Tell us what you think of the Haliborange Play & Learn Guide - and have the chance to win Space NK vouchers

[carriemumsnet]

We've been asked by Haliborange to review their Play and Learn Guide devised by Professor Amanda Kirby.

Please take a few minutes to have a look at the guide and let us know what you think of it. Everyone who takes the time to offer their opinion will be entered into a prize draw to win £50 of space NK vouchers.

Haliborange are also looking for 3 mumsnetters to put the guide to the test for approximately 2 weeks and then feedback directly to them. If you have a child aged 4-11 and would like to volunteer to test the guide please give us your details here. The three testers chosen to trial the guide will each receive £100 vouchers for Space NK in return for their feedback.

Professor Amanda Kirby hopes to join us in the next week or so for a webchat to answer any questions you might have about the guide and to hear what you think.

Thanks

MNHQ

It's typical advertorial, really. Poorly laid out, grammatical errors (it's try to, not try and!), and not really appealing to anyone.

I just don't think that anyone who might need this basic level of parenting advice would bother wading through pages and pages of dense text.

I'd still love the vouchers though

Have looked. Cant bring myself to complete the survey.

I think the product placement is clumsy and could be much better handled - personally I would be much more convinced by a "how to" guide like this that didn't go near fish oil in the main text, and had a promotional box at the end. It's disingenuous to pretend that fish oil supplements are part of mainstream recommendations for good childhood nutrition. Unless something has changed since I last looked at the advice which admittedly was a couple of years ago (oily fish - certainly, but supplements - no). So that sort of undermined everything else for me.

I agree 100% with the audience comments. Who is this for? If Haliborange is really interested in changing parenting behaviour, the money it is about to spend on printing and distributing this would be better off going to Homestart or some similar organisation. But I suspect that may not be the point.

I think there alot of parents I know from my area who would feel that the advice offered was helpful.

I think that some parents need parenting books and guides by which to measure their parenting style.

I am pleased to see that most of the things on there are things that I do (except for giving supplements to the childrens diet) and that the milestones written make me feel that my 4 year old is a genius.

For the average MN'er I can see why it is patronising. - Am interested in the vouchers

I think there are people out there who need to be given information as given in the play and learn guide, but I don't think they are the same people that will will be bothered about giving thier child fish oils.

All of it seems "normal" to me. The milestones I have always hated, it makes you paranoid if your child isn't doing it

I would however like do to the trial though to see if it makes a difference to AS arseyness.

Have had a read through the leaftlet but have not read through the posts so as not to be swayed with my views.
I think if people are already buying vitamins & suppliments, then they are the kind of people who probably do 80% of the ideas on the leaflet. If they don't or are unaware of the health issues, then some of the language in the leaflet may need further explanation.
I like the idea of the suggestions for various activities at various times of the day which has been proven to benefit child development / aid concentration etc.

Some of the explanations are a bit vague ie the idea of eating something hot then something cold & talking about how something is made hot or cold hasn't really got much to do with nutritional education??

Like others have said - if you're the sort of person who would read a leaflet like this, and buys supplements, it is just patronising drivel.

It could have been so much better if the suggestions were unusual or thoughtful, rather than generally what you would do anyway.

What is the point of it? (other than to flog haliborange)

Having looked again at the age bands, my son is just 8 but the 6-8 bracket looks to easy & I think he'd be more interested in the next age band.

Thanks for your feedback so far - glad at least some of you have found the information interesting and useful. Do keep the comments coming.

We've just heard that Prof Kirby should be coming on for a webchat next Monday Nov 10th - probably at lunchtime between 1-2pm and wondered if you'd like to post some advance questions for her.

For background : Professor Amanda Kirby is a leading expert in child development, with over 35 years of specialist experience under her belt. She's written a number of books as both a parent and professional and her team at the Dyscovery Centre Wales has established an international reputation for forward-thinking nutritional and behavioural research.

The Dyscovery Centre has also become internationally recognised for its work in Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD or Dyspraxia) and related specific learning difficulties. Amanda has both a professional and personal interest in DCD as her middle child has co-ordination difficulties, and trying to address his difficulties and finding answers to problems first sparked her interest in the area. She is currently based at the University of Wales.

Over to you for the questions

Thanks

MNHQ

very interesting to see that Dr Kirby's background is to an extent connected to special needs, as the approach in the guide does chime in with some of the professional advice I've had regarding DS's language problems.

very interesting to see that Dr Kirby's background is to an extent connected to special needs, as the approach in the guide does chime in with some of the professional advice I've had regarding DS's language problems.

Well, it's certainly substantial
Haven't read other comments on the thread yet, but I felt that it was pretty obvious stuff - there was only one thing or two things I don't already do tbh.
In theory, I liked the idea of things that fit into your everyday life rather than adding another layer of 'stuff'. I also liked the breadth of the coverage. I don't like milestones in general, but at least these ones were pretty broad ranging.

I'd like to have seen some more practical & creative solutions in some areas (eg in the 4-5 y o section there was stuff about 'set clear rules' & 'tell off' if they break them - um, yes, not learnt anything there, sorry! Felt that a lot of the 'why's got a bit repetitive.
I was pretty shocked by the 'stop after 5 mins' on the bedtime story rule - really? Why? Are you seriously expecting me to stop mid-story??

I actually done think that it is that bad TBH. I live in an area that is very deprived in some ways and there is a large gulf between.

Poeple who would already consider Omeaga 3 (like me - preen eyeQ) prob dont need the guilde, however, for others that would not consider it or just lack some of the initiative I think the ideas are great.

It is also good to use as a reminder of things that can be used in stressful situations ie shopping.

I know I don't post on here much but I was really interested to read the guide (espcially after all the comments here) and just wanted to give my feedback too.

I found the guide quite interesting. As some people have said, I already do a lot of this with my four year old daughter already. However, it's always good to get some new ideas and I did find quite a few things in there to try - some things I would probably adapt as well. I found it interesting to look at the next age bracket up as well and see what we should be doing next!

I used to be a Key Stage 1 teacher before I had my children and know that lots of the parents that I met would really have benfitted from a guide like this. Although, I think they would probably have liked a more concise set of ideas. Maybe have some of the activities that cover similar skills grouped together?

I also liked the milestones and think that a lot of parents would find this useful.

Pretty obvious stuff for most parents who are going to bother to read it, I'd have thought.

Still wouldn't make me feed their supplements to my children!

not keen on the colour scheme, content is a bit obvious and the milestones are a bit general.
otherwise ok

I think the graphics are terrible.

The layout was good.

The suggestions don't add any value to me. Think my 3 yr old naturally does this stuff and there was nothing new in there.

I think many children and parents do these things naturally, but also many possibly don't. Remember the Jamie Oliver programme where children couldn't tell a potato from other veg, etc.

The presentation seemed quite nice and appropriate.