Category Archives: early education & play

art and crafts, early education & play, Uncategorized, Welsh

Making Daffodils for St David’s Day.

Gallery February 28, 2013 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

We used paint sticks to colour the coffee filters.

I want to use green mummy.

We looked at pictures of daffodils, there were lots of different shapes and colours. We decided that both coffee filters did not need to be the same colour.

We had an idea to use the children’s bath colours to stain the coffee filters. We dropped water on them. ‘Look it’s fizzing’. NB. protect surfaces if using bath colours .

When it was completely yellow we left it to dry.

An orange daffodil with a green stem

Make a hole in the middle of the coffee filter and thread the trumpet through.

Cut petal shapes.

The finished daffodil

early education & play, education, parenting, pre schoolers, Special Educational Needs, UK

CBeebies – Magic Hands: Translating Poetry into British Sign Language

February 27, 2013 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

Often as parents we are unsure about introducing children to poetry, fearing that it is difficult to understand. My children however love poetry and will often choose to read it rather than prose. A new CBeebies programme Magic Hands launching soon will make poetry even more accessible to children.
CBeebies Magic Hands is a brand new and groundbreaking series for the channel featuring poetry translated into British Sign Language.

A co-commission with BBC Learning, Magic Hands presents modern and classic poetry for children in a way that has never been seen before. Across the series, the Magic Hands presenting team – Ashley, Donna, Aimee and Simon – perform some of the best children’s poetry entirely in British Sign Language (BSL).

From Robert Louis Stephenson to Roger Stevens and Michaela Morgan, the programmes are fun, five-minute packages that mix sign language, the spoken word, music and vibrant animation to bring the poems to life and capture the imaginations of both deaf and hearing children.

The series is made for CBeebies by Remark Ltd, a company that is owned, staffed and run by people who are deaf.

Series producer, Judith Bunting, says: “Translating modern and traditional poems for children into BSL on such a scale is a first. There are deaf poets and deaf theatre companies but no national television company has ever tried translating children’s poetry into BSL.

The Magic Hands presenters are all new to television and have been profoundly deaf since birth. On set they worked with professional interpreters along with the series’ artistic director, Jean St Clair, and both deaf and hearing production crew.

Each episode of Magic Hands is based around a single verse, interpreted for children. The selection comes from poets including Christina Rossetti, Kenn Nesbit, Gareth Lancaster, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Katharine Pyle, Charles Kingsley, James Carter, Sarah Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Rabindranath Tagore and Grace Andreacchi as well as Shakespeare.

Controller of CBeebies, Kay Benbow, says: “We are delighted to bring Magic Hands to CBeebies. The mix of sign language, music and lively animation creates spellbinding poetry that we are sure all our young viewers will enjoy.”

Magic Hands will be broadcast in the Spring.

children, early education & play, play, writing

Child Initiated Play – Playing with Shaving Foam

February 21, 2013 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

‘Dad can I play with your shaving foam?’

Yes of course

*mum goes to fetch a tray.

Can we have some toys in it?

Yes of course, go and see what you can find.

I’m making footprints, Spike makes 4 footprints.

Look at all my tracks

I’m drawing

Look, I wrote my name

Now I’m rubbing it out.

early education & play, imagination, outdoor play, parenting, play, pre schoolers, toddlers, writing

Outdoor Play:Water Painting

February 20, 2013 rightfromthestart 6 Comments

Getting my children to put things away when they are finished is often a struggle but sometimes it has its advantages. A tub and paintbrush were left on the driveway. After a few rainy days it inevitably filled with water. My 2-year-old picked up the brush, dipped it in the tub and proceeded to paint the garage.

On a sunny day she returned to the tub but couldn’t find her paintbrush. I brought a selection from the garage and as she discovered the different lines the brushes made. Painting on a dry driveway was a very different experience. I later found a paint roller – below are her remarks as she played.

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active learning, early education & play, imagination, language & communication, literacy, music education, play, poetry, pre schoolers, teaching

Steady Beat Action Rhymes

February 19, 2013 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

My Children are big fans of Beat Baby and love to play rhyming games. Some of these activities and the way they help with early literacy development are documented in a previous post about Musical Games . Recently we were reading Ros Bayley’s Action Raps and then continued to make up some of our own.

