/friends going to all. So don't worry your not being mean and people shouldn't think so.

I too have had children with sensitive skins and parents who complained because the stamps didn't rinse off, and parents who complained because their children didn't want to wash, they collected all their stickers and saved them.

Now we rarely use stickers as a team we work hard on intrinsic motivation.

We have child with diabetes in nursery and we record her readings, all food and drinks and any significant behaviour, in her home school book and our log, the parents also tell us how she has been out of nursery. This means we have a record in case the meter fails and everyone can see what she has eaten or drunk. Her diabetes is not yet well controlled and keeping careful notes helps us to see patterns and ensure we provide the best care for her. When she has had hypos we have been able to show that we have acted according to her care plan and her levels have fallen suddenly despite this.

I know it is time consuming but I would advise keeping records.

"my display and notice boards are cream background with navy borders really displays the childrens art work well and amkes it stand out, all picturs are valued and displayed straight not on angles"

Suer

These sound lovely Suer, what do you use to cover your boards? I thought I had seen a neutral display pack somewhere bit I can't find it now.

Fay

I'd be interested to know if any children who have access to free flow provision spend as much as 40 minutes outside at a stretch, or whether they do literally free flow between indoors and outside? My point is that although you can't do free flow, your children might be getting more of an outdoor experience than some children who can free flow but choose to spend most of their time indoors.

Gosh - it sounds like there's a research project there!

Maz

It would be interesting to know across a range of settings, our nursery free flows for a minimum of one hour and some days up three, most children free flow in and out, they stay out for longer in the warmer drier weather, this time of year they only go in to access resources that don't go out, like the indoor role play area. I think more would stay out at other times of year if they were better prepared/we could afford wet/cold weather clothing.

We have some dedicated outdoor lovers who stay out all the time what ever the weather, definite forest school candidates.

Fay