June 2013 - the terrible twos aren't so terrible

[Biscuitswithtea]

Here goes with a new thread!

[SunnyL]

Well donew Cup. My sister attempted to teach me phonics but I think the teaching style has changed again so it doesn't matter so much.

Bean we've had a bit of potty regression since she declared she was taking her nappy off at night. Although she can use the loo fine she's taken a bit of a fancy to her potty again. Could you try that?

[cuphat]

Thank you. They've told us the reading scheme the school uses at least so I'm going to order books, CDs and workbooks and attempt to learn! She's been learning the sounds and songs and bringing letter worksheets home but they must have been doing more with her already as when I put together words from printed letters they gave me she could sound the letters and say the words. I've made no attempt to help her to read up until now as I believe in just reading lots this early (luckily mine both love books). Plus I haven't got a clue what I'm doing when it comes to phonics (I learnt with flashcards) and I was aware they all use different schemes.

[cuphat]

Obviously I mean just reading lots to them!

[cuphat]

She does know all the letters but that's through her being naturally inquisitive (she started asking about them aged 1). They said they don't teach those until much older but luckily she doesn't get confused and knows they have both a name and sound!

[HungryHorace]

DD knows all the letters, upper and lower case, plus her numbers (she can count to about 130 or so and is doing basic sums at preschool).

She can read some stuff, I've no idea how much. We don't push her at all, but she loves the Numberblocks and Alphablocks programmes plus Numberjacks! She's actually obsessed. 😂

[cuphat]

They said they don't teach letters until age 7 - oops! But it was better that than teaching incorrect sounds (she has watched some alphablocks but was asking about letters before we even let her watch tv) .

She's very good at counting, can write all the numbers and can also count far more objects than they expect at that age! Now they're on to counting in Welsh!

Last week DS was naming words in a baby book. She told me it was a baby book and I said that she could still learn from it by looking at the words as she couldn't read or spell. She replied that she could (as expected - she's Miss Contrary) but when I picked a random word from the top of my head and asked her to spell it she could, no hesitation! I thought it was a fluke at the time!

Reading books to her is interesting nowadays. She questions everything. Spots any mistakes (and corrects mine all day long). She's always right!

[BeanCalledPickle]

Your parents evenings are different to ours. We get wine on arrival and I normally forget what I meant to ask five minutes later:) we then all decamp to the pub and that's that:)

Have concluded the loo business is frankly laziness. Fine at nursery when the loo is right there.

[SunnyL]

As we're still at nursery our parents evening are pretty relaxed too. We get schloer and wotsits and have to sit on those teeny tiny chairs while they talk to us. Our staff are fabulous at talking to children but are terrified of speaking to adults so I think they should probably dose the staff up with wine too

[cuphat]

We have to sit on tiny chairs too, as they're held in the nursery! The teacher does them alone so no snacks or drinks. I feel a bit like a child again, she's one of the loveliest teachers ever but I still feel a bit nervous for some reason! Also very happy that DD is still as kind and caring there as she is at home. But after hearing a couple of quotes now wondering what else she tells them!

[SunnyL]

What age can they start to carry a tune? Lily is a bloody awful singer and I really hope she'll get better otherwise she's taking after me. DH is a brilliant singer

[cuphat]

DS (22 months) has been able to sing fairly in tune for a good few months and DD sings pretty well too, so she might be taking after you They get it from DH as I can't sing at all - I've mimed my way through life (I will sing at home but not in public - no way).

[SunnyL]

Ah shite. Poor kid - my music teacher once asked me to join the choir cos I could read music. After 1 session he suggested I go back to the orchestra where my talents best lay

[HungryHorace]

DD can occasionally hold a tune...it depends how much she's messing about!

DS has a cute little voice, but he makes his own tunes up, so I'm not sure if he can actually sing along to something in tune. 😂

[cuphat]

DD is like a little actress and she has a good memory so no surprise there. DS can hear a song just a couple of times and then sing it in tune. He'll often start singing a song in tune that he hasn't heard in weeks - they seem to randomly come into his head! He hummed tunes long before he started to talk (and we would know the song straight away).

