Dawn has suggested this weeks post. When I was a girl, I didn’t have an imaginary friend. I had an imaginary German shepherd dog . I always wanted to have a dog and got my love of this particular breed from my dad, who never managed to own one as we eventually had a Labrador…
Category: Parenting
After watching a programme on the television where children were asked what they wanted to be when they grow up,I decided to share what myself and others inspired to be as adults when we were children: My cousin always wanted to be a dance teacher, she now teaches dance part time as a way of…
Is watching television good for children, or something not to be encouraged? These are my thoughts and experiences:- In my opinion children watching television can be good providing an adult monitors what they are watching. There are some quality educational programmes aimed at children. When I was working as a registered child minder I…
In my experience as both a parent and a registered child minder from time to time children will swear, cuss and use unpleasant language. The best way to manage this is to ignore it. if children don’t get a response the chances are they won’t repeat this behaviour. I recall my youngest coming in…
Homework, whether you agree with it or not (I have heard of parents who believe that because children are at school all day they shouldn’t have to have homework too) is a part of the school years. My youngest son was so excited when his speech therapist gave him some sounds to practice at home,…
I was a registered child minder for 14 years and I can honestly say that I loved every single moment of it. I only gave up because ill health forced me to. Being a child minder has lots of advantages: I started this particular career because it meant that I was able to earn some…
Most of the tantrums that a 2 year old has can be dealt with quite simply: Basically don’t give in to bad behaviour. Unwanted behaviour is often a form of attention seeking, ignore unwanted behaviour wherever possible and reward the good, wanted behaviour. A reward can be as simple as verbal praise, don’t get into…
A light earthed post for today! From time to time children like to make things up or exaggerate things to make them sound more exciting. This is not the same as telling lies, just having a healthy imagination. Some examples of children’s tales that I have heard are:- When I was working as a child…
I would recommend talking to your baby as often as you can from the moment he is born; talk about anything and everything, sing to him, teach him nursery rhymes and read him books. a child is never too young to listen to a story or share a picture book, in my opinion. Experts say…
As a child minder I was always looking for ways of entertaining the children that would be fun and educational at the same time. Sometimes, these activities meant that the children in my care would get a bit messy. One of these children would always arrive looking like she was wearing her ‘Sunday best’ and…
What is a story sack? I hear you ask . A story sack is a bag of items which relate to a children’s story book, often the contents are hand made ( the ones which I used were made by members of the W.I. women’s institute). I borrowed several story sacks from the library; these…
When my son was around 18 months I took him to a toddler group session, one December Santa came for a visit all the parents sat waiting with their children on their laps, we kept telling them, “Santa will be here soon.” expecting our children to be as excited as we all were. As Santa…
In my opinion the best pets for children are:- RABBITS; I have kept a rabbit,or two for most of my life; from regular size rabbits in childhood, to 2 giants as an adult. If you decide to get a rabbit as a pet for children please don’t let him live at the bottom of…
This is just a selection of the children’s Christmas crafts which can be downloaded from ichild; FATHER CHRISTMAS PAPER CHAIN: A simple take on the tradition paper chains. The Santa’s can be coloured by children using pens, paints and even cotton wool for beards and hats and then hang them up as a…
This subject was a recent discussion on a daytime television programme; it got me thinking: Teachers get paid for the amazing work that they do, so do they really need to be given presents at Christmas too? I don’t remember giving presents to my teachers when I was a child, I don’t think it was…
A schema is a thought or pattern of behaviours which allow children to explore and express developing ideas. I had never heard of a schema until I attended a workshop when I was a child minder which explained about schema. Looking back my eldest showed signs of being a schema; he like to line up…
This is following on from last weeks post on gross motor skills. Fine motor skills develop the muscles in fingers, thumbs and hands which enable children to hold a pen or pencil to write and draw, as well as mastering skills like doing up buttons, zips and tying shoe laces and holding cutlery to cut…
Children need to learn and develop gross motor skills to simply lead ‘a normal life’. Gross motor skills are the skills that children need to walk, run, climb, swim jump, kick, throw and catch a ball and to be able to play sports and even take part in a school sports day. Most children have…
