Storybox or Beano?
Over the last week I’ve been working through a “Beano Replacement” book for my 4 year old son called “Storybox” and I have to say I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
The book is rather educational with little facts that his sponge like brain absorbed with relative ease.
If he’s learning something while being well behaved I guess that’s a bonus! 
I’d say that I prefer the Beano, but it seems that my tastes differ from my son as he really likes the book!
I guess I’ll have to persuade the ball and chain to get the next Storybox issue when it’s out (she can still keep getting the Beano for me!).
Angelina Jolie has boy and girl
Actor Brad Pitt and partner Angelina Jolie finally welcomed their twins into the world this week. Breaking the celeb trend for stupid baby names.
Knox Leon and sister Vivienne Marcheline were delivered by cesarean on Saturday.
Doctor Michel Sussman told press that Brad was by Angelina’s side during the operation, “He was perfectly calm and everything went well. The parents and the babies are in excellent health.” Knox topped the scales at 5lb 3oz while Vivienne weighed in at 5lb.
SATs results generate further questions!
The BBC news site today is reposrting that more questions are being raised over SATs and the quality of their marketing.
Problems are emerging as schools get back pupils’ scripts after delays at the test contractor, ETS.
Some schools have been getting scripts back unmarked and in some cases pupils who took the tests are officially recorded as having been absent.
Schools Minister Jim Knight says Lord Sutherland’s inquiry will seek to answer all the questions raised.
One primary school head teacher is so upset she has released examples of pupils’ marked English tests.
Janis Burdin, of Moss Side Primary School, in Leyland, Lancashire, described the marking as “abysmal” and “erratic”.
The National Union of Teachers called for the Sutherland Inquiry to consider the whether the results were valid or whether they should be annulled.
Acting general secretary Christine Blower said: “I urge the Secretary of State to add a further criterion to his enquiry; that of deciding whether a subject’s tests at each Key Stage are reliable or whether their reliability has been contaminated.”
Head of the NASUWT teaching union Chris Keates said it was vital that all the issues surrounding the administration of this year’s Sats were considered as part of the inquiry.
The mystery of pupils being marked absent when they were not may be down to the online system ETS uses to track pupils’ marks.
What the marker has to complete online for each script
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Before markers can begin work they have to go through what is known as “script verification”.
This involves accessing a register of pupils who took the tests. On it, they have to indicate whether they have received a paper for each pupil.
If they had not the pupil was flagged as being absent.
Head teacher Ian Miles of Wybers Wood Junior School in Grimbsy, Lincolnshire, found that more than a third of his pupils were shown online as having been absent, or with missing scripts.
This was despite the fact that the school had received back all their scripts properly marked.
ETS Europe has said there is more than one possible explanation for such problems.
The situation might also arise if the school had not correctly completed the register in the first place.
It accepts however that the common factor though is the computerised registration and mark capture system being used this year for the first time.
Almost all the Key Stage 2 results were supposed to have been published online for schools to access on Tuesday – a week after they should have been available.
It is still unclear when all the Key Stage 3 (14-year-olds’) test results will be available, with English being a particular problem because it is more time-consuming to mark than the other tests, in maths and science.
The ETS results website is next due to be updated on Friday 18 July, then again on Tuesday 22 July.
The Conservatives called for government to drop ETS in time for next year’s exams.
Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said: “Every day brings new evidence of their serial incompetence. Ministers must act now to ensure next year’s exams are run properly.”
Parental leave ‘needs more flexibility’!
Women may find that laws regarding maternity leave are damaging their career prospects, according to an article on the BBC News website.
Under current legislation, a women can take up to 52 weeks off work after having a child, with statutory maternity pay for up to 39 weeks, while fathers are entitled to one or two weeks paternity leave.
Nicole Brewer, chief executive of the equalities and human rights commission, said that some employers disregard job applications from women of a child-bearing age.
She said there should be more emphasis placed on shared parental leave, to even out the responsibility of taking time off work for a new baby.
