Parents no longer allowed to sing at parent and baby groups

[Layladylay234]

I have no energy left to say how much this angers me

To those who haven’t RTFT: the guidance has been revised just today.

You need something to be angry about, Laylady. This really doesn't matter in the scheme of things.

Are we really supposed to believe that parents and babies being around in the same space for an hour or so, possibly sharing equipment and toys, definitely with little ones crying/shouting, is "safe"

No, certainly not until mothers and children will have been vaccinated, and that won't happen until later in the year at the earliest.

Schoolchildren are supposed to take regular (twice weekly) lateral flow tests, but I can't see how that would work with toddlers or babies.

I d happily do a lateral flow test on my nearly 5 month old and myself if I was asked to to attend a group ( we both got sepsis because of the short staffed maternity ward so there's much worse we ve gone through than a nasal swab).
He's barely seen any family or friends and I had to go through parts of early labour alone and had flashbacks for a couple of months so I d really do anything to be allowed to see other mums in person.

We ve decided it's not safe and we don't want to have another baby so feel like I want to take the risk of going to one socially distanced group as we won't be doing any of this again.

However some parents know literally no nursery rhymes or children’s songs and will just sing whatever they’ve heard on Radio 1 that day - which is obviously fine for fun and parent-child bonding but hardly ideal for language acquisition.

I rarely sang nursery rhymes with DD. Couldn’t face the dull monotony. Unless you are singing gangsta rap or death metal, dancing around to Justin Bieber or whoever is just fine. DD was raised on Bon Jovi, Adele, P!nk, the Beatles, Bob Marley, John Denver, Abba. Her language acquisition was just fine.

@MintyMabel Many Early Years practitioners, literacy charities and SALT professionals would beg to differ. www.pacey.org.uk/news-and-views/pacey-blog/october-2019/the-importance-of-nursery-rhymes-in-early-childhoo/

@HastingsIsSuckingDiesel

With everything that is going on in the world at the moment, surely mums not singing at baby group is not something to get worked up or angry about??

You'd think so. Just sing at home.

I'd just like to go to a group, singing or not. Nothing doing round here.

There can't be many people who know no nursery rhymes and, if they don't, they are easy enough to learn.

Reading with and to a small child as well as singing is what language is all about and most parents do that.

Reading with and to a small child as well as singing is what language is all about and most parents do that.

Oh, I wish they did......

I imagine if people don't read and sing with their children they aren't likely to join singing groups with their kids either.

I used to sing songs non stop to my children at home but I'd have welcomed a no singing rule at the toddler groups

They used to sing Wind the Bobbin Up far too slowly for a start!

Reading with and to a small child as well as singing is what language is all about and most parents do that

Now, wouldn’t that be a lovely thing? But nope...

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/parents-reading-children-books-uk-roald-dahl-mcdonalds-damian-hinds-a8516436.html

@TempsPerdu actually they don’t beg to differ at all.

There are absolutely no links in there to studies which show what the “several literacy experts” have discovered or how. There are no links to studies which show nursery rhymes are better at pop songs. That nonsense about relating to everyday experiences in nursery rhymes, how many of them contain things kids can relate to? Your average townie has never seen a sheep, let alone a black one. How many are out feeding ducks? Did they see London Bridge falling down?

What is important is to introduce children to a wide ranging vocab and any song will do that. Repetition and rhyming is the staple of most songs. Lyrics are usually simple enough for kids to remember and repeat. Until you can show me a study that kids raised on nursery rhymes fare better than kids raised on Little Mix or One Direction, nobody can beg to differ.

Now, wouldn’t that be a lovely thing? But nope...

And you’re not the slightest bit curious why the “research” was commissioned by McDonalds, publicised by McDonalds (who conveniently have books in their happy meals”

A survey of 1000 customers, using a fast food restaurant isn’t a representative sample. In fact, one could suggest that the average MacDonalds shunning parent is more likely to read to their kids.

Come back with a proper independent study, conducted effectively before you suggest the vast majority of parents don’t read to their children.

Not being forced to inanely sing old McDonald has been one of the few highlights of the pandemic for me

@draughtycatflap

Could you instead prance and gurn with a tambourine?

That actually made me lol

This kind of bullhonkey really grinds my gears! It's all of this PC 'woke' culture trying to control our behavious and its in a way quite frankly FASCISM! In protest I shall be singing all of my little baby Fletcher's favourite song. STAND UP TO THE TRYANICAL WOKE MOB!!!!!!!!