ichild have sent a selection of activities suitable for celebrating bonfire night:- The gunpowder, treason and plot: This is an account of why we celebrate bonfire night, there are questions on the front page for parents/practitioners to ask the children once the story has been shared, which is explained quite simply. Big, bigger and biggest…
The first time that I heard of a man suffering with post natal depression (P.N.D.)was when a father of multiples admitted to it on a television programme that I was watching. It may seem strange to think that a new father can get post natal depression as it is usually associated with woman who have…
When my sons were growing up they sometimes had a sleepover,often to celebrate a birthday. Once the guests had arrived we would drive them to McDonald’s and trust them to stay there until they had finished eating (they were sensible teenagers). When they were ready to come home my son would ring or text and…
As many people seem to be in favour of smacking children as those who are against it. I would be lying if I said that I had never given my children a smack when they were growing up and I was smacked as a child by my parents. It most likely didn’t do me any…
It was my youngest granddaughter’s turn to take Buddy bear home from school for the weekend. The idea behind Buddy bear is that every child in the class gets a turn to have the bear spend time with them at home, parents are asked to document what Buddy has done and to take a few…
Helping or encouraging your child to learn her colours, should be both fun and light hearted. My eldest son, learnt his colours from playing with his toy cars, he would ask me, “What colour is this one, mummy?” He learnt very quickly and I remember when we were in the library and he referred to…
As a former early years practitioner I know that children learn a great deal through play, I don’t really agree with the idea of having a curriculum for children under the age of 3; I don’t think it is necessary. When I was a child minder all my under 5’s learnt to tell the time…
Once again ichild have come up with some wonderful activities for children; this is just a selection of some of the ones for autumn:- ADD THE AUTUMN LEAVES is quite a straightforward activity suitable for children who are learning to count, it would also help with learning number recognition (I have written an earlier post…
If a new baby is on the way and you’re about to move home, you have undoubtedly received a barrage of advice about how to childproof your home. The truth is that accidental injuries are considered a major health problem throughout the UK, with over two million children under the age of 15 experiencing accidents…
Being a step parent to my second husbands son is one of the hardest things I have done, but it has also been very rewarding. I already had 2 sons when we moved in with my now husband and his 8 year old son. We had another son together a few years later…
This seems like an appropriate post for this week as most of the schools have just gone back after the long summer break. Many children and parents do not like a school uniform, but my feelings are if everyone is dressed the same, surly that reduces the risk of bullying? Children that can’t afford…
When I married my second husband I had 2 sons from my first marriage who had their dads surname, it never occurred to me to change their names, they wouldn’t have wanted to; they loved their dad, even though I no longer did, plus I thought that they had enough changes going on without adding…
Kat has suggested the topic of today’s post, thanks Kat. Co-parenting is a legal term were by two parents who are separated or divorced parent a child together (often in separate homes). Usually the child will be resident with one parent ,often the mother (although I do know of a few fathers who had custody…
I often get inspiration for blog topics from social media so when I read a few weeks ago that Bridget Nelson gave birth to a baby aged 54 and last year Janet Jackson had her first baby at 50, also a woman in China who is pregnant aged 67. There was also a woman on…
Recently there have been reports of a few nurseries taking children to old peoples homes. The benefits of this experiment appear to be endless to both the children and the pensioners. Some children haven’t got grandparents who are still living or they may live a long distance from them, equally some elderly folk don’t…
Ever since I can remember I have been horse mad. Each year on my birthday I would blow out my candles and wish for a horse, it never happened. Then every year I would enter the W.H. Smith win a pony competition. I never won. As I grew a little older I came up with…
When my children were attending pre-school , there used to be a system known as rota-mum. This was where the mums (or dads) of the children were asked to stay and help at a session once or twice a term . In my experience because this was optional and not essential, it was the ‘same…
The benefits of using the library can easily be forgotten now that we all use the internet to look things up rather than using a book for research and many people, myself included, use an e reader rather than the traditional paperback novel. The library has so much more to offer than just books though….
