Pizza Thyme

© Kuvona | Dreamstime.com

As we all know small children have an unfortunate habit of repeating snippets of conversation they’ve overhead at inconvenient times. They parrot back words and phrases that they’ve overheard, frequently without you even knowing that they’ve overheard and sometimes that you didn’t particularly want them to hear.

We instituted a no swearing in front of the child rule after Ol’s thirty-second word was ‘oh c**p’, used in context I hasten to add, and needless to say it doesn’t figure on the list of ‘My First Fifty Words’ that every paranoid first-time mother fills in. Other than that, though, we’ve got off fairly lightly so far. Or at least I thought we had.

Every now and again Ellie will recount something with an unholy amount of glee. I’ve learnt to be wary of a conversation at the end of the day which starts with a meaningful ‘so…’.

‘So…you know you keep a box of tampax at toddler height in the downstairs loo?’

‘So…your son overfilled his nappy today and had an impromptu bath just before lunch.’

‘So…he’s really mastered the whole spoon as a catapult thing now.’

I have a rule that if I can get in the door, put my bag down, hang my coat up and get the kettle on without hearing ‘so…..’, I’m safe.

The other night I came in as usual. Bag down, check. Toddler anchored to the ankle, check. Coat away, check. Toddler into the arms, smothered with kisses, and released. Check. Kettle on, check. Relax.

Ellie shoots me a mischevious glance.

“Ol, poppet, what did you want for dinner?” she cooed sweetly.

“A PIZZA!” Ol announced proudly. I spin my head round so fast my neck practically breaks.

“Shall Ellie make you pizza?” she asked.

“No, telephone a pizza,” he said seriously, toddling off into the hall. I covered my face with my hands.

“We don’t have takeaway pizza that often,” I begin. Ellie shoots me a look which immediately conveys that she knows I’m lying and it doesn’t really matter whether we have pizza every night she doesn’t leave something for us.

Ol reappears with the cordless phone and presses some buttons. Thankfully the keypad on this actually locks, something a childless person wouldn’t have known or thought about when buying said phone but pretty useful when you discover that it does.

“Yes, hello. A pizza?” Ol cocked his head to one side. “Okay. A pepperoni and a veggie supreme……Half hour great okaybye. Bedtime Ollypop”.

Ellie falls about laughing. I feel a giggle rising up inside me too. It’s cute, admittedly but three embarrassing things.

One that our son is practically able to order our pizza for us.

Two we obviously have pizza so often they know our voices and address without even asking.

Three we order it so frequently just before putting him to bed that he tags ‘bedtime Ollypop’ onto the order.

Oh the shame….Maybe we’ll have Chinese tomorrow.

9 nifty Easter activities

Welcome to our #9nifty series. We’re starting with 9 Easter activities for kids of all ages…

 

1. Eggs inside eggs

This was tricky for the 2 year old!

How to : Put little foil wrapped chocolate eggs into a ballon and blow it up, cover with the outside of the balloon with glue then wrap string/wool/embroidery thread around it (leaving enough space to take the balloon pieces out but not so much that the eggs can escape) and glue again. Hang them up to dry and when they’re ready pop the balloon and take the pieces out carefully ! Experiment with blowing the balloon up to different sizes or different types of string.

Focus on : Fine motor skills

 

2. Chocolate easter nests

How to : Melt chocolate, mix with shredded wheat, shape into nests and allow to cool!

Focus on : Numeracy/science – pouring and measuring, melting and solidifying

 

Simple yet effective...

3. Silhouette bunnies

How to : trace around the bunny, or make a stencil to paint over and make a fluffy cotton tail to stick on!

Focus on : Understanding the world/The World and Traditions in other countries. Talk about the Easter bunny who bring the eggs. Some other countries have the same tradition although in Sweden, Austria and Germany it’s a hare and in France it’s the bells who bring the chocolate ! What’s the tradition in their family ?

 

4. Easter egg scavenger hunt

How to : Hide your Easter eggs around the house or the garden and write clues. Read the clues together and find where the eggs have been hidden !

Focus on : Problem solving and memory skills

Upcycled junk mail makes a pretty egg!

5. Collage Easter egg cards

How to : Fold A4 paper/card into half and then half again. With a craft knife cut out a shape of an egg from one qurter, this will be the front of your card. Make a collage onto thenow exposed quarter (you might want to mark it while it’s folded) and wait for it to dry. Refold and admire the colourful egg !

Focus on : Colour recognition and decision making.

