to be pissed off that DDs nursery stole my ideas?

[harrietflies]

DD attends a local nursery school which uses an online learning journey app to communicate between nursery and home. DD hasn't yet spoken there (she started in September) so, after discussion with her teacher, I started adding regular updates of what we'd been doing at home as a conversation starting point.

Within the first week of doing this, DDs teacher said what a good idea something I'd done was and laughed as she said 'I might have to steal that.' Since then, several things we've done at home (that aren't your standard activities or ones that pop up online) happen to appear in nursery a day or two later. To be honest I didn't mind too much, as I thought it might help DD to be more comfortable if activities were familiar.

However, a fortnight ago nursery got the call from Ofsted and on the day they inspected the nursery they had four activities I'd done that week with DD out - exact copies . Today they announced they received an 'outstanding' grade and the report specifically mentions the 'imagination of the staff' to come up with such 'unique and original ideas to thoroughly engage and inspire the children.' AIBU to feel pissed off and a bit used?

Unless you run a competing childcare setting yourself then you're being utterly daft.

If you think so little of the nursery and staff why send your child there?

Sahn....stay at home nun? Stay at home numpty? Stay at home neanderthal?

Oh, the possibilities.

So you are telling us that ofsted gave the 24 hours notice and so the nursery some hoe managed to get all the resources built, planning written for several new activities to impress them?
Hahaha that is funny.

First, the activities are not original at all. My oldest is 22 and he did them. Still have the pictures.
Then there's planning. This is done and dated a term in advance. Obviously for the seasonal stuff it's c&p with amendments made where needed.

If the nursery were being fair to you, op, they would give you the nursery and you would be the new boss of the nursery and you would run it for ever and ever and all the children would be happy

There are no words to explain how ridiculous you sound OP

Just stop updating the nursery on the activities you do at home (I'm by this,who does this?!) and keep your unique pintrest ideas for at home

Can I just express concerns about the 'elf and safety implications of calling coloured water with bells in it (and very good point up thread about how they jingle when in water) 'soup' viz a viz presenting a possible choking hazard.

You bring up a good point.

I can just imagine DD being the majestic little chubby thing she is eating the damn thing. Especially with the peppermint scent. She's eaten far less interesting things with less prompt.

My dc's school was inspected 2 weeks ago , final report not to be published til end of January
Blimey Ofsted is efficient down your way op.

I think the real issue here is that you don't like the nursery.

You don't think they put enough effort / time into planning.
You don't think the range of activities is good enough.
You don't like that the manager feels it's appropriate to make jokes about lack of planning.
Your dd hasn't spoken there since September.

Try and identify what is actually going on and how you feel because it's going to help you make the best decision rather than feeling grumpy that they used your ideas, which if you were totally happy with it in other respects you wouldn't be feeling.

I think I'd take her out tbh.

Sorry op, my kids are in school now and they did the Santa's grotto, Christmas soup and using photos to make decorations years ago at nursery.

"So you are telling us that ofsted gave the 24 hours notice and so the nursery some hoe managed to get all the resources built,"

I know that's an auto correct but.....

Those ideas sound great to me OP. My kids nursery hasn't done them and I wish they would! I think Cinnamon has a good idea in suggesting you start a blog - I could do with some inspiration...

If you're not happy with the nursery, put her somewhere else.

Can't you just be pleased that they have picked up on the stuff you are doing and have incorporated it into their routine, thus making your child's experience better?

OP, those sound like very good ideas and your DD is lucky to have such a conscientious Mum. The problem seems to be that the nursery didn’t give you any feedback when they used the activities you dreamed up.

But the nursery, with the collective experience of its staff, might be familiar with those sorts of ideas, and you might just have jogged memories, so they did not see the need to say anything.

On the other hand, I think that Mums with no professional training in childcare would be a more appreciative audience. Why not, as others have mentioned, start up a Mummy Blog giving helpful hints through the year?

I do remember writing my own ideas into a Home-School Communication Book when my DS was just a little older than your DD. He was a bit wild at the time and I told them that you could get him to do things by getting him to pretend he was a dog and slipping the desired command in at the end of a series of commands whilst he was still in obedient dog mode.