“There’s been a very welcome increase in maternity leave, but we think the focus should be on letting parents decide who takes parental leave after the first six months,” explained Ms Brewer to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Brendan Barber of the union body the TUC added that extending flexible working rights to parents and the option to transfer maternity leave to fathers could help the situation.
Research by the equal opportunities commission found that 5% of women who tell their employer they are pregnant feel under pressure to leave their job.
It seems only fair that the workload of a newborn infant be balanced out between the parent, and employers should start to recognise this….
Discuss…
Ashlee Simpson and Olives!
Ok so most people know that when you’ve got a bun in the oven you crave a strange array of foods. (you’ve never seen anything more gross than jellied eels and iced cream – I’ll get a slap for this 
)
Apparently pregnant celeb Ashlee Simpson is craving Olives!
According to new husband Pete Wentz his wife is craving the finer things as her pregnancy progresses which includes those yummy green olives on just about everything she eats. He told reporter Ryan Seacrest recently that it is an “anytime kind-of-thing. You always have to be ready.”
He also filled Ryan in on all the joys of standing by his wife during her pregnancy including the doctors appointments where he “freaks out”. He admits that they still do not know the sex of the baby, but that they hope to find out within a couple of weeks when the doctors go in for another look. I myself think it’s wise to know the sex of the baby as when you need to mentally prepare youself for parenthood you need every scrap of info you can!
Until the baby arrives sometime later this year the couple is content to sit back and enjoy married life together.
My advice is make the most of the uninterupted nights sleep
Kids Monthly Books
Today I’m focusing on kids magazines. Having been a trusty supporter of the British culture gem that is the Dandy and the Beano for some years (as it was the staple weekly supplement that my parents got me when I was young) I was a bit apprehensive when “the other half” got some of the magazines from her work for the Kids.
So she’d got hold of one of Bayard Presse’s range of books called “Storybox” that are apparently good for our 4 year old.
I had a quick flick through it and it’s got a lot of activities and things in it. We’ll be checking it out over the week so i’ll let you know how we get on.
Getting the kids back outside
So when I was a kid, I’d play football outside from the minute school finished to 9 at night. I would play football in the playground before school, at break and at lunch time. I wouldn’t stop even when my back was tired and my feet hurt. Everyone played football, virtually non-stop, so we must have been fantastically fit for 12 year olds. Ok, the weight of the world has taken away most of my spare time, but I still manage to cycle each evening and sail every weekend.
Is there a link between being a healthy and active youngster and remaining healthy and active when you become an adult? I personally think not, as many of my friends who used to beat me at cross country running now can only beat me in an “eat the pie” contest. However, I still think that it is vital for the long term health and well-being of a child to excercise daily, and know that a kid who truly enjoys sports will continue to participate into adulthood.
Now then, with Playstations, Xboxs, Sky TV and Gameboys being at the top of most kids activities list, what can we do as parents to encourage outdoor activites? To start with, it has to be fun. Not fun for you, the parent, but fun for the kids. If they want to take up a sport, no matter how vague or obscure, we should strive to do what ever it takes to allow them to participate. So many times i’ve seen kids complaining about having to play Rugby because it’s too rough or cold, or Football because the acting is hard. If kids learn to hate sport when they are young and impressionable then they will never have the confidence or motivation to get down to the local sports centre when they are adults.
Rather than telling your kids what they should play, ask them what they want to do. If they say Paintballing, then take them. If they want to try out surfing, then book a holiday to Cornwall. Karate? Get them to the Dojo. If we can encourage our kids to play outside (in safety) then we have done our job.
Courtesy of Mikecraft photography
Is Technology Bad For Children?
I just saw a post on the CNN website that I think raises a vailid issue and that is the long term effects of technology on the younger generations…. 30 years ago computers were only just emerging so no-one knows if the control pads have an adverse effect on the hands dexterity in later life.
the article refers to an american woman’s children.
Her 13-year-old twins, James and Timothy, are avid gamers who own two Sony PlayStations, a Nintendo GameCube and a Microsoft Xbox. Physically, they’re fit however both boys can bend their thumbs all the way back to their forearms, and they constantly stretch and crack their knuckles with ease. For tasks like ringing a doorbell, dialing a phone number and changing the remote, they use their thumbs.