6. Hand and footprint bunny

How to : Make handprints and footprints in pink paint and cut them out, leaving a reasonable margin. Take 2 paper plates and cover them in cotton wool. Join them together to create the head and body of the bunny. Stick on some googly eyes, black pipe cleaner or strips of felt for whiskers , a pink heart for a nose, the hand prints for ears and the foot prints for feet.

Focus on : Talking about textures. This is a sensory rich activity with sloppy, sticky paint and fluffy cotton wool.

7. Easter bonnet

How to : Buy a cheap wide brimmed hat, or improvise ! Decorate the hat by painting it or covering it with fabric, cut egg cartons open and paint them to make flowers, attach ribbons and feathers, let your imagination run wild !

Focus on : Understanding the World/ People and communities.Talk about the tradition of Easter bonnets. In the past people put flowers on a hat to celebrate spring and wore new clothes at Easter. In America there were big Easter bonnet parades. In the past, people used to wear hats to church.

Peek-a-chick

8. Peekaboo chicks

How to : Cut a small egg shape out of card and then cut it in half horizontally (or if you’ve made collage cards just use your pre-cut egg shapes). Attach the two halves one side of a clothes peg, one at the top and one at the bottom. Draw a small chick and cut it out. Attach it to the other side of the clothes peg behind the egg top so when you pinch the peg together to the open it you’ll see the chick!

Focus on : Object permanence for babies and Knowledge of the World (eggs hatching)

9. Bunny whiskers mask

How to : Take some pipe cleaners and attach them to a lollipop stick (or two or three taped together for stability). Add a pompom for a nose and create some adorable bunny whiskers

Focus on : Role play – make bunny faces and hop like bunnies !

The wheels on the car go round and round

© Teo73 | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

It’s a rare child who never has to go in the car, and an even rarer one who never fights going into the carseat or gets bored after 5 minutes making a journey less than pleasant for everyone involved. Today we’re going to look at some ideas which will hopefully make your life easier.

Earlier this year we came across a nifty little product on Twitter, called My Car Step, which attaches safely to the car seat. Invented by a mum fed up of battling her daughter, this award winning product allows children to climb into the carseat by themselves instead of being lifted, or manhandled, in. As we said in our post on tantrums, allowing children independence can defuse situations and, as a bonus this will save your back some strain, because you no longer need to perform contorted lifting manoeuvres. For nannies or childminders, who can lift multiple children into carseats on a daily basis for twenty years or more, good lifting technique and minimising strain is invaluable.

Once your little cherubs are safely attached it’s worth making the environment as comfortable as possible. Sunshades will reduce glare and making sure that the children are wearing the name number of layers as you will allow you to control the car’s temperature appropriately. Take their personal preferences into account regarding recline where possible – better that a child is happy but falls asleep upright than is reclined from the start and protests all the way. On long journeys you can stop briefly to adjust the recline to ensure they remain comfortable. Before setting off check that they have any toys within easy reach, and if necessary a drink of some kind.

Music can make journeys a lot more bearable for children, as singing along to their favourite nursery rhymes with sound effects and actions will keep them occupied. If it gets unbearable for you make a compilation of songs you all enjoy and listen to that instead. While you may appreciate the radio, young children may be bored by adverts and some songs won’t be age appropriate.

One perennial favourite is I-spy, a game with endless possibilities and several variations. Under-2s will join in looking for objects if you say ‘I spy with my little eye a bus/tractor/cow’. Preschoolers are able to identify objects associated with colours ‘I spy something red/green/yellow’ and once children are confidently recognising phonics or letters your can play the classic version.

Older children who don’t get car sick can play a version of I-spy bingo. Create some cars with pictures of different objects such as a bus, a set of traffic lights, a bicycle or a letterbox, and include some less common ones. When children see the object they can mark it on their card. The idea is to get a row, or if your feeling really adventurous, a full house. This also improves memory and recall as they will need to be able to tell you when and where they saw the objects.

Children who can recognise letters can help you make up funny sentences from the letters on car number plates. Y491 AMS makes You Are My Squishy or You Ate Many Satsumas. K920 LSC can become Katie Likes Scented Candles or Kicking Leaves Someone Crying.

Even young children can get involved in making up stories about other people on the road. This enhances social and emotional development, introduces children to situational humour, and exercises their imagination. This is especially good if you’re stuck in traffic and can see pedestrians walking by. You can pick someone who is walking by and ask the children where they think the person is going. Are they in a hurry? Why might that be?

Check our our ‘Travel with children‘ board on Pinterest for more ideas.

Finally, even if the traffic is frustrating, you’re late and it’s raining outside, keep your cool. Children will easily pick up on tension and frustration, and if you’re constantly enraged when on the road they’ll begin to associate going in the car with negative emotions. Ideally journeys should be fun and education, but most of all, happy!

