In 2010 the Pre-School Leaning Alliance seemed to be under a very real threat from the financial squeeze – with a poll of its members revealing that one in ten would be forced to close if the free entitlement continued to lose them money. However, in this, its 50th anniversary year – and despite the ongoing economic climate – it is good to see the mood is positive. Read More
I’ve always watched in horror as children push handfuls of soil into their mouths while their parents turn a blind eye to their child’s new habit. The hypochondriac in me has always thought about what dangers lurk in the mud and whether they could do a child more harm than good. However could a new study by Cornell University in New York, featured in the Daily Mail, which says that eating mud or clay might even be good for children’s stomachs, be about to prove me wrong?According to the study, eating dirt may act as a shield against ingested parasites and plant toxins, as well as provide nutrients that children or adults lack such as iron, zinc or calcium. Who knew?
A bedtime book with a difference has topped the Amazon bestseller chart a month before its publication. Forget lullabyes and cuddles, this one’s entitled, ‘Go the F*ck to Sleep’ and comes with the publisher’s warning that it’s, thankfully, ‘definitely not a book to read to your child’. Read More
It’s happened, the buggy has broken the £1,000 price barrier with the anticipated UK launch of the Bugaboo Donkey. It’s predicted to be the latest ‘yummy mummy’ status symbol in parks and coffee shops around the country. But are the smug parents and carers going to be the ones who have found out the delights of baby slings and carriers rather than those who have broken the bank while purchasing a pram? Read More
After writing several articles over the past few years on our ‘cotton wool culture’ and increasing aversion to risk, seeing some Venezuelan children go out hunting on the BBC documentary Human Planet did make me chuckle.
In the episode, entitled Trees, the children, of whom all look no older than ten, go wandering off into the jungle, without adult supervision, in search of tarantulas that they plan to eat for dinner.
This week came the announcement of yet another Government review that will look at the commercialisation and sexualisation of children.
The latest review, announced on Monday by children’s minister Sarah Teather, will build on from earlier reports published by Professor David Buckingham on the impact of the commercial world on children’s wellbeing, by Dr Linda Papadopoulos on the sexualisation on young people, and by Professor Tanya Byron on child safety in a digital world.
The nanny state strikes again with the news that a Hampshire children’s centre has banned parents from drinking tea or coffee because of the threat it poses to toddlers.
Apparently mums and dads attending Mill Hill Children’s centre in Waterlooville are restricted to drinking only cold drinks at the weekly sessions. The centre’s co-ordinator was quoted saying that they felt it was a sensible way of keeping children safe.
‘If the nursery is going to let dd have such a big nap so late then they should babysit her so I can have a glass of wine in peace!’…’It pisses me off to have to pay someone to look after a sleeping child’…’My daughter is still going to bed later than normal and I don’t have a life.’ Read More