This may just be that they are double jointed or that the use of consoles has mentally trained their brains to make greater use of all of their digits.
Unfortunately, conclusive research on the subject of computer ergonomics for kids has been lacking. But researchers are concerned nonetheless.
“The exposure to ergonomic risk hazards for children is expected to be higher than it would be for adults because of the sheer amount of time that they’re on computers at home and at school,” said Ken Harwood, director of the practice department at the American Physical Therapy Association.
Some physical therapists and pediatricians are already citing cases of RSI in children as young as 8 years old. Kids complain of headaches, neck problems and backaches. And when pediatricians can’t identify the source, they’ll send the child to a physical therapist.
Now to be honest I’m not known for my tact and this to me seems to be an over reaction. When I was young we used to get injured from playing in the park… grazed knees etc. I don’t believe this is any different… if you spend enough time on an activity you are likely to get an injury associated with that activity.
What do you think????
Children and Sweeties
Sugar plays an important role in children’s food. After all it is a known source of carbohydrates.
Glucose is a universal energy source and one of appetite stimulators. At decrease of its level in blood a feeling of hunger appears. There are three basic directions of glucose use in an organism:
1. It is a “fuel” for work of all organs.
2. It is put by in liver cells and muscles.
3. It turns to fat when the quantity of its receipt is superfluous.
Sugar does not carry food value in itself, having thus high caloric content.
Love for sweets is put in a child at genetic level. The first food in a baby’s life is breast milk, which is sweet due to milk sugar — lactose. At artificial feeding a child receives lactose and maltose with formula. Feeding up introduction expands assortment of carbohydrates sources — fruit and vegetable juice, mashed potatoes, porridges, which completely cover requirements of a children’s organism for carbohydrates.
After 1 year parents can enter a small amount of table sugar to foods, and also sweets in allowance. For children from 1 year till 3 years the quantity of sugar makes 40 g a day, from 3 till 6 years — 50 g. You can start acquaintance to sweets with various mousses, cooked on a berry-fruit basis (from fresh and frozen berries and fruits). Then it is possible to try zephyr, fruit candy, and also various kinds of jams.
From 3-4 years (not earlier) it is possible to offer a grown up kid pies and cakes, which do not contain creams on a fatty basis, and low-fat grades of ice-cream. Quantity of sweets is regulated: from 1 year till 3 years — 10 g a day, and from 3 till 6 years — 15 g. Their use should not have a character of encouragement for a child and, of course, you should give them after a basic food intake or for a mid-morning snack.
Before 4-year age it is impossible to give children caramel and sugar candies, as there is a risk to choke. As to chocolate and cocoa, and also marshmallow in chocolate and so on, before three-year age it is better for a child not to face them . Chocolate contains a lot of fat and creates loading for stomach fermentative system and pancreas. If there are no contra-indications since three years it is possible to give a little white and a milk chocolate, and from 5-6 years — its other kinds.
Hope people found this informative. Check out Baby-Health.net as they have more info!
Enid Blyton books should be required reading for kids.
When I was growing up my earliest memory of reading is my Mum reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five stories to me before bedtime. I must have only been 5 years old at the time but found the stories amazing!
For anyone who doesn’t know “The Famous Five” are a group of children who have the sort of adventures most kids dream about, in a world where ginger beer flows and ham rolls are a staple diet. Julian, Dick and Anne get together with their cousin George in the first adventure, Five On A Treasure Island.
George is actually a girl who wants so desperately to be a boy she crops her hair and struts about doing boy things. She hates it when people call her by her correct name, Georgina. She has a dog called Timmy—oh yes, and an island. Most kids just have a dog, but George’s parents own Kirrin Island and let her run around on it as if it were her play-thing. Her parents are known to Julian, Dick and Anne as Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny.
I think that these books are slowly being removed from society by the sands of time and I feel that they shouldn’t.
So if you have kids please check out Enid Bylton’s “The Famous Five”!
