My child’s not a Perform-type child
Spot the Perform child
Two years ago, I offered my friend a free place at Perform for her son who had just turned 4 years old. She thanked me but declined saying “He’s not a performing sort of a boy but I’m sure his sister will enjoy it when she’s old enough, she’s really confident and we’d love to bring her”.
It was interesting because my friend obviously had the wrong idea about Perform. She thought that we were a stage school which usually have a huge number of girls compared to boys. They teach performing arts skills like dance step knowledge and singing ability. Who’s going to audition for Matilda? Who can do a triple time step? Who wants to appear in the next Milky Bar TV ad? Read more »
Holiday – what holiday?!
Mermaids & Pirates - we're putting the finishing touches to next terms' theme
It’s the Easter holidays and I’m often asked if this is a nice quiet time for me at Perform. Well, it’s definitely quiet in the sense that we only have our holiday workshops running and not our normal workshops, but actually the holidays are probably my busiest time of the year because this is the time when we get a chance to plan for the following term and make sure that everyone’s clued-up and ready to go.
I’ve always been determined to keep Perform centrally run and not to expand by franchising not least because I don’t want to spend my time selling the idea of an “easy flexible part-time income” to potential franchisees. I’d much rather spend it finding new ways to help shy children be more confident, boisterous children be more focused and get all children having fun and making friends. Read more »
Let’s develop the child as a whole
One question that my teachers and I are frequently asked by Perform parents is “Where should my child be at this stage”? And if I’m completely honest, as a mother myself, it’s a question that I find myself asking about my own children too.
I guess, as parents, that’s our job. We worry about our children’s well-being and happiness so it’s only natural to show our love and care by looking out for potential problems and “measuring” them against benchmarks.
Having said that, maybe we should relax a little? Read more »
Hello – helping children develop good communication skills
If you read my blogs regularly, you’ll know that I like to talk about communication skills and how important it is that we make children confident communicators from an early age.
As you might expect, this is something that we are passionate about at Perform. In fact, the central section of each workshop is called Listen, Speak & Sing and we focus entirely on helping children with their listening and speaking skills through fun exercises where they learn to project their voices, use eye contact when they speak and be confident when talking whether to one person or to an audience. I sincerely believe that if you teach a child skills such as how to project and talk in front of an audience at the age of 4, they will retain these for life – it is quite simply all about practice and repetition. Read more »
Happy St David’s day
When I was a child, my favourite days of the year, in order, were:
1) Christmas Day
2) My birthday
3) St David’s Day
The first two are obvious of course – they involve presents! But the third, St David’s day, might surprise you.
For those who don’t know, St David’s Day is is the feast day of the patron saint of Wales and every year on March 1st, we celebrate. I think one of the reasons the day even now gives me a shiver of pleasure is that, as a Welsh child, it was a half-day at school. The afternoon was spent visiting older relatives to show them what we looked like in our Welsh costume followed by singing a song for them. Read more »
Why French Children Don’t Throw Food
There’s been a lot of discussion in the press recently about Pamela Druckman’s intriguingly named book, French Children Don’t Throw Food, which promises "parenting secrets from Paris".
I’m always a bit sceptical about reading this type of book but I have to say that it has completely hooked me and I am now trying to bring out my own ‘french mummy’ with my kids.
Pamela Druckman moves from New York to Paris to be with her English boyfriend who is working there. They marry, have a child and immerse themselves in Parisian family life. But, after being a mother for a while, she starts to compare her own American/British techniques with the French mums around her and wonders why, amongst many other things, “French children don’t throw food”. Read more »
Make some space for Drama, Mr Gove
Yes, I know I’m always harping on about confidence and its importance, but I just don’t think that there is enough emphasis on this vital contributor to lifelong success in our children’s Early Years education.
Drama, which is a proven way of helping children develop confidence, concentration and all manner of social skills for their future lives, is still appallingly low on the National Curriculum’s agenda. One example of this is the fact that Drama is still being treated as part of English rather than a subject in its own right
Anyone who has experienced Drama classes themselves or seen their child transform during Drama, will know that the difference it makes cannot be underestimated. It really is high time that this was addressed by the Department for Education.
The most wonderful time of the year
I have to admit that I’m a bit of a Christmas fan. And if I’m really honest, I start getting excited about Christmas around August! It's not so much that I put my decorations up in November, but I’m definitely with Andy Williams when he says that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”.
The run-up to Christmas is an extremely busy time for everyone so, having chatted to fellow mums, I thought I’d compile a list of the most Christmassy things to do with children if you live in the South-East. Some of the activities I’ve tested myself, some I have been recommended by other parents and am looking forward to trying.
Christmas in my family wouldn’t be Christmas without a visit to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. But wrap up warm and be prepared to queue. It’s free to enter and open from 10am-10pm at night. However, allow plenty of time to buy your tokens for all the rides you want to go on.
I’m a big fan of London Zoo. It’s perfect for children in all seasons but there’s nothing more magical than meeting a herd of reindeer just before Christmas. This year, they have a small Christmas market there this year too. Read more »
Careful the things you say, children will listen
I took my 4 year old son to a birthday party last week. Just before we got there, he fell over and so was a bit tearful and clingy when we arrived. He didn’t want to join in with the rest of his friends who were being entertained by a well-known local clown. Tom’s a very confident child and is usually very good at joining in so I knew that this out-of-character behaviour was because he’d just hurt himself. As a result, I was quite happy to let him sit on my lap for a bit until he’d settled down.
When the party entertainer saw that Tom wasn’t taking part, he came over and said “Come on, Mr Shy Boy. Come and join in!” He walked away and I said to Tom, “Go on, Tom”. And Tom responded with “I can’t, Mummy, I’m shy”. Although I didn’t show it at the time, inside I was quite annoyed. Although well meaning, the flip comment that had just been made in front of my son was inaccurate and unhelpful and, while I don’t think Tom believed it about himself, it gave him a good reason not to join in. Read more »
Children’s communication skills – a casualty of the online era?
When I was
a teenager, if I wanted to arrange to meet a friend at the weekend, I’d call my friend’s home phone (having asked permission to use my home phone first, of course). In most cases, the friend’s Mum or Dad would answer the phone and I’d politely ask to speak with them have a conversation, make our arrangements and put the phone down.
If I were a teenager today, I’d probably simply bbm/text my friend “R u free Sat?”
There’s no doubt that the ability to communicate remotely has advanced hugely since I was young. However, while all this technology is extraordinarily clever and useful, does it mean that our children’s communication skills will lose out? Read more »