A Family reunion is a major event that comes in every summer vacation, in which the members of the family comes altogether to celebrate. Having a family reunion takes time, commitment, and planning. The family reunion is perceived as a time for a vacation and family members want to enjoy a nice setting. Planning a…
Now that the long school summer break is fast approaching, plan ahead by gathering together some activities in case of bad weather (this amazing weather can’t last forever). ichild have a great make a unicorn craft and as unicorns seem to everywhere at the moment why not join in with this trend? The instructions are…
Now that summer is here at last (and we have had some pretty amazing weather so far) use this as an opportunity to get your children out into the garden as it is a great place for children to run around and get some fresh air and exercise. The addition of a few toys will…
Becoming parents can surely be one of the most pleasant and gratifying experiences of your life, however, that doesn’t mean it’s as simple as you see it. No matter how old your kids are, your job is never done. You always need to know how to make them feel treasured and admired while showing them…
I recently listened to a debate on a daytime television programme about this subject.One mother said that having only one child is great but another disagreed and said that she thought it was wrong and selfish. I decided to share my experiences and thoughts on the topic. I have 3 children plus a stepson and…
Last week a member of the Royal family was criticised because prince George was seen playing with a toy gun. My feelings on this are: For goodness sake he is a 4 year old child, let children behave like children. In my experience banning children from playing with guns is not the answer, whether you…
Fortunately my experience of children in hospital is limited. I was in hospital when I was 10. I had to have my appendix removed , complications resulted in me getting pneumonia and one of my lungs collapsed . The hospital that I was in was in Liverpool, my dad who is a massive Liverpool football…
Regular readers will be aware that I have been working with ichild for some time. So when I was sent some of their father’s day downloads, I thought that I would share them by writing this post:- Make a tie craft could be used to make a tie for dad, or for yourself, or even…
Child care “or also known as “daycare”, a type of service which involves supervision activity of a child or a group of children by persons who have no personal relation to the child’s family. This is a very important and responsible service particularly for the parents of a modern nuclear family when both the parents…
When my youngest son came home from school and told me that he (along with the rest of this class) were learning some basic sign language using makaton a child’s version of British sign language (B.S.L.) I was inspired to also learn some because I was working as a child minder at the time so…
This week I watched a television programme where a celebrity needed to hire a nanny to help with the care of her baby, but she was concerned that he would love this nanny more than her. I came across a parent with similar worries when I was working as a registered child minder. This parent…
Most children have their first experience of being in water from a bath or maybe in the paddling pool on a rare warm summer’s day. If you do use a paddling pool take care once the children have finished playing in it- it is all to easy to forget that it is still there full…
Following the success of my previous post on surviving the school holidays when you are a child minder I have decided to write a similar one for parents. With the half term break and then the long summer school holidays fast approaching now is the time to start planning. My mum always referred to the…
Education.com asked if I would write another post on one of their worksheets. I agreed because this was just the kind of activity that my youngest son enjoyed doing when he was growing up, he was the youngest of 4 children and liked to think that he was a’big boy’ like his older brothers. When…
It can be extremely daunting for a parent to visit a potential child minder, for their child for the first time. It may be helpful to have a few questions to ask the child minder written down beforehand. Usually a parent makes first contact with a child minder over the phone when checking on availability….
A few weeks ago a daytime television programme did a report about toxic toys. It said that a bath toy which hasn’t been washed and dried thoroughly can contain more bacteria than found on the floor of a public toilet. Toys with holes in them allow water in and because it is then trapped it…
ichild have a wide selection of children’s activities that can be downloaded. Here are just a sample of the ones with a spring/summer theme:- Missing numbers This sheet has 16 rabbit outlines – some are numbered and a few have numbers missing meaning that children could be encouraged to count out loud and say the…
In my experience as both a parent and a child minder most children learn to walk at around a year. My eldest son used to combat crawl using his arms to propel himself along the floor, then at about 12 months he began to pull himself onto his feet using the furniture to walk along…
As parents, it is only normal that we are interested in providing the best for our children. This is especially valid when it comes to food, as kids are growing individuals and they need nutritious meals to develop properly. As we live in the age of technology, it should come as no surprise that even…
Now that we are officially in British summer time and hopefully have some good weather on the way, lets encourage our children to get on their bikes, enjoy some fresh air and get some exercise. Children usually start to learn about the concept of a bike at around 12 months of age when they are…
When my children were young, under the age of starting school I held their birthday parties at home, during the party most of the invited children’s mothers would also stay which meant supplying refreshments for them as well. We had the usual party games such as pass-the-parcel and musical bumps or statues followed by…
Now that the spring has arrived at last and we all start thinking about tidying our gardens, why not get the children involved? It might just get them away from sitting in front of some sort of screen which may help to avoid obesity (which is becoming a problem for children as well as adults)….
