Spooky Recipes for Halloween

Featured in the TGF Christmas Gift Guide

We are pleased to announce that the Orchard Toys game Crash Bang Wallop has been featured in The Green Familia Christmas Guide as a suggested stocking filler for children
Do take a look at the rest of the list too - and keep checking back for the rest of the TGF Ethical Christmas List to get lots of Christmas gift ideas.

Fine Motor Skills - Finger Rhymes

I was reading Melitsa’s blog post about finger rhymes and it reminded me how finger rhymes and action songs can help children develop their fine motor skills. Copying finger movements will strengthen muscles, increase dexterity and help children develop control of fine motor movements.

From as young as six months babies will love action rhymes like Round and Round the Garden, Pat-a-Cake, or This Little Piggy Went to Market. These songs and rhymes are great for encouraging interaction and whilst they are starting to hear these songs and see the actions they will start to join in.

One of the easiest motor actions in songs and rhymes is clapping and one of the most popular songs is "If Youre Happy and You Know it" which also incorporates the gross motor actions of stamping feet and nodding your head. Other songs which involve clapping are Clapping song, We All Clap Hands Together and Open, Shut them. Other favourites action songs and rhyme, Insey Winsey Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,

Songs that can include a multitude of actions eg Copy me are great for introducing new motor movements as the repetitive nature of the song makes it easy for children to learn and then they can use imitation skills to practice new motor skills.

Other favourite ones with small children are Two Little Dicky Birds, One Finger One Thumb, Tommy Thumb, and Two Fat Gentlemen, and as Melitsa says bigger children might like the finger play Here is the Church.

What are your favourites?

Personal Customer Service

One of the things I like about owning a small business is that when you get a request from a customer - for example "If there is any chance of any of the order being yellow, great. It is my little boy's favourite colour! Any incentive to write is good!" as the note accompanying an order for triangular pencil grips we can usually fulfil our customers wishes.

'Suitable' home education review

My home educating friends have alerted me to yet another review challenging their way of life and I thought it was worth writing a post about it.

The government is to commission a review into what a "suitable" and "efficient" education means for home educated children in England. Contrary to popular belief there is no legal obligation for children to attend school - but there is a responsibility of parents to provide an education that is suitable for their age and aptitude. The government has now decided in response to a report into home education, that they need a clearer definition of what is required.

I think this seems crazy - how do you prove whether something is suitable - what are the outcome measures? Is there actually any proof that HE children receive a less suitable education than those same children would have received in school and does anyone actually assess whether a child in school is actually in the most "suitable" and "efficient" school for them (rather than the one their parents have picked for their convenience) - and actually as it is the parents responsibility to provide it why do the government really care?

New Article - Sensory Play in Autumn

We are pleased to announce that an article we have written about Sensory Play in Autumn has been published at TreeHugger Mums - do take a look and tell us what you think.

Children's Book Week

This week (5th-11th October) is Children's Book Week. Children’s Book Week is a celebration of the enjoyment of reading for children of primary school age. Schools, libraries and bookshops all over the UK hold events and activities aimed at encouraging children to view reading as a source of pleasure, explore libraries and bookshops and even start writing themselves.

The aim of Children’s Book Week is to celebrate reading for pleasure. Designating a special day or week for book-related activities can help children to see reading as pleasurable and fun, stimulating them to discover new books, extend their reading choices, discuss and share books, explore libraries and bookshops, and do their own creative writing.

Road Safety

In our School Newsletter there was a plea for us to make time to enforce the "stranger danger" message to our children and make use of this link http://www.personalsafetyadvice.co.uk/what-stranger-danger.html so I thought I would share the request!

There is also a feature on the Keeping Healthy, Staying Safe DVD-Plus about Safer Strangers which is well worth a look and you can role play with our People who help us puppets.

Spooky October Offer

October is the traditionally the month for all things spooky and whilst most of the things we sell at Littlesheep Learning do not fall into this category we are delighted to announce that our Magic Cauldron Game is our featured product for the month so you can celebrate Halloween with spooky sums and save a third off the usual price!

This Orchard Toys Game is a unique way to make learning addition and subtraction exciting! Fill bubbling cauldrons with weird and wacky ingredients as you solve the sums. Check the answers by rubbing the heat sensitive 'ghost' patches on the cards to see if you are right. For 2-4 players. Ages 5-8.

Scottish Class Sizes

Fiona Hyslop the Education Secretary in Scotland has announced that Local Authorities are to be given the legal protection they require to limit P1 class sizes to 25 - this is in comparison to the England and Wales legal limit of 30.

The right of children to more time and attention in the classroom and delivery of improved literacy and numeracy in early years are at the centre of the Scottish Government's decision to introduce new regulations, which will allow local authorities to tackle the largest classes and help drive down P1 classes towards 18. The Scottish Government plans to introduce regulations to establish a maximum class size for primary one from the start of the next school year. This is the first time since devolution that legislative action has been taken to limit the number of children in primary one.