[cuphat]

Only a week and a half to go! We've been told that there are 14 more places in reception than there are at the school nursery so the fact she got into the nursery means she's got a good chance. I know not everyone sends their child to nursery but we're feeling a bit more confident after hearing that.

[HungryHorace]

I'm not overly worried as we are a good mile closer than the furthest child taken last year and it's also a 120 child intake. I'd be amazed if we didn't get in. I can't think that they'd have such huge numbers of siblings that we wouldn't get in easily.

[cuphat]

The intake is only half of that here but we're less than 0.1 miles away so after siblings have been taken into account we should be near the top of the list.

[HungryHorace]

Apparently we are 0.9 miles' walking distance and the furthest was 2.47 miles last year.

I'm not worried at all on that statistic!

222 applications and 117 out of 120 places taken. The head did say that all first choice kids did normally get in after all the post-offer jiggery pokery has gone on. I'm not inclined to disbelieve her!

I just want to know the starting date now as it affects how long I'm in Glasgow for.

[BeanCalledPickle]

I'm not worrying either mainly because if I did it would annoy people massively as we should be a sure thing. We are 0.2 to a school that normally takes to around half a mile. Sixty intake normally half siblings. Steady flow of kids past our house in the morning suggests people travel a lot further!

Most people I know live around half a mile from the nearest school and with catchments being that tight I'm likely to know a few who won't get a place anywhere near them which will be very upsetting for them. So I feel like I can't express any worry at all!

[cuphat]

Just looking at the stats for last year and only people living within 0.28 miles of one city centre school got in!

We'll be fine as all the refused applications were out of catchment. Reading the reception threads it seems a lot of people apply to out of catchment schools.

[Biscuitswithtea]

Bean- did the toilet training improve again?

DS is regressing AGAIN 😱

The issue seems to be nursery. At home we can have entire days that are accident free, mostly because we gently remind him through the day when we spot him doing the jigging on the spot thing of needing a wee. And if he has an accident at home, he tells us. His stumbling block at the moment seems to be that he is so engrossed in playing that he sees going to the toilet as a faffy inconvenience, so holds on for as long as possible.

I assume he does the same at nursery but they don't notice the jigging, don't always notice that he has had an accident, and he is reluctant to tell them.

The nursery seems to be expecting the 3 & 4yos to both take themselves to the loo whenever they need, and also to pipe up if there is an accident.
Do you think that is fair? I sort of feel that's fine if a child has truly got to grips with toileting but otherwise a bit of an ask. Even older children will (at home) be asked if they need the loo before going out (for example)...

Am getting fed up. We toy with the idea of changing nursery but given that change & DS is not a good mix, and that would set the toileting back even further I expect, it would be quite a drastic measure

[SunnyL]

Lordy that sounds very frustrating Biscuits. I know my sisters eldest boy took ages to be dry during the day and was nearly 9 before he was dry at night. He ended up with meds in the afternoons that diabetics take because it reduces wee production. the docs told her that the ability to hold your wee in is hormonal and some people develop later than others. Have you been to the GP or HV about it?

[Biscuitswithtea]

He can hold onto his wee, so I don't think that's the issue. I think it is part not wanting to stop what he's doing until the last minute, part being too shy/unsure who to tell at nursery if he has an accident (accidents have ramped up since they started playing outside more)

He also has a cough at the moment and that's probably making things tricky too

[Sunbeam18]

Biscuits, I think our nursery (school nursery) does now expect them to go to the toilet themselves; well, the ones that started last autumn anyway. I'm not sure what you are supposed to do if they are not ready though - what do the nursery suggest?

[Biscuitswithtea]

Nursery have been frustrating.
DS fluctuates between being reliable with toileting and needing a gentle reminder. His awareness is so much better than it was, he IS getting there, but it is slow.

So whenever there is a little regression (like the past week) then they don't seem to communicate very well between themselves that DS needs to be kept an eye on.

They seem genuinely surprised when we say that he has come home in (not recently) soiled clothes.

He doesn't start school nursery until mid/late August. I see no reason for it not to be sorted by then