We hope you find some of this helpful. What’s your fail safe technique for car journeys?

Review Thyme

Kuvona | www.dreamstime.com

My heartfelt thanks to those who commented on my last post. Review time has been and gone and it went (mostly) well. We settled eventually on a small payrise, and a gift to show our appreciation with plans of more little surprises to come, not that I want to give too much away in case she’s reading. Ahem.

It was good to have the opportunity to sit down and chat about how things are going, having the time to talk about Oliver, how he’s getting on and what he might find interesting over the coming few months was really helpful. I now have a shopping list of toys and resources, and instructions to investigate different activities. Sometimes I wonder who’s the boss!

I got my knuckles rapped for lateness a couple of times. I know I’m guilty of realising I’m still in the office and should be halfway through the commute, and I do call as soon as I remember, but that adds half an hour to a working days all round and kicks Ol’s bedtime routine into touch, so I do know I really shouldn’t do it. Without making excuses it can be hard to wrap things up on time. A task that was only supposed to take half an hour can double or even treble quite easily and that leaves everything out of whack.

Surprise question of the night: ‘Are you anticipating any changes in your family circumstances over the next year?’. The mind flashes through redundancy (please, no) and house moves (if we win the lottery) to the fear that she’s seen the prenatal vitamins at the back of our en suite cupboard and jumped to conclusions. I hastily took another sip of wine.

The only real problem was holiday. May is always a pretty terrible time for me work-wise and this year Ed’s schedule is jammed too. Guess when Ellie wants to take a couple of days?

I know it’s technically legal for an employer to refuse holiday, but I think that’s a pretty horrid thing to do without an outstanding reason, and ‘it’s a bit inconvenient’ isn’t really going to stand up when it’s something your nanny really wants to do. The only thing is I’m not even sure either of us will be able to get time off. Neither set of grandparents will be any good and that leaves us rather stuck. Maybe I was being naïve when I wouldn’t have to worry about this kind of problem. Luckily Ellie has developed a good nanny network, and is going to ask around, although she informs me that some of them are already in shares and couldn’t take on an extra one or OFSTED might cause trouble.

Ed also floated the idea of asking Ellie to come on holiday with us in the summer when we go away with another family. I agree it would be heavenly to have on-tap help rather than finding a local sitter, so the subject was duly broached. I could tell straight away it wasn’t going to be an instant winner. Naturally we promised to pay all expenses, the total working hours wouldn’t change and we’d expect the other family to chip in and pay on top of her salary if they wanted to share the childcare but something still wasn’t sitting right. Given that we want to book soon it would be good to have a reply.

The final part of the review was an idea I’d seen on a well known parenting site, offering to contribute to or pay for any professional development courses. I take it this isn’t a very common thing to do as Ellie looked a bit surprised. She renewed her First Aid certificate just before coming to work for us so this would be something completely different. I suggested a couple of courses I’d googled and suggested she ask her nanny friends for inspiration but I don’t really mind what she does. I’m sure whatever it is will benefit her, and by extension Ol, in some way or another and that’s the whole idea!

So there as my first experience of a formal review with a nanny. In hindsight I’d probably ask her to think about a few things beforehand, not in a scary self-evaluation kind of way but just to have some ideas so she doesn’t feel so put on the spot. Live and learn!

Nanny Natter

from http://www.stockfreeimages.com/

It’s half-term and for some people that means a whirl of playdates and trips out, for others it means the cancellation of the only adult interaction they have in their week.

 

It can be tough as a nanny to find people to talk to as nannies don’t have colleagues in the traditional sense. New jobs often mean losing touch with an established circle of nanny friends and any local nannies may know your own employers. Plus talking about your employer or charge to someone who knows them without revealing confidential information is virtually impossible when they know your charges and possibly your employers, and that can add up to create a lonely situation.

 

Nannyjob has a long history of providing nannies with a chance to talk to and meet fellow nannies and childcare professionals. Our messageboards are one of the few dedicated nanny forums on the web with sections for training and careers, resources, places to go and things to do, and meet other nannies as well as general childcare, events and chat so you can ask questions, share advice and get ideas.  Check out discussions on what you need when you start a new job, structured learning for young children, and Happyland!

 

We also have a Facebook page where we can post questions on behalf of nannies or parents and open the question to our network of 1,400 (and counting). It’s also a great place to keep up with our blog posts on Government proposals, our parent blogger, articles on articles about essential skills for nannies or different careers in childcare and we’ll soon be launching a nanny panel on our blog who will give their personal take on different situations that nannies encounter in their work. You can follow us on Twitter too @nanny_job and join in discussions there.

