This Month in the Blogosphere – August 2010
Goodness – hasn’t August just flown by? I do hope you’ve all had a wonderful time over the Summer. At Perform, we’ve been super-busy preparing for the Autumn term and getting plans in place to open new schools. Plus, following a new piece of research from Save The Children about the importance of after school activities, Perform appeared on the BBC (NB apologies – for some reason the sound is a little out of sync on this video):
Sally Copley, head of UK policy at Save the Children said “Children who do after-school activities have more confidence, see the world in different ways, have a stronger sense of identity – and this ultimately translates into doing better in exams and getting a better job. “
Helping Your Child to Concentrate
Developing concentration skills is a key part in a child’s development – and succeeding in any field, be it artistic, sporting or academic requires the ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Concentration is one of what we call the Four Cs (along with confidence, communication and coordination) which all of the games, songs and dances are created to help improve at Perform, so it’s definitely something I think about at lot.
All children have the ability to concentrate – think about the things they enjoy doing – e.g. they’ll often have no problem at all with concentration when they’re playing a computer game, drawing, playing a particular sport etc. Normally it’s just a case of being interested in something. However, the ability to concentrate on any task can be a tougher skill to learn.
Even as adults we find it difficult to concentrate from time to time – so it really should be no surprise that children struggle too!
Tips to Deal with Bossy Children
Many children reach a ‘bossy’ stage at one time or another, for most it’s simply part of their development – as they develop a stronger sense of self, they want to take more control. This may manifest itself in a number of ways – perhaps in their interactions with their siblings or peers – or even in the way that they speak to adults.
Around the mid-point of each Perform class we have a little break and hand out water and fruit; and it’s at this point that I quite like to sit back a little and observe how the children interact with each other. In one particular class, a little girl came up to me complaining about another child.
With one hand on her hip (a hilariously adult gesture) – she exclaimed: ”I just don’t know what to do with him; he never does as he’s told!”
I had to fight the urge to giggle – it’s the sort of thing parents say all the time…
The Confidence to be Different
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
- Dr Seuss
I love that quote.
At Perform, I come into contact with children every day who worry that they’re ‘different’. All too often they want nothing more than to ‘fit in’.
I think that as a species the desire to conform is all too high on the list of our priorities. We all want to fit in.
Being different is frowned upon all too often in my experience. Different = Bad.
But we’re all different, right?
We’re all unique – and shouldn’t that be something that we’re keener to celebrate?
I get a little tired of the “It’s OK to be different” shtick. Being different is *so* much better than OK. Being different is wonderful.
But how do you deal with a child who wants nothing more than to fit in?
Praising Children
Most parents totally accept the idea that praising children is very important. You can use praise in any number of ways e.g. you’ve noticed their actions and appreciate them; or you may use praise to recognise and commend their talents or abilities. It can help boost self-esteem and reinforce good behaviour. All fabulous things, right?
But, it occurs to me, that sometimes we can be somewhat over-keen to praise.
Perhaps it’s because we’re so keen to make sure that we’ve given praise we neglect to pay attention to *how* we’re giving it. It’s certainly something that I’m trying to be more aware of.
What Do You Want to Be?
Today I was chatting with my son about the various jobs which grown ups do – so of course I just had to ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up. His first answer? SpongeBob SquarePants! I suggested maybe he meant he’d like to work in a restaurant like SpongeBob – but apparently not. He gave me his best ‘Mummy don’t be stupid stare’ and informed me that he actually wanted to *be* SpongeBob. Silly me :)
Later on I was wondering; what do children want to be when they grow up?
I hit up Google and stumbled across this little gem. It’s from the CBBC chat forum. Hot on the heels of a report which suggested that there’s not much help offered in schools to assist children in deciding upon a career, they asked what kind of job would the children like to do when they’re older.
Over 150 children commented on the thread. The comments are wonderfully entertaining to read.
Balancing Acts
As a parent and as a Principal, I think it’s often tricky to strike the balance between giving your child the requisite ‘push’ and allowing them space to develop in their own time.
For example, one of my Perform parents is facing something of a dilemma right now.
She signed her daughter up for a gymnastics class – partly because she thought it would be fun for her and partly because, as parents, we all want our children to be active and healthy. Her child too was keen to go – a bit of a no-brainer all round then.
Her daughter has been going for a few years now and she’s good. Maybe even *really* good… or, according to what she’s been told, at least she could be.
Spring Cleaning
Spring has sprung! Well slightly. We’ve had a couple of nice days here in London – I’m seeing crocuses and daffs popping up – so as far as I’m concerned, we’re there. The good news – longer, lighter days… the bad news – it’s probably time to Spring clean.
Why do we clean in Spring?
According to Wikipedia the tradition comes from Iran where – the practice of “khooneh tekouni” (which apparently, literally means ‘shaking the house’) prior to the Persian New Year (which falls on the first day of Spring); and/or the Jewish tradition of cleaning the home prior to Passover.
My Mum says perhaps it’s because the dust is that much more visible in bright sunshine… Not of course that there’s so much as speck of dust in my house of course…
*Cough*
Well, maybe some. It depends how closely you look :)
Kids Say The Funniest Things
I was chatting to a few parents after a Perform class this week, when one of the children came running up to me; very excitedly:
“Lucy, Lucy – I’ve got a massive brew – do you want to see?”
Amused and somewhat intrigued I said yes, of course. He rolled up the leg of his tracksuit bottoms to proudly display a very large bruise.
“Wow” I said “That really is massive, but you know it’s called a bruise, not a brew.”
“No” he said “I’ve only got one of them!”
Fabulous, eh? It’s hard to argue with logic like that – anything with an ‘s’ sound is plural :)
It got us talking about the other funny things children say – ranging from the cute to the cringe-worthy:
Helping Your Child Develop Thinking Skills
At Perform we talk a lot about the benefits of drama in terms of child development; we tend to break it down to the four Cs: Confidence; Communication; Concentration and Coordination.
Whilst of course drama does indeed benefit children in these core areas, of late I’ve been thinking that the list is by no means exhaustive.
I’m a big believer in the importance of teaching children ‘thinking skills’. What do I mean? Well many researchers have tried to identify the key skills involved in ‘thinking’ – probably the most famous of which is Bloom’s Taxonomy – he explains it far better than I ever could, so forgive me for simply quoting direct:
