6-8 year old parenting club birthday partys, homework and extracurricular decisions

[2in2022twoyearson]

Hi,
Anyone want to join me navigating this age of parenting? Children could be outside this age bracket.

There's lots of baby toddler advice groups and some teen groups but this age I feel a bit in the dark.

I have a soon to be 7 year old girl. She's amazing, loves school, but I often feel like I'm doing or saying the wrong thing to and with her. She's going through a stroppy stage, finds school tiring.

Me and her dad work a lot and we haven't signed her up to many extra curriculum clubs, some of her peers have done loads since reception.

We're planning her birthday party and she has lots of opinions about it, I'm feeling the pressure!

I thinknmost countries regularly test and rank children once they start school. I find the British system very confusing as I never known where my child is at when I comes to their grading.

We're in Scotland and they've had some form of testing across multiple areas since they went back in August (maths, reading, grammar etc). We don't get the results though. Obviously the kids have an idea how they did but we never officially find out unless a teacher brings it up for some reason.

I think stretching or at least encouraging is important. Both mine are learning French at school so en route to drop dc1 off at Scout camp (dd goes tomorrow for 1 night) we only spoke French in the car. Most things allow the opportunity for learning. We do some times tables consolidation every week and they read a lot of non fiction, usually based around a personal interest (currently clouds and helicopters for dd and extinction for dc1).

Extinction eh? What an interest!
Can sort of understand why they don't give the results out unless its needed but I wouldn't like that. I like to know how my children are doing in school, so I know where they need extra help.

DS is getting his dad to read to him from his book of rocks and minerals every night, and his dad asks him questions to check he's been paying attention, and to see what he remembers.

So I think there actually is some kind of continuous assessment in England but the parents don't find out, except for the phonics screen in year one and end of year in year 2. Then some parents evenings are a bit vague. Did anyone watch breeders? In parents evening Michael Freeman has a go at the teacher when she said he's where he should be academicly and he thought his son was a genius because he can read very well. The teacher said something like that to me on year one too, and I felt similar. So found that clip very funny. I think it's just a phrase teachers have been taught to say across the country.

After one year at school when she'd just turned 5 she started reading Mr men in her head and could answer questions about it after. My mum asked her.

My daughter is in challenge group, first group to do cursive. She got greater depth mark which is the top of three marks. About a quarter of her year both do challenge group and greater depth mark.

But I had a thought about the 11+ I try not to think about because it's years away. I'm not From and 11+ area and we didn't choose to move her for grammar schools, allthough many do. It's a lot of pressure suddenly and she knows about them now as they are done at school and they are told to be quiet during them. I worried she could be sitting then at the beginning of puberty and fail them because of that. It's a silly worry, but when I'm on my period I wander how young my daughter will start because she's really shooting up in height at the moment. I hope she's in secondary before she starts as I know a few girls who started in year 5 and it wasn't nice.

My daughter's interest at the moment is the battle of Hastings, science and nature. We got her storming normans from the library as she likes the horrible science but has rejected it, on my to do list is to sit with her and look through it, as I'm sure she'll like it when she opens the cover. Most of her reading is the phoenix comic.

Def read it with her as the horrible history books are so good, she just needs to read a bit to get hooked I'm sure - they were my fave as a child.

It sounds like your daughter is doing well so the 11+ might be for her when she's older, but you'll know more as she gets older. Stretch work will definitely help if you are considering putting her in for it. We didn't live in an 11+ area when I was growing up so I never got to do it but I expect I would have passed and perhaps then could have had a much better secondary education (my first secondary school was alright but then we moved and I went to a much worse one, it was in special measures not long after I left). My mum got into grammar school in Finland, this was in the 60s, before they changed the education system to what they have now, back then you went to primary school and in 4th grade (about 10 years old, could also take them in 5th and 6th grades) you could do the entrance exam for secondary school (grammar school) and if you passed you went there and if you failed you stayed in primary until you finished primary. My mum for some reason didn't go to the school for the first year (maybe she failed the exam the first time, or just didn't do it) so my grandad had to pay to send her to private school for a year, then she went to the grammar school, though that also cost money. It was the only route to university, so exams you took in primary school decided your whole life! Mum was lucky she had parents who supported her education, even though they were farmers so probably could have done with her going to the local school and working on the farm in her spare time rather than moving away to school in the town when she was still a child.