 

When nannies or other childcarers register on the site to create a CV and use the jobseeker or babysitting advert services, they also have the opportunity to join the Nannyjob Social Club. This allows you to make nanny friends in your area either by putting a profile up and waiting for them to contact you or contacting people who have already posted their profile. It’s a great way to get started if you’re new to an area and worth checking on a regular basis to see whether anyone has recently moved to your area too.

 

Come and join one (or all!) of our communities today!

 

More Great Childcare II

In our first blog post on the changes proposed by Liz Truss we focused on the changes to ratios. This second part is about the changes which relate to qualifications. To understand this one must first understand that Professor Cathy Nutbrown undertook a review, culminating last year in the report Foundations for Quality which made a number of recommendations. More Great Childcare is, amongst other things, the Governments response to that.

Early Years Educators

Liz Truss proposes a new standard ‘Early Years Educator’ badge for qualifications. As anyone who has looked into gaining a qualification over the last decade, or looked at employing someone, there is a huge array of qualifications, some of which are simply a rebranded NNEB and some of which are barely worth the paper they’re written on. These were all slimmed down the the Diploma for the Children and Young People’s Workforce, which was criticised by Nutbrown’s review for being, amongst other things, too broad. Clarity here would probably be welcomed by everyone.

Early years teachers

More Great Childcare proposes a new status and training course for Early Years Teachers, a postgraduate qualification that will focus on teaching in the early years and have the same entry requirements (including the skills tests) as school teachers, but crucially stops shorts of giving Early Years Teachers the same Qualified Teacher Status that their primary and secondary colleagues have. Given that there is already Early Years Professional Status, which can be taken by professionals working in registered settings, the proposed change doesn’t seem to go much further and is likely to be a source of discontent.

GCSE Maths and English

Nutbrown recommended that all entrants onto an early years qualification hold a level 2, with the reasoning that learners should be ‘confident and capable in their literacy and numeracy’. The Government has interpreted this as a grade C in Maths and English GCSE.

This has been of particular interest to many on our Facebook page. It used to be a requirement of many colleges before entry, and some people seemed unaware that this policy had changed. Others appreciated the need for English to develop children’s communication skills but questioned the need for maths. Still others placed a higher value on aptitude for working with children.

Nannies in particular, who are not obliged to hold any qualifications, are uniquely affected by this recommendation. Parents can order their own priorities when hiring a nanny, but particularly for those with school aged children GCSEs and further educational qualifications are increasingly important. A quick random poll revealed that parents felt academic qualifications combined with a natural affinity for children actually outweighed the need for formal childcare training. What would Nutbrown or Liz Truss say to that?

So how does this link back to ratios?

Professor Nutbrown herself suggested that the Government explore whether qualified teachers could work with more three and four year olds. The Government re-examined ratios in a larger sense and suggested increased ratios possibly based upon:

–          Setting based criteria e.g. 70% of staff qualified to level 3; 100% of staff qualified to level 3; 100% of staff to have a C in Maths and English; at least one graduate plus 70% of staff qualified to level 3

–          Practitioner based criteria e.g. only staff with a C in English and Maths to operate the higher ratio

There is some sense in the second requirement, although we don’t recall our GCSE (or O-level) certificates giving us extra eyes or arms, in that the paperwork is going to increase by 50% and strong literacy and numeracy skills will be essential to cope with that in a timely manner.

What does this mean for people already working in early years?

If you already have a qualification rest assured, that will be assessed against the criteria in place when they were awarded. If you are working, or wish to work, in a nursery and you don’t meet the literacy and numeracy requirements you may find your prospects limited. If you don’t have a qualification you may find that you need to brush up on your maths or English first.

More Great Childcare

The biggest changes to childcare in a decade were announced early this week. A report, entitled More Great Childcare, was sent out by Elizabeth Truss MP, the Minister with responsibility for early years. Two major changes were proposed: relaxing the adult:child ratio for childminders and nurseries and setting out new plans for qualifications. This is the first of two blog posts on the report – first we’re going to look at ratios and the second post will be about qualifications.

 

What are the changes?

For nurseries the ratios will become 1 adult to 4 babies and 1 adult to 6 toddlers with no change to the ratios for pre-schoolers.

Childminders will still be allowed to care for 6 under 8 but routinely 4 under 5, of which 2 can be under 1 instead of 3 under 5, 1 under 1.

There is no change affecting ratios for nannies.

 

We spoke to Penny Webb, a childminder with 30 years’ experience who starteda petition against the changes. She currently uses the exception granted under EYFS2012 to regularly care for four or five under-5s on grounds of continuity of care.

