Sunday, August 30, 2009

Mel Gibson......


Oh, I love a good cryptic heading. Six degrees of separation from my title to the subject of my post. Mel Gibson was in "The Year of Living Dangerously" and here is a fascinating article on "How to Live Dangerously" by Warwick Cairn.

OK, so it was two degrees, but one more and I would have had to sing........ ooooooh, aaaaaah..... aaaaaah, ooooooh, precious moments....... Click here to hear the rest.

Don't get me started on.....


Actually, it's probably too late. And by the "don't get me the started on", I mean "Helicopter Parents". To quote wikipedia, and who doesn't these days.....

"Helicopter parent is a colloquial, early 21st-century term for a parent who pays extremely close attention to his or her child's or children's experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions. These parents rush to prevent any harm or failure from befalling them and will not let them learn from their own mistakes, sometimes even contrary to the children's wishes."

So, back to the reason why this all started. We were on vacation/holiday (depending on which side of the channel you are reading this) last week and I had a moment of clarity.....

Helicopter Parenting is the antithesis of the Children and Nature movement.

The moment happened when I watched a couple of mothers hovering over their two year olds, who were using the slides on a jungle gym. When the children wanted to climb back up the slide of their own accord, they were told, several times, "up the stairs and down the slide". When did our job description of parenting include being the kill joy of fun? At two? On a jungle gym designed for two year olds?

So, if helicoptering over children hinders their free, unstructured play, just by the shear fact that adults are there..... then by golly, it's time to step back, sell the Apache and let the children play, preferably outside..........

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Oh to be in Scotland on the 7th of October


No, its not Robert Burns day or even National Haggis Day (which coincidentally they have since discovered was an English invention..... ) but a conference on Children, Risk and Responsibility: encouraging confidence in a risk-averse society.

I would love to go for all the obvious reasons, a subject right up my alley, blah blah blah..... but mainly because Tom Hodgkinson of the Idle Parent is speaking (see my links). One of my favourite websites......

I wish my childhood dream of owning my own tardis would come true, but I once stood in the original one at the BBC centre and nothing happened and I never got to meet a Psammead (sand fairy) ..... so will have to make do with reading about it from afar......

Play England


I'm a subscriber of the Children's Play Information Service through Play England, part of the National Children's Bureau in the UK and they made a 4 minute film exploring "how high-quality play facilities in Elementary Schools can help improve children's academic performance and enjoyment of school."

Maybe it's the red car syndrome but I feel like I hear this message repeated over and over again but is there anybody out there listening? Hello?

Play in Schools, it's only 4 minutes of your life, go on........ you know you want to.

I wish I could write letters like this


I found this letter in the UK's newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, on a link from the website below (Playborhood) and thought it was so well done and concisely put that I wanted to post it. It was written a few years ago but it is still relevant, as the subject matter hasn't really been dealt with..... not on a national or international scale.

My soap box is a constant companion on this wonderful journey...

Let our children play. (Scroll down to last letter)

Playborhood


This website was set up by a group of parents who are committed to bringing free, unstructured play into their childrens lives and trying to spread the word as they go. Even the sign above is for sale, you too can join the fight.....

This is a great site, full of amazing resources and links. Playborhood.