That's cool that your DD is learning cursive, I remember being so excited when we finally got to learn it (though I soon lost my excitement, as I have terrible handwriting and no amount of practice improved it)

She was so excited, and it was like a secret cursive group, the rest of the class were not aloud to do it as they hadn't been taught. I think most are now. It has helped her as she was writing whole pages and had stopped doing good finger spacing. I've not timed her writing. She didn't do much over the summer. I was going to, as was DH, but the time just flew by. She writes a diary every night.

That's really good that she writes a diary every night, its a good habit to get into to improve her writing skills.

How are you doing?

Dds friends mum has asked if I can collect her children from school and I said yes. I'm glad I can replay the favour as she's had DD round her house loads as it's close to school and she doesn't work as much outside school hours. I'm just taking them to the nearby playground. I'm a bit nervous how the little sister will be, she is 5 and they were both expecting to go to an after-school club but the mum discovered it doesn't start till next week!

I'm so sleepy though. First school Monday I'm not working as I've dropped the day at work, and as I expected it's difficult to get motivated at the beginning of a week. The 3 hours my ds had at nursery flew by. I did a bit of shopping, a bit of the nursery paperwork and didn't open my book.

Nice to help each other out, its invaluable to have a mum friend that can occasionally pick up your child when needed, good to be that friend.

DS is ill and had to be picked up early from after school club yesterday so he's not going to school today but OH is staying home with him. My alarm didn't go off today so I overslept and was a rush to get to work on time and I've not properly woken up yet so I'm having a second cup of tea at work before I start working.

DS just got his first "detention". He has to stay behind after school in homework club because he didn't colour in his homework carefully enough!

Oh no, that sounds so harsh! We've just been sent homework advice for the year. And from 8 years old they have homework lunchtime club for those who haven't finished homework but from the year above DD.

I feel its good for him, a little shock to make him realise he should take his time over his work instead of rushing it. So I'm quite OK with this consequence - better learn the lesson now than have to learn it later when homework gets more important.

The only thing DD got into trouble for was in reception age 4 or 5 for kissing. As they were as a group chasing 10 year olds and kissing them. I got a call from school saying, it's innocent from 4 year olds but not so much when older children get involved and embarrassing for the older boy. She was so embarrassed and wouldn't even let me talk about it, never did it again. I think it's group playground antics she could get into trouble with as she's a follower and encourager of bad behaviour at times.

Ah kiss chase, I remember getting into trouble for that in infant school! And my DD played it in nursery, pretty sure she was the instigator.
DS is definitely a follower, which worries me sometimes.

I remember being weirded out by it as I moved counties to England in infant school where they played it and it seems to be a very English thing! My new school had a strong boy girl divide too. However, it didn't happen at DH school so maybe not a universal English thing.

Perhaps some schools were better at stopping it so it never caught on.
Is there a strong boy/girl divide at your DD's school yet at this age? I remember it starting around now when DD was this age but in DS's class the boys and girls still all play together a lot - DS is going to a girl's birthday party today (I struggled to pick a present because I could not remember what 7 year old girls like! Opted for special colouring pens that make pictures in water, and a little craft kit, hopefully she'll like that)

We used to play Kiss, Cuddle or Torture at my British military primary school abroad. Basically if you got caught, you had to pick one of the three. So far neither of mine have played anything similar (and long may that continue).

Dd has been invited to one girls only party (it was a pamper party). Everything else has been very mixed. Ds is 10, he still does most things in a mixed group as well.