After a few rhymes with me leading the way, my 4-year-old decided to have a try.

early education & play, literacy, outdoor play, parenting, play, pre schoolers

Outdoor Play: Finding The Alphabet in Nature

February 17, 2013 rightfromthestart 12 Comments

Having recently discovered some of the amazing hikes in the Seattle area we are really keen to encourage the children to appreciate the wonders around them. My kids love outdoor play, especially in the woods but a 4 mile steep hike can be hard work for an 8, 4 and 2-year old. To keep them going on our last hike I asked them to see how many letters of the alphabet they could spot in the surrounding area. The letters had to be found in nature and they weren’t allowed to create a letter by moving an object.

Here are some of the letters we found

rattlesnake ledge — The view from the top is always worth it (and the promise of snacks).

Life in the US, outdoor play, parenting, review, Seattle

A Day in the Snow at Hyak Sno Park

January 6, 2013 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

When I was a kid we waited all year for snow, sometimes we were lucky but often we would have a year of disappointment. When the snow came we would head to the local park with our sledges spending hours speeding downhill until we could bear the cold no longer. How amazing it is for our kids to be able to travel to snow within 40 minutes of home. We headed for Hyak Sno Park for a great family day in the snow. They wore snow boots, salopettes and warm jackets so they avoided the freezing feet in wellies and soggy trousers that I remember as a kid.

Getting ready to go down the small slope designed for under 5's — Getting ready to go down the small slope designed for under 5’s

Sometimes with dad... — Sometimes with dad…

.....sometimes on their own. — …..sometimes on their own.

The little ones loved it , even when they jumped the ramp at the end and almost ended up in the fence. A face full of snow didn't put them off. — The little ones loved it , even when they jumped the ramp at the end and almost ended up in the fence. A face full of snow didn’t put them off.

At the bottom they could wade through snowdrifts.

A snack to fuel more fun. NB. There is nowhere to get food or drink at the snow park so a flask of hot soup and some snacks is a good idea. — A snack to fuel more fun. NB. There isn’t anywhere to get food or drink at the snow park so a flask of hot soup and some snacks are a good idea.

Before heading home we build a little snowman. Goodbye - see you again soon. — Before heading home we build a little snowman. Goodbye – see you again soon.

Hyak Sno Park can be found in Easton off exit 54 of I90.

Open 8 am to 4:30pm
The parking lot has 150 spaces. Parking permits are
required, Daily Sno-Park Permit and Daily or Annual
Discover Pass or a Seasonal Sno Park Permit plus Special Groomed Trails Permit
sticker without Discover Pass. These can be purchased at the park.

early education & play, play

Play Activities with Ice

January 5, 2013 rightfromthestart 11 Comments

We need something to bash them out - let's try a spoon. — We need something to bash them out – let’s try a spoon.

Look, I broke a piece. The fish is coming out.

I made a hole - grab the fish. — I made a hole – grab the fish.

Help it's sticking to my hand, what do I do now. Can you pull it off? — Help it’s sticking to my hand, what do I do now. Can you pull it off?

Look, I broke it in half - I can see a penguin. — Look, I broke it in half – I can see a penguin.

Ice mummy! I love ice. Bash, bash , bash.

We've found all the animals, can we have more ice? We added crushed ice from the ice machine on the fridge. — We’ve found all the animals, can we have more ice? We added crushed ice from the ice machine on the fridge.

This is a great activity for water trays in pre-school settings but works even better outside, if you are in a cold climate set up a water tray outside and let nature do its work.

Other Ideas and Questions to ask Children

Add colour to the ice using food colouring or bath colours. Using a dark colour so the children have to guess what is hidden in the ice.
Put a small amount of warm water into the tray. Add the coloured ice. What happens to the water? What happens to the ice.
Sprinkle glitter into water – leave it in the freezer or outside overnight. What happens when it melts?
You are not allowed to bash the ice, how else could you get the animals out?
Can you find any more ice in the garden?
What would happen if we froze a leaf or berries? If we hang them from a tree how long will they take to melt? What happens when they are melting?
The ice sticks to your gloves, what else will it stick to? Why does it only stick to some things?

children, Christmas, early education & play, families, music, music education, parenting, parents, play, pre schoolers, review, Uncategorized

A Musical Family Christmas with Jingle Bells Music Book

December 20, 2012 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

My idea of the perfect family Christmas is a little clichéd but involves mince pies, mulled wine, a roaring fire and singing around the piano. This is becoming a reality in our house. With an array of instruments including piano, guitar, clarinet and saxophone and a whole family who enjoy singing and music, we are loving making and recording music together. When I was asked if I would like to review Jingle Bells, from music-for-kids, I thought it would be a good chance to add Christmas songs to our repertoire.