 

“I am shattered every day, I am doing more tasks in my own time that used to be able to fit into the working day. I am passionate about childminding – the children will always come first and will always experience outstanding care and education but I know that I can not maintain this level of commitment and this level of effort long term.” Penny Webb, Childminder

 

She also warns against the impact on children of childminders who rush into caring for too many children at once with little or no experience. Even as a mother of four and with many years of professional experience she has been surprised by how tiring her current workload is. 

 

“I do know people will do it for the money – I also think some will take on more children – with best intentions and then ‘crash and burn’. This will be bad for the children as either will stay with that minder and not have the best experiences – or the minder will be honest and the child will have to go to a different setting – very bad for emotional development.” Penny Webb, Childminder

 

That’s without even getting started on the lack of space in most homes for 4 under-5s, the difficulties finding triple prams, the cost of a seven-seater and car seats, and the sheer enormity of keeping 4 under-5s safe when out and about. The Minister also shows no sign of allowing OFSTED to slacken their regulatory role, intending to make them the sole authority over childcare settings (the role is currently shared with Local Authorities). This means the paperwork burden on childcarers who are obliged to follow EYFS will go up by 30% for childminders and 50%  for nursery staff.

 

Em, a former nursery worker who is now a nanny, highlighted that current arrangements already impacted to the interaction she was able to have with the children ‘to their disadvantage’. She feels becoming a nanny gave her freedom to really bond with children and follow their interests, and the care the children receive is better for that.

 

“That kind of ratio would seriously change my mind about nursery work [in the future] especially with the paperwork burden on nursery staff at the moment let alone with more children in their care. It’s insane!” Em, Nanny

 

Private nurseries in favour of the changes have been accused of only being interested in profit however Sarah Steel, MD of The Old Station nursery points out that any cost saving from relaxed ratios is likely to be eaten up by increasing quality, paying staff a higher wage and subsidising Early Years funding. The most worrying consequence she sees is a potential two-tier system.

 

“Those in most deprived areas, where nurseries are already struggling to survive, will have to embrace lower ratios, but this may be at the cost of quality.” Sarah Steel, MD, The Old Station Nursery

 

This is most evident in areas which are supposed to offer funded places for 2 year olds, an age group where the number of children per adult has been increased by 50% and where struggling nurseries may have no choice but to make ends meet by reducing staff costs. Even experts are unsure that more children per adult will lead to a reduction in cost. Eva Lloyd, from the University of East London, said there was no relationship between ratios and cost to parents. She is also sceptical that higher quality will be possible under the proposed changes and it’s easy to see why. The most highly qualified childcarer is physically limited in the number of children they can safely care for or comfort at once. Higher ratios may effectively prevent them from deploying their knowledge and reduce them to refereeing hordes of toddlers. The members of the PLA  seem inclined to agree and Laura Henry, an early years consultant but also parent of two boys, posted an impassioned letter on her blog aimed at parents.

 

Even though the changes proposed don’t mention nannies it would be naïve to assume they won’t somehow be affected. On the one hand it’s good news for the sector – parents who are unhappy about the quality of care offered by local childminders or nurseries may look into a nanny or nanny share. A nanny with 4 under 5 would still be able to dedicate more time to his/her charges because nannies are not required to provide reams of paperwork for OFSTED inspections. On the other hand parents may find it more difficult to find quality candidates. It doesn’t take a GCSE in maths to work out that reducing the required number of adults to care for a roomful of 12 toddlers from 3 to 2 leaves a member of staff without a job. The BAPN expressed concern that the nanny market may become flooded by nursery workers who have been made redundant because they are no longer perceived as fit to work in nursery settings, leaving an entire sector of the market lagging behind in terms of quality.

 

Many parents are unhappy about the changes. The online parenting forum Mumsnet revealed that only 5% of members surveyed polled in favour of relaxed ratios and Netmums reported a figure of 20% in favour. They may still be faced with an impossible choice, to pay over the average for a provider with low ratio and high quality care or accept lower quality care for lower cost. Parents who are unable to get spaces in settings offering coveted lower ratios may stretch themselves to pay for a nanny until the funded hours kick in at 3 years old, an age group unaffected by the ratio changes.

 

 

Thyme for thinking

© Kuvona | Dreamstime.com

We’re pleased to welcome back Suzannah Thyme for her second post on the Nannyjob blog!

 

If you read my first post you might remember that our nanny has been with us for a year. The time has simply flown by and we count ourselves very lucky that Ellie has put up with us for this long. Having a nanny isn’t quite the same as having any other type of employee, particularly when it comes to managing performance and formal reviews. It tends to be an ongoing process