Another suggestion from Sarah Knight. This time for day trips on a budget where everyone can still have fun still have fun. Thanks again, Sarah. When I was child minding I was always on the look out for budget outings, as I didn’t like to keep asking parents for money. on top of their child…
Sarah has been in touch because she has been having a few problems when leaving her 6 year old daughter at school in the mornings. . She has asked for some advice:- .Leaving your child anywhere can be difficult for many parents. whether it is at school, nursery or with a child minder. I’m sure…
ichild have some fantastic activities for children that are available to download. Here are just a small sample:- The baby animal flash cards are a fun activity that young children will love. I would use them by first asking the child to name each animal and then ask him to match the animals with their…
As many new mothers don’t want to leave their young children with a stranger when they go back to work and let’s face it, nowadays, most of us have no choice on the subject of having to return to work after maternity leave because of high mortgage rates and the general cost of living. Becoming …
I am very fortunate in that I live in south west England where we have wonderful beaches. When I was working as a child minder I didn’t take the children to the beach in the height of summer because they were often full of tourists and it sometimes became very hot. Instead I would go…
Recently there have been a number of stories in the media about the sexualisation of children, from entering them into beauty pageants wearing skimpy outfits and spray tans plus a High street store was reported to be selling false eye lashes for toddlers. This got me thinking that there is a fine line between children…
Education.com got in touch and asked if I would write about this worksheet, I agreed because this is just the sort of activity I used to do with my youngest son before he was old enough to start school. He was the youngest of 4 and liked to think that he was a ‘big boy’…
Melanie has suggested this weeks topic. One of my favourite messy play activities is what I call gloop (cornflour and water experiment) as this also covers science in the early years. Basically you mix lots of cornflour with water in a large vessel. I used to mix it in my grill pan as this allowed…
Recently I heard on the local news about a subway on a housing estate that had been damaged with graffiti, by teenagers, the reporter claimed. This took me back to 2004 when I was campaigning to get my local children’s park upgraded, read more about this in my post titled Power to the people. The…
Long before they can learn to write children need to master the skill of holding a pen or pencil.This usually begins by doing a few scribbles with a chubby crayon. This primitive form of writing is known as mark making, just having fun with any form of arts and crafts can help with hand to…
Firstly. I must point out, that what I am about to write is purely, my own personal experiences, of pregnancy and child birth. I have no medical training in this field and as every women and child, or baby’ is different it will not necessarily be the same for anyone else! For as…
Recently I attended a Christmas craft evening where I discovered the following crafts, which I feel children would manage with a little help from an adult. I feel sure that many parents and child minders will enjoy and benefit from this. All the items needed can be purchased reasonably from arts and crafts suppliers and…
For anyone who doesn’t know about this, the elf on the shelf is a relatively new concept which has come from America. Parents tell their children that Santa has sent a special elf from the north pole to watch them and report back to him as to whether they have been good, or not. Commercial…
Without meaning to sound like a slave driver, I believe that children should be encouraged to help in the household. My youngest son loved to clean my kitchen sink, this started one day when he was bored and as I was pottering in the kitchen I pulled up a chair so he could reach the…
Thanks to Shannon from education.com who got in touch with this brilliant blog, after reading it myself I knew I had to have her as a guest blogger! Knowing the letters in your name, and the order they go in, is an important sign of nursery readiness. But it’s not as easy as you might think! Children need…
Nowadays, with electronics, such as, games consoles, tablets and i pads it may seem old fashioned to think about playing traditional games, but they, too, can be fun and a lot cheaper on our pockets. Eye- spy is one of the oldest, it can be adapted for younger children, I used to to play it…
Sarah Knight has suggested that I write about how to survive Christmas with children, thanks, Sarah. The first thing that comes to mind is how wonderful Christmas is when spent with children. My best Christmases. were when my children were still believers in Santa, there is something magical about that! I recall, one year, my…
As a mother of 4 boys ( 3 of my own and a step-son) and that the majority of the children I looked after while I was working as a registered child minder were boys, I have quite a lot of experience in keeping them amused. In my opinion, boys will be boys, so you…
This is a request from Julie Tallin, thanks Julie, for tips on how to divide your time and attention between several children. In my experience, trying to juggle several children at once is easy, if managed correctly. I used to try to include everyone together, so nobody feels left out. I can recall my youngest…
I was sent this book by ichild. It is just the sort of activity book that I would have found really helpful when I was working as a registered child minder as many of the activities relate to the early years foundation stage (E.Y.F.S.) which are personal, social and emotional development, literacy, maths and understanding…