The Jingle Bells book and CD features 18 well-known Christmas carols and songs. The book is nicely presented with each song displaying the notes of the melody plus chords written along the top. There is also a handy chord chart at the back of the book for both guitar and ukulele. Being a beginner, I photocopied the chord sheet to make it easier to reference while I was playing guitar. With my basic guitar skill, I found that there were a few too many chord changes to play many of the tunes with confidence but with most songs you could leave some of the chords out.

The piano music is basic (right hand melody and chords) and was great for my 8-year-old to practice sight-reading and play a simple tune . The chords could be added by a more experienced pianist to play accompaniment, I even managed to sing along to my own rudimentary playing during silent night.

The CD contains all the songs in the song book and is a nicely sung collection of Christmas carols. Younger children may find the keys too high.

My little ones enjoyed filling out the sticker pages and singing along to Jingle Bells while their sister played the recorder. I was disappointed that there weren’t more songs for the little ones like ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’, ‘When Santa got Stuck up the Chimney’ or ‘Away in a Manger’. They joined in with Jingle bells and We Wish you a Merry Christmas and there are a few other simple melodies that they could learn but I would have liked to have seen more simple songs that weren’t carols.

If you are looking for a simple book and CD of traditional Christmas Carols, at £7.95 this is excellent value.

No payment was a received for this review, a copy of the material was received for review purposes.

childcare, children, early education & play, families, parenting, parents, UK, Uncategorized

Proposed Changes for UK Childcare – For Better or Worse?

December 13, 2012 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

This week a BBC article Ministers’ Plan Childcare Change outlined the UK governments proposals for reducing the cost of childcare.

Alongside making some provision tax deductible, other proposals include

increasing the number of children a childminder can care for.
improving their qualification level in a bid to maintain quality.

It seems however, that there are a number of flaws in their thinking.

‘Ms Truss has pushed for reform to regulations imposed on child minders to
increase the number of child minding places. If more places can be provided for
parents, then the Conservatives believe prices might start to come down.’

Yet in a later paragraph:

‘Downing Street sources said Liberal Democrat and Conservative figures alike were
now convinced that looser ratios mean nurseries can take more children on which
could see staff paid more, and so greater quality staff attracted.’

I’m not sure that increased wages for early years workers and a lower cost to parents can be achieved without a significant investment of government funds.

It seems to me that the government believe that by increasing the number of children childminders can care for, they will attract more people to the profession, as they will be able to earn more. However they are also proposing changes to the qualifications needed to become a childminder in a bid to maintain quality.

In my experience of working with childminders, this is what I think will happen. A proportion of very good childminders will be scared off by the thought of having to achieve yet another qualification, losing many of our oldest and most experienced childminders. Those that stay may take on extra children but once they are better qualified and have factored in the added expense of having more children (e.g. equipment, larger car) and the additional challenges of caring for a large number of children under 5, they are likely to quite rightly increase rather than decrease their hourly rate. Some childminders will decide that their quality depends on taking fewer children, therefore not achieving the desired increase in childcare places. Some will be attracted to the industry I’m sure but how attractive really is looking after 5 children under the age of 5 on your own?

In my opinion these proposals reduce parental choice. I like many women chose to send my children, in their first years, to a childminder. I chose this for my children because I felt a home environment where my children could experience many of the things they did with mummy, would be the easiest transition. I also chose a childminder because they could play with a few other children but have the individual, loving attention they needed from one adult. My children love their childminder in the way they would an aunt or a close friend of the family. I’m worried that this would be lost once the number of children is raised significantly above the size of the average family.

My mother was a childminder when I was growing up. The children she cared for (never more than 2 at a time) became an extension to our family, they called her ‘aunty’. Childminders these days take on far more children in a bid to fulfil demand for places and to earn a decent wage, if the ratio is increased again will there be any ‘aunties’ left? Please UK government don’t take away parental choice.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?

Sign the petition to avoid changes to childcare ratios.