I think it's starting DD has lots of friends who are boys. She thinks she's still friends with everyone, but some of the parents I've talked to about them being friends (not seen outside of school but she talks about playing with them in the playground) have said the boys want to play with boys more recently. But it's probably parents influence...She has a close group, same children when she goes to birthday parties with is girls and boys. And yesterday a boy she was briefly friends with she saw in town said hi, went right up to him but he ignored and moved away. Bless her. He was a bit puffy eyed so probably caught him at a bad time. She also talks more about girls, wants to dress more girly, eg skirt not trousers she had last year and girls school shoes when I've got her boys until now, partly because we find them better quality, more practical and she's wanted them to help her run fast. I think she's now realised no shoes will let her run as fast as her friends, she's got my genes there which is slightly clumsy and not a sprinter.

Her school did nip the kiss chase in the bud. Now also year 5s and 6 are in a different playground.

DS gravitates more to the boys but that's partly because a lot of his friends are in his football club too and that's mostly boys, although there are two girls on his team, but circus school is mostly girls so he has lots of girl friends there. But until he started school his firm friends were one boy and one girl, the three of them played together constantly at nursery.

How are you all doing. My DD has cried a few times before school recently. Once because I didn't let her make a birthday card and pulled her up in rudeness, she just sulked and cried until we left and didn't write and draw a picture in the card I found for her. Today because she made a lovely brio track for DS, proudly showed me as ds moved a bridge to get the train underneath. She also is a bit upset she's not been invited to a friend's sleepover but I'm quite glad as I don't think she's ready and didn't want to have to make that decision.

She's enjoying school and telling me about her lessons. But she can be rude, particularly to me but even to other childrens parents, not very rude, but not saying please or thank you.

She has applied to be the eco representative in her class. She was chosen last year and very proud of it. This year they asked children to write why they want to be the representative the. The other children will annonomously vote. She's a perfectionist and doesn't like to put herself forward for things and competitions in case she doesn't win, but I told her to write it and she did. First she said I don't think I'm quite ready, maybe in year 4.

Does she say please and thank you when reminded? I find DS often still needs to be reminded to be polite. Well done to her for writing her application to be eco representative, fingers crossed she gets chosen.

We're doing alright, well I've been laid off which is stressful but on the plus side I have more time for the kids now. DS had to stay behind after school again because he forgot to do his homework but that one's on me, I wasn't home that evening to remind him.
We had a parents info evening at the school, his teacher seems really nice. I spoke to the parents of one of the children who doesn't know Finnish yet but does know English so DS has been talking with him and playing with him a bit so I told them that to reassure them a bit, as they were concerned about how he's settling in, and they seemed very pleased about that and asked if the two boys can get a friend picture together on picture day.

DS told me that he's been going to the special ed teacher every day, I had no idea as its not been mentioned at all, but it turns out the children in the class who can already read (6 of them) go to the special ed teacher during literacy lessons and get taught separately on their level. I was glad to hear that as I was a bit concerned he'd get bored when the class is still learning the alphabet and syllables.

That's good about the reading. My DD told me a few children at a time have been missing an assembly to do reading with the teacher and get them at the right level. Well DD, proudly said she started reading one book then was told to chose any book from the next level up and there was a lot of choice, she went for one about fossils. It had the word paleontologist in.

She does say thank you when reminded but other children I noticed at a birthday party did it without reminding. It's a small thing I know.

DD spends a lot of time at home Reading and watching TV upside down, lying with her legs up, kind of on her shoulders/neck or just kneeling with her head upside down. I remember doing it a bit as a child but she didn't used to. 2 year old brother takes it as an invite to wrestle though!

How is everyone doing? What are some favourite activities?

Doing ok though DS is ill today so missed the special day at school where they get to try lots of different sports and games while parents watch - the one time I was able to come and he's ill! But I got him to do some educational activity today, I played on the switch and made him read all the dialogue.

He mostly loves doing sports, signed him up for a after school multi sports club, they do a few weeks of volleyball, then ice hockey, then futsal, with the transport from school and back again and a snack, and its entirely free! He is very excited about it.

He has his first maths exam next week, the teacher sent a message about what area to study.

How is your DD doing?

Beavers/Brownies and sports (various dance classes and football) here. She's off to acro now with a friend and then we'll cycle to the next village for hot chocolate this evening.

My eldest (10) still watches tv upside down. He loves that position, used to want to be carried to bed by his feet.