So:

… … …

Anyway the HT himself told me, “We don’t have time to do that stuff!’

He’d probably been sniggering earlier on with the other teachers in the staffroom about the unfeasibility of pretending day-in day-out that one kid amongst thirty others is a dog.

So, OP, be proud that you had some great – as opposed to mad – ideas that were actually used. And be glad that the nursery is responsive to input from you.

All my best ideas were other peoples, well pretty much. Isn't that how life works?

Nice reply Outwith Constructive, supportive, non bitchy and funny to boot.

Hmmm. I don't understand your upset either. Dd1 is now in year 3, ds1 year 1 so I've seen at least 4 years where all the activities you name have been done. So they really aren't original.

I guess a passing comment that 'X's mum shared what she had been doing with X and we thought it a great idea' might have made you feel better. But tbh you've already been told they were good ideas and they'd likely be used by preschool.

I run a rainbow unit and have borrowed plenty of ideas from school and dc have also taken their ideas from rainbows into school. I'm just happy that someone thinks something I've done is worth recreating for others to enjoy.

These are fantastic ideas and your children (and the ones at nursery) were lucky to get the chance to do them. Whether or not some other unknown person had already done them before you did does not detract from your imagination and interest in children's activities in creating a version for your own children. I agree that, if the nursery have just adopted your ideas wholesale, it would have been gracious to have acknowledged this to you and thanked you - either by private message or by a sentence in the next parents' newsletter.

I've just re-read the thread and have missed whether or not you are a SATP. If you are, then at the moment, childcare is your "profession" and, possibly unconsciously, you may be "competing" with the nursery - that may be why you are reacting sensitively. (Although I don't think it is at all unreasonable to expect a "thank you" in the circumstances you describe.) I know you have four children, and it is probably completely impractical for the foreseeable future, but perhaps you should consider starting your own nursery at some point. You are obviously so interested in children, and so good at thinking up activities, that I'm sure it would be a great success.

cupcake it's our family moto! When I was a moody teenager my mum used to build a Lego bridge and leave it around the house to piss me off

I'm amazed you had your OFSTED two weeks ago and the publicreport is out already.

I think that they were really nice ideas OP. And the best thing to do with good ideas is share them.

I've not read all the comments but YABVU!!!

Teaching is all about sharing ideas! It's about reading about, researching or observing good practise and then adapting for your particular class. Do you think early years practitioners can possibly have the time / inspiration / resources / ideas to come up with 5-8 original ideas (the number they need for their daily continuous provision plan) every single day?!

Be flattered that your ideas have been admired enough to be used! Or is this a stealth boast?!

(I'm a Reception teacher by the way. Us early years teachers are always visiting other settings and 'stealing' ideas. It's how we develop our port folio of activities for continuous provision. I'll say to one teacher, 'ooh I like what you've done in your investigation area!' and then they'll say, 'oh yes, I saw that in a school last month and thought it was great.' It's how it goes! The skill is in adapting for your particular class / setting.)

And best practise in early years IS to let children self-select resources completely. In other words, no planned activities at all. So why are you annoyed at the teacher for saying, 'no planning for me!'

(FWIW I aim for a mix of adult-planned and led focus activities, adult-planned independent activities and child-initiated independent activities.)

Seriously, if you know so much about it, why don't YOU train as a teacher and show them how it's done?

When I was a moody teenager my mum used to build a Lego bridge and leave it around the house to piss me off

I've got to start doing this. "Build a bridge and get over it" has long been one of my favourite responses to trivial crap.

Oh shit duckbilled - that's if I'm allowed to copy your mum's idea??!?

All your activities and ideas with the exception of the Christmas soup have been done by my 4 year old in P1 over the past two weeks. They're lovely ideas but I'm sure her teachers and TAs got the ideas from blogs, websites, other teachers. They also did the same last year. They don't do a Christmas soup but they do to a Halloween one, it doesn't jingle but it does smell rank ... maybe do that next year?