Ms Hyslop also announced the Scottish Government is establishing a Class Size Review to examine the variety of rules and regulations governing individual class sizes across primary and secondary levels, and how to make them more coherent, giving consideration as to whether primary legislation is required.

So how many children are in your childs class? do you feel it makes a difference?

My children are lucky to go to a small school - there are about 25 in each class, but I am aware that this causes other issues in terms of the school budget as a bigger proportion of the funding per child needs to go on teachers.

Award Winning Products

We are pleased to announce that the Child's Eye Media DVDs People Who Help Us 1 and People Who Help Us 2 as stocked at Littlesheep Learning won the 2009 Overall Winner Gold Award in the Practical Pre-School Awards (Multimedia section). Well done to everyone at Child's Eye Media.

Healthy Kitchen Competition

Primary school children in deprived areas get free school lunches

All primary school children in two areas will from today get a free, healthy lunch every day throughout the school year as part of the Government’s action to reduce childhood obesity and improve the health of all children.

The start of the free school meal pilots in Newham and County Durham comes a week after new research by the School Food Trust (SFT) finds that one in five parents on low incomes are not checking if they are eligible for free school meals. In Wolverhampton more children at both primary and secondary schools will be entitled to free school meals this year.

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls said:

“Eating a nutritious meal at lunchtime from a young age can help improve the behaviour of children in school and at home – that’s why these pilots are so important. Healthy school meals are vital to helping children do well at school and to prevent obesity.

“I encourage all families who are entitled to a free school meal to claim this valuable support. For those who are not eligible school meals are still a great deal and give parents good value for money. We know from recent research by the School Food Trust that parents with two children could save over £1,000 in a school year if they chose school meals – as well as the reassurance that their children are eating good quality, healthy food.

“We want to make sure that children are getting a healthy, balanced meal at school which is why we have introduced the new nutrient standards. Teenagers are the hardest group to reach but that doesn’t mean giving up, we must simply work harder to encourage them away from the take-away and into their school canteen. The Government is creating a legacy of healthy eating in children from a young age so by the time they reach secondary school they are more likely to want to eat a school meal.”

Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Health said:

"Obesity is the biggest health challenge this country faces. There are currently 1.5 million children who are overweight or obese, leaving them at an increased risk of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart and liver disease later in life.

"Nutritious school lunches can make eating well a healthy habit for life. The measures announced today are an important part of our work to tackle childhood obesity, alongside the national Change4Life movement and our new ambition to move from 'relegation candidates to play-off contenders' in the international physical activity league tables."

Last week the SFT launched their new campaign ‘Bringing down the Barriers’ that will target pupils and parents to show them how much money they can save per year if they claim their free school meal, which is especially vital in the current economic climate. The campaign will also continue to work with schools to make sure they don’t stigmatise children on FSM, for example, 34 local authorities are using the £100 million government funding for dining rooms and kitchens to install swipe card systems so that FSM pupils cannot be identified.

Judy Hargadon, Chief Executive of the School Food Trust said:

“The nutrient standards are key to ensuring all children have access to a healthy and nutritious lunch at school but they will only be beneficial if children take up the meals on offer. Recent research highlights that there could be as many as 300,000 children currently missing out on the opportunity of a free school meal. Reasons behind this are complex, but parents tell us that stigma and not knowing whether they are eligible or not can put them off signing up.

“We are working with schools and Local Authorities to promote free school meals and make sure parents have all the information they need in order to claim them. As the recession bites and unemployment rises, families will want to be making all the savings they can so we would urge any parent to check with their school or local council and if entitled, start claiming this great benefit for their children.”

Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales said:

“Everyone knows how important school meals are and here in Newham we pride ourselves in having some of the best. This pilot means we can make a huge difference to the lives of our pupils and our families, particularly those on the breadline. We are one of the country's poorest boroughs and many families have felt extra pressure on their budgets during the recession. This is a great way of both putting money in their pockets and of improving children’s health and fitness - one of our top priorities - to boot. We are with them every step of the way."

So should this be rolled out nationwide? What do you think?

Research - Professional and parent attitudes to dietry intervention ASD

I've been sent details about a study into parents' and child health professionals' attitudes to dietary intervention and I thought some of my readers might be interested in participating - so here are the details:

The study

Researchers at Newcastle University would like to find out about parents'and child health professionals' experiences of autism research and their attitudes to the use of the gluten- and casein-free diet as an interventionin ASD. We are carrying out two web-based surveys; one for parents/carers and the other for child health professionals who support children with ASD and their families. The results of these surveys will help us plan thedesign of UK research studies into biomedical and complementary andalternative therapies for children with ASD. ParticipantsParents/carers of pre-school or primary school-aged children with a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder, and child health professionals who support children with ASD and their families, are invited to take part.

What happens next?
If you are interested in taking part, please visit our website: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cargo-ne/PADIA.html. When you follow this link, you'll go to a web page that tells you more about the study, and will ask you to enter some details. We will then send you a letter of invitation with a unique ID number and the link to an information sheet. This information sheet has the link to the web-based survey.

