To question what they are teaching in primary schools these days?

[wonderstuff]

DS 11 didn’t know how to make paper snowflakes! Thought it was some sort of witchcraft when I showed him 😎. DD 14 knows so it’s obviously a recent deterioration. I remember spending what felt like hours happily cutting out in primary school. It was a go to activity for wet break. Think they bung a film on now with screens in every classroom. Sad times.

It's truly shocking the state of education these days. 😂😂😂

Nearly as shocking as the lack of humour among some on this thread. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Best thread for a longtime. Peppermint creams, paper snowflakes, peeling PVA off your hands and tissue and tissue aper stained glass windows. Most of all the nostalgia of posters with no sense of humour unless the OP puts light hearted in the title.

Btw I made a “fortune teller” for a kids party and am now considered a goddess in the playground by a posse of 6 and 7 year olds.

I no longer teach how to make a cress hedgehog, calligraphy, how to sew a Mother’s Day card, how to make a papier-mâché mache mask…

And useful things like knitting - I spent a full afternoon a week tucked up in the annex of my primary - knitting a pair of mittens. You can imagine how long that took 8 year old me. Probably the whole school year!😀

I can still knit though!

We're too busy toilet training them and teaching them the fundamentals of reasonable behaviour to do much else...

My son did not come home with a tree decoration made of biscuit with a boiled sweet in. I was shocked and appalled!

They did have like 3 days of sport sessions in the last week though which was probably much better in every possible way so

I bet they don’t teach them how to make a Christmas tree from one square of paper either. Ok one square and another bit for the tree stand.

Last week I taught a Y1 teacher how to make paper snowflakes- I blew her mind She got so excited she made lots - she had intended on getting Y1 to make them, but decided they were too tricky.

I once taught a whole Y1 class to make paper boats- that was a major task- even the BTEC student we had in was struggling. Never again.

I bet they don't make tissue paper flowers either

Or turn the classroom windows to stained glass with black sugar paper and multicoloured tissue paper

My year 3er's class made them and stuck them in the window this year. Have you checked your school's Ofsted rating?

My 5yo has been making lots of paper snowflakes in school recently.

@CaptainMyCaptain Yes you are right, they were a Blue Peter thing. They actually were quite nice weren't they. I feel like going and finding some hangers now.

Op I'm reporting you to SS. It's your fault your kids have grown up defunct of basic skills. You're a terrible mother and you deserve your snowflakes to fall apart upon opening.

@AshLane

And useful things like knitting - I spent a full afternoon a week tucked up in the annex of my primary - knitting a pair of mittens. You can imagine how long that took 8 year old me. Probably the whole school year!😀

I can still knit though!

The knitting nearly killed me. Mine was awful and the horrible teacher made me the object of derision for the whole class. I threw it in the bin on the way home so my mother wouldn't see what a let down I was. Seven year olds used to walk home alone in the 50s.

[quote ancientgran]@CaptainMyCaptain Yes you are right, they were a Blue Peter thing. They actually were quite nice weren't they. I feel like going and finding some hangers now.[/quote]
I think Blue Peter stopped doing then when even flame-proof tinsel wasn't really up to the job when you're dangling candles on coat hangers.

But now with LED candles, they reallt shouid make a comeback

Oh yes, LED candles would be just the job.

I did calligraphy in school! But a fair few of my teachers had been teaching since the 50s and 60s.
Did loads of craft. Pulling bits of material thigh cloth with a hook to make a hedgehog. Tie dye.marbling. salt dough things. Clay modelling. I remember baking in primary, but fuck knows how!

How about paper chains instead of snowflakes?
Chocolate truffles are much nicer than peppermint creams and just as easy
My DC are grown up now but we did loads of Xmas crafts and baking/cooking in lead up to Xmas and I was a lone parent working full time on a low income
My DC still remember collecting twigs and spraying them with cheap gold paint then decorating them with home made wire and gold bead decorations

Yanbu. Dd’s school just do colouring in or tv. Every single wet play.

The teachers there put the tv on at every opportunity to be honest. Whether it’s BBC Bitesize or a safety video or certoons as a ‘treat’ 🙄 the tv seems to be on in the classroom every day. And the after school club does gaming.

It’s not a very big good school 🤔

Think they bung a film on now with screens in every classroom. Sad times

Hahahahahaha 😂 seriously?! I’m a Primary Teacher and received a parental complaint for allowing them to watch one Christmas film on the last afternoon of term. This is what you’re up against after quite literally bending over backwards for the entire year trying to do the impossible and teach to the needs of every child in the class. Not to mention providing every single item in the classroom out of your own pocket so having virtually no money left to actually buy Christmas gifts for your own family. I even provided the scissors, pencils and rulers in my last class!! The school gave me an empty room and that was it. So apologies if I didn’t provide (and buy) the paper and scissors for some paper snowflakes while I was at it 🙈😂 deary me!

I somehow managed to miss learning how to make pompoms, when I was at primary school - and I am 57!! I only learned how to make them 5 years ago.

Just remembered tissue paper flowers! I learnt to embroider at primary school too, I was in a special group one year, looking back I suspect because they thought I was a bit slow, where we made a sort of patchwork felt tree, then they started a cross stitch class at lunchtime, heaven! I still love needlecraft.

@Unavailableusername

Colouring in and cutting out have been referred to as 'lost learning time' in my trust.

Oh my word, this is so sad. In recent years my secondary age pupils have been clueless about measuring, drawing lines/axes use of compass, tracing… the maths paper is designed so that they rarely have to even plan a scale for a set of axes, it’s already drawn and usually labelled. As for use of scissors…☹️

@Howshouldibehave

Think they bung a film on now with screens in every classroom. Sad times

Or perhaps they are teaching them what’s on the curriculum instead.

Which is equally sad tbh.

It’s incredible how many people struggled to understand your really obvious sarcasm OP!