To think that this prize giving day was far to one sided.

[mummyloveslucy]

At the end of term at my daughters nursery, they have a prize giving day. All the parents are invited and it's a big thing for them all. Every child wins at least one certificate.
I just thought that this year it was quite unfair that one particula little girl got so many. She does seem to be the "golden girl" within the class. She won one for best manners, tennis, french, behaviour and music.
My little girl who has a severe speech disorder and has to try so much harder than the others only won one for improvement in maths. I was very proud of her, but her manners are also excellent and she absoluitly loves music.
It just seemed to me that they value achievement far more than endevour.

She's nearly four and a half.

there's plenty of time to develp a passion for music
i'm sorry but you are in danger of being a pushy parent
your dd needs to be playing not worrying about prizes etc

It sounds a dreadful place with staff who are stuck in the 1950s.No amount of glorious grounds and woodlands refresses that.

I'm now laughing at the thought of being a pushy parent.
I am the exact opposite. Every other child in her class has at least 3 hobbies, they seem to have an activity for every day of the week. My little girl comes home and plays with her toys etc after nursery.
We play a lot of music and she dances to it, bashing her tamboriene. She's not having violin lessons, like a lot of her class.
We just have fun, I don't see that as being pushy in any way.

lol
glad your not offended!!
i'm just a bit taken aback by yiyr comment yhat the new teacher hasnt recognised her flair for music! all four year olds like bashing tambourines and dancing surely?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you don't know what it's like if you havn't seen it for yourselves. It has such a warm, friendly atmosphere, I'd love to work there, they have so much fun.

redresses

bigchris- You don't understad. My daughter is not that confident with other children but when she hears music, she's like a different child. She loves Les miserables, and can tell the difference if someone else sings one of the songs that's not as good a singer.
I'm not saying she's going to be a musical ledgend, she might not ever learn to play an instroment but she enjoys it more than anything else.

When your child seems to be struggeling with every aspect of development, you can't help but look for the positives.

But surely the certificate wasn't for "Loves music the most", it was for achievement in music (shudder).

Yeah I think maybe the nursery has come over unfairly in your post I guess the activities are kind of fun diversions for the children and they think of plenty of things to award certificated for so that every child can achieve something

all right all right all right- it may be a lovely place, but what parent would want to turn up to a prize-giving for three-year-olds???

at that age, even the ability to concentrate and try hard is closely linked to development which is going to vary from child to child; I wouldn't have wanted to see dd rewarded for having reached the stage where she could concentrate at an age where her brother (and most boys we knew) had a brain completely filled with fluff

it just seems a bizarre idea

and in front of other people

surely you can be warm and fun and music loving without a prize-giving ceremony?

"When your child seems to be struggeling with every aspect of development, you can't help but look for the positives. "

IMO, that is the time when you focus on celebrating the child, not looking for certificates.

DD1 has GDD. She was always going to be last at every race at preschool this year. We went, we cheered, we laughed as she fell over, we helped her in some of the races. She had a ball.

Lou- all they are looking for at that age is an enjoyment of music. They sing and bang tamborienes etc, my daughters singing is compleatly unintelligible, but she enjoys it. Even if the teacher dosn't.

I think this prize giving and the 'subjects' they try to teach at this stage are a warning bell.

Speaking as mum to a DS whose special ed. needs have become clearer as time has gone on, I wholeheartedly recommend that you strongly consider state education for your dd.

We did private nursery (attached to a small prep) followed by state infants and the state provision for kids with SN is IME far far better. The teachers HAVE to be inclusive and they have to seriously attempt to meet your child's needs; and interventions like Ed Psych and Occ Therapy are free.

ALL private schools make money based on cold hard results at the end of the day and they can, and DO, jettison (in the nicest possible way) kids who will get in the way of their results.

State a far better more inclusive option IMVHO - and we've found the staff way more qualified and experienced.

Mummyloveslucy - you've posted several times about choosing between this school and a state school as your daughter has special needs. I can only repeat what seeker has said. I would go for the state option like a shot. THere will come a day when your daughter realises she is not the one getting an academic award.

It's not the prize that's important, it's knowing that they recognise her efforts.
Prize giving day is not MY idea!! I really couldn't care less about it, but if they are going to have one, I think the prizes should be more evenly spread.
My daughter was delighted with her one prize and so were we.
We couldn't be prouder of her, she's gorgeous.

But as a private school, they are going to focus a lot on academic achievements and reward these.

Read a really interesting article by actress Jan Ravens recently; she has a severely dyslexic son. They chose a private school purely because it was known as a VERY nurturing school rather than an academic one: they very kindly got rid of him at 15, the year before GCSEs when it became clear he wouldn't acheive.

State schools just do not have that financial impetus. Yes, they have league tables etc but they are now able to include 'value added' figures to show progress rather than just results. And their basic existence does not depend on fees each year. It's just not the same.

Yes, she's going to a state primary school in January. It has a special needs unit attached and it's own speech therapists.

phew! That sounds brilliant. I am really relieved she is not going to be staying in that environment!

I think you'll be amazed at the positive difference you'll see when she goes.

That's awful slowreadingprogress. I am dyslexic too so know how hard you have to work at it.

To me, the person she will tern in to is all that matters. i want her to be strong minded, confident and caring to others.

Thank you, I really hope so. I've been beating myself up over the decision for ages. I just want to do what's best for her.

I think Lucy is going to do much better in her new school. I know that you are nervous about making the right choice and understandably so. My private secondry had lots of lovely things about it but if you weren't good at something then you didn't get to do it. I only played tennis about 4 times and after that I ran laps around the field with the other ordinary kids so the talented ones could get tennis coaching and the school could brag about their achivements in competitions. You couldn't choose a subject at GCSE unless you were sure to do well so there were no bad grades to drag the school down. It was a nice school with small classes but they needed to do well in the league tables not recognise effort over achievement.

I went from private to state. I moved to the state school when I was 7. My teacher was awfull. She said things like "you're not at the private school now you know". And when I'd written a story she'd either say "Can you come and translate this for me" or read it in front of the class as I'd written it, with all the spelling mistakes.
I really had a horrid time and I think that's clouded my judgement some what.
I am very protective over my daughter, as you can imagine.