If you would like any more information about this study, please contact: Professor Ann Le Couteur.

Going to the Dentist

We've just had a family trip to the dentist so I thought a post about preparing children for 'going to the dentist' would be a good idea.

So - how do you prepare your child for visiting the dentist? Here are our top dos and don'ts

Do

• make the trip enjoyable
• let the child bring a favourite toy along to show the dentist / hold in the chair
• show by example, brush your teeth daily at the same time as your child
• play at dentists, show your child how the dentist will examine their teeth and then allow them to do the same to you
• read children's books about the dentist for example, Going to the Dentist the story of a brother and sister who go to the dentist which explains most things that happen at the dental surgery
• watch DVDs about Dentists for example People Who Help Us 2 in which you can see Amy have a check up and look after her teeth at home, join Amy as she becomes a dentist for the day at the surgery, follow Amy as she explores the dental hospital and watch children role playing dentists in school
• always answer truthfully any questions your child may have about the dentist
• encourage your children to role play being a dentist using their dolls / teddies or other soft toys as patients - you could use this glove puppet as a dentist

Don't

• allow your child to hear any negative dental stories from other people
• use the dentist as a threat or punishment, but also do not use bribes in order for the visit to happen
• use words that may instil fear in your child such as needle, pain or hurt
  

Our trip wasn't too bad (the baby didn't open his mouth though!) how did your last trip to the dentist go?

Starting School

It's that time of year again when talk on education / parenting blogs turns to the issue of starting school or going back to school - we've written here in the past about planning for starting school / class transitions.

So what are our top tips for preparing for school?

• Encourage your child to speak clearly and ask for what is needed, using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
• Check they can go to the toilet alone and flush the toilet
• Get them to answer the question "what is your name?"
• Practice tidying up toys after use and sharing things and taking turns
• Leave them in the care of others for a few hours
• Make sure they answer questions with words rather than shrugs and nods
• Practice doing up and undoing fastenings on clothes (buttons etc.)
• Check they can open their lunch box / unwrap food or use cutlery
• Share lots of stories - get them to sit and listen to a story and encourage them to handle and enjoy books
• Start to get them to hold a pencil / crayon and do 'mark making'
• Encourage your child to know the names of lots of everyday items and understand their uses
• Talk to your child whilst things are happening and encourage your children to ask questions
• Tell stories about what you enjoyed at school and the fun things you did.
• Use colouring activities like these printable school colouring pictures on Netmums to encourage your child to start thinking about school.
• Build a school with your child from cardboard boxes or play-bricks, and role play schools (or get them to teach their teddies)
• Read some books about starting school, including Topsy and Tim Start School, Starting School, First Experiences: Going to School, Do I have to Go to School? and (the ever popular Charlie and Lola) I Am Too Absolutely Small for School
• Walk or drive to school together so your child gets to know the route (note how long it takes so you leave in plenty of time on the first day!)

Is your child starting school this year? Please comment and tell us about your experiences.

99 British Mummy Bloggers on Twitter

We have just found out that we are listed as number 43 in the list of - 99 British Mummy Bloggers on Twitter.

Do you want to follow us too?

New Product: Wipe Clean Alphabet and Numbers

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the My First Wipe Clean a-z Letters and 0-9 Numbers boards at Littlesheep Learning.

These sets are great for encouraging children to write their letters and numbers and are also a great resource to teach children the alphabet / letter sounds and numbers.

The sets contain a sturdy white 30x25cm board with pre-printed dashed letters or numbers on a wipe clean pen (and a spare) and a clip to keep the pen and chart together!

Special Offer: First Experiences Books

At Littlesheep Learning we have the remainder of our old priced First Experiences books on special offer. These titles now RRP at £2.50 each but whilst stocks last you can get them for the old price of £1.50 each. So if your child is starting school, you are having a new baby or moving house or planning a trip to the doctor, dentist or hospital - take a look.

Questions

I know my children ask a lot of questions and I feel fairly confident to answer most of them, but a news report on the BBC website says that four in five UK parents have been stumped by a science question posed by their children, a poll has suggested.

The top three most-asked questions by children were: "Where do babies come from?", "What makes a rainbow?" and "Why is the sky blue?" (have your children asked you those ones yet?) and more than half of the 1,002 parents surveyed thought their children knew more about science than they did.

The survey of UK parents with children aged five to 16 was carried out to mark the launch of a new website by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The website - Science: So what? So everything - gives information to parents on answering those tricky questions from children, as well as downloadable activity sheets and ideas of places to visit.

How to answer about where babies come from? The website explains that babies are created when a cell from the mother and a cell from the father join together or "fuse". After the two cells fuse, the site goes on, they divide over and over again to create a ball of cells called an embryo that goes on to become a baby that grows inside the mother for nine months.

The website explains how a rainbow is made from light and water - with help from the sun.
And the sky is blue, it says, because the sun produces white light which is made up of all the colours of the rainbow.

But a clear, cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more easily than they do red light.

So if you are stuck for the right answer and want another resource - take a look at Science: So what? So everything