There are many advantages why a parent, mother or father should join a toddler group,( traditionally known as mother and toddler groups.) with their child. Firstly it is a fantastic opportunity to meet other parents in similar situations as yourself. A well run group will benefit your child as it will help to teach them…
This is a mini blog to respond to a message sent by Claire Day, after she read my original piece on bedtime routines. Claire has a 21 month old son who sleeps in a normal bed and wakes every night screaming and nothing will settle him until he’s ready, then he just rolls over and goes…
The subject of this weeks blog, is a suggestion, from Erika; thanks Erika. Before I start, I want to point out that I am very bias towards child minders (as I worked as one, for 14 happy years, only giving up due to ill health) Child minders usually work alone, in their own homes…
Samantha has asked me for some tips to make food shopping with her children a bit easier. Food shopping at the supermarket can be quite stressful if you have young children with you. When my 2 sons had to accompany me every week to the supermarket, my youngest who was almost 2 years old would…
Kirsty Lavender has asked for tips on how best to wean her baby off his bottle and onto a trainer cup. Thanks for the request, Kirsty. The best advice I can give is to have patience. When I decided to coax my oldest son off his bottle, at around 12 months of age, it took…
Stranger danger is a difficult subject to administer. We all tell our children never to speak to or approach a stranger, and then we take them to meet Santa and encourage them to not only tell him what they would like for Christmas, but also sometimes to sit on his lap! We also forget sometimes…
My husband would say that I am highly qualified to encourage a child to talk; as I never stop! Even having suffering a massive stroke didn’t stop me, much to his disappointment! When I was in hospital he told me he thought he had gone deaf! When I was growing up my dad would tell…
I was privileged to work as a registered child minder for many happy years, meaning that I never had to leave my children in childcare; other than in pre-school play groups. Being a child minder; I was aware of a parents guilt, and hardly a week goes by without something similar being brought up on…
Another child minder (also called Karen!) has asked me for ideas that are suitable for the older children. She also child minds after school; however most of her activities and games are aimed at younger children. The older children that I looked after liked arts and crafts (especially the girls) Making dolls out of wool was a…
Experts say that most children don’t get bladder control until around 18 months, so there is no point in trying to potty train before that age. I must admit however, to placing my first born son Leigh, on his potty just after his first birthday. He seemed to be quite happy sitting there, whilst watching…
Nowadays, keeping children entertained on long car journeys is relatively easy thanks to things like laptops, electronic games and tablets such as iPads. They can now watch a movie or play a game whilst they travel. When my own children were young, there were no such luxuries. I once made a booklet for each of…
Many parents are under the impression that teaching their child to read is the responsibility of their child’s teacher. While this is true to a certain extent, there is a lot you can do to help as a parent. My eldest son started to recognize words from a very young age by the way they…
When I met my second husband, my boys were aged 4 and 6 and he had an 8 year old son. Once we settled into life as a “blended family” the boys didn’t call their step-parent mum or dad (after all, they each had an absent parent who they still saw) neither did we tell…
After catching up with Terry who originally suggested I write a blog on Child Led Play, he told me his Daughter aged 2 had recently been to a birthday party. He was surprised that all the small children played separately, instead of together. This in my experience is perfectly normal for that age, and soon…
Thanks to Terry who suggested that I write a blog about Child Led Play. It is too easy to hover over our children while they are playing. It is much better take a step back and et them use their imagination. When I was child minding, I sometimes laid out the tea set on a…
The question of how to help a child with number recognition came up recently on social media. These are my ideas. In my experience, most children start recognizing numbers by their age. Many youngsters are given birthday cards with their age on ( usually the number is large and brightly coloured) Some children walk around…
I am hearing of more and more parents complaining that their children are addicted to electronic devices such as tablets such as iPads, MobilePhones and games consoles and that the children get stroppy when told to switch them off. I had a similar problem when my eldest son became obsessed with his play station and although…
Thanks to Tina for the suggestion of an absent parent, a difficult subject; but one I have had a little experience of. My boys, were aged four and six years, when myself and their father split. I decided at the time that I was going to try to stay on good terms with my ex,…
Similar to learning about numbers and colours, the easiest way to teach our children about shapes in my opinion is to make it fun. Start by looking around your environment. Sitting in my living room, I can see several different shapes; square and rectangle picture frames, a round clock, rectangular windows and door frames, a…
The subject of encouraging your child to do No.2’s (poos) on the potty, has recently come to my attention, both in person and on social media. I did encounter, this problem, with my middle child, although his problem was of constipation; which in itself can be a vicious circle, it hurt him to go, so…
Managing their child’s behaviour can be one of the biggest challenges for many parents, after all; the “terrible two’s” do start at around 18 months and finish at 18 years, don’t they? The solution to this is simple – reward good behaviour and, wherever possible ignore the bad. The best example I can give of…