Child Of Our Time BBC1 9pm Tonight

[RTKangaMummy]

What are Dads for?

9pm BBC1 Tonight

I had a go, 4 out of 6 also!

I didn't agree with some of those answers though. The one about what do you tell your child when they first start school - work hard. I'm not going to tell my 4.5 year old 'work hard' - he probably won't know what I'm on about so I'd say 'have fun, enjoy it, there'll be lots of children to play with...' as I'm sure reception is more an extension of nursery at first so I'd rather let them think it's just like nursery as they'll learn it's more structured as they go along.

Yeah, I didn't like that one either.

Gobbledigook - I felt really strongly about that one too. Dp and I were both shouting at the TV "Where's the 'play and have fun' option", formal schooling starts way too young in this country in my view anyway.

And also the "make your child look good to make them popular" answer wasn't the "right" approach as such, it was just an interesting comment on how we pick friends when we don't have much other information about the person beyond their looks.

Have to say I find the whole programme a bit unsatisfying - it's very anecdotal - here's our sample of one child from which we draw the following conclusions. It's fun to watch just because the kids are interesting, but it should be more than a real-life soap opera!

GDG - I said exactly the same to DP - where's the fun? I did find it very very interesting - Eve seemed a delightful child when you saw her in her home setting but when you saw her in the classroom I could see how she might alienate some of her classmates! My ds started school in September so I was riveted (and had a lump in my throat when they were talking about popularity and how children choose their friends). I loved the quirky little boy (can't remember his unusual name) and was pleased it all seemed to look positive for him at the end of the programme. It's sink or swim in the playground tho isn't it? Was so pleased I watched it now when feeling v positive about how ds is doing at school, rather than in the first month when we were both decidedly wobbly......!

me too I always told my ds to enjoy his day and have lots of fun!
I was astonished at that question!

Funnily enough though, my ds has said a few times to me recently 'mummy, the most important thing about school is learning to read and to write isn't it?' And I've said to him yes they are really important because it's fun to be able to read what he wants to and be able to write stories and letters to Grandma etc. But it's also really important that he while he's learning and has a great time with his friends.

has fun while he's learning....

I MUST learn to preview
I MUST learn to preview....

er...I have always told dd1 to work hard. She has never minded it, in fact it seems to make her excited about going to school.

I agree formal education does start too young in this country, but IMO if they are going to school they might as well learn that it is about learning stuff. Anyway she's a serious child who likes all that.

And I'm afraid I completely agree with the looks part. It doesnt necessarily mean they have to be beautiful, but important that they are clean and presentable, and that they 'fit in'. One little boy in dd1's class brings his lunch in a vintage champagne tin rather than an action man lunchbox and believe me, he is NOT popular.

My jaw dropped at the father reading to his 5 year old about Auschwitz. IMO that is just weird.

er...I don't think that is weird either. He didn't go into great detail.

Message withdrawn

Robert Winston seemed to think that the little girl who mainly spoke gujerati at home, was being stubborn about speaking English in school. I strongly disagree with this assertion. All the children I have taught for whom English is a second language may be reluctant to speak because they are spending time listening very carefully to the less familiar language around them - how they're peers are talking, how the adults are talking. Then, when they feel confident enough, then they begin to use their English. IME it has very little to do with stubborness and I felt this was a poorly researched aspect of the programme.

I would prefer to protect mine from man's inhumanity to man for just a little while longer is all!

rickman, dd1's best friend has pretty severe excema and she seems to be one of the most popular in the class

I had a child in my class with severe alopecia. He joined a term after everyone else (moved from another area). His Mum was desperately worried about how the other children would treat him.

He became a popular little boy very quickly, with plenty of friends.

Children did ask why he didn't have a lot of hair and I explained v matter of factly why after talking to his Mum about how best to deal with the questions.

I didn't agree with the getting them to look good to be popular or the working hard one either.

I know kids should look presentable, but if i went along with my Dd1's opinion of looking good every morning, then she wouldn't get to school until lunchtime.

I always tell my kids to do their best, and if they have done their best then whatever the result it will be fine with me.

Oh, glad others thought the same about the 'work hard' answer. I agree Enid, that it's important, but I think I'd be more along the lines of 'do your best' and when going into reception I'm not sure 'work hard' should be the focus. My biggest fear is that my children won't enjoy school and I think that if they do enjoy it, everything else will pretty much follow.

I agreed with the 'looking good' answer - not in that I think it's right it should be that way, but just that it's human nature to be drawn to people you consider attractive without knowing anything else about them, but also agree that clean and tidy are important just as much as being pretty/good looking!

Agree about Het too - she was probably taking it all in and building up the confidence to let it all out! I don't think she was being particularly stubborn.

Agree that reading about Auschwitz to a 5 yr old was a bit OTT as well. Good from an educational aspect but I think I'd steer clear of such topics at the age of 5. Still too difficult for them to understand and not be frightened about imo.

Me too Nutty, re doing your best.

grr, just typed a long post and then the stupid pc has wiped it!
Anyways, I got 4 out of 6 as well. Was agreeing with Enid that it's about fitting in rather than being stuningly beautiful, tho you will get a job because of being nice looking rather than being clever, sad but true. I think Robert Winston is saying this is how it is. Agree tho re where was the "have fun at school" option.
The qu re what do the children worry about, I said the loos before the answers even came up. DH says why? before admitting that he really hated going to the loo at his primary school, for one thing it was outside! a thing of the past now, thank goodness.
Thought Eve was very interesting, notice she's an only child, wonder if this made a difference?

But it's everywhere at the moment, CathB2, because of the 60th anniversary of the liberation. Ds (5) is reading fluently now and we are not up to hiding newspapers from him. He already knows that Hitler was a very wicked man and that much of Europe went to war to get rid of him and stop him doing very bad things. This came up in conversation because some much older little darlings at school had a Hitler Club - as far as I could gather, just an excuse to have battles - and ds wanted to know why I was so appalled at its name.
You don't need to go into much detail, I quite agree.

Spent the first five minutes in tears at the thought of it being my dd in septmeber, aged just 4. They all looked so much bigger than her and still struggled to cope.

Got 3 or 4 right - definitely knew the toilet one. Felt sorry for Eve, wonder how her parnets feel watching it back. Interesting nature vs nurture debate that was suggested by the comparison of Rhianna and Charley. Did anyone else identify traits of their own kids in those shown ?

btw how did the straw experiment work - was it 3 whole straws they had to cut up or were some already cut ?

Absolutely ks - I find him so condescending, and the programme always fails to tell me the detail I want to justify the experiments they are doing and the conclusions they draw. I must admit I've only seen about 10 minutes of the current series, as I found it so irritating in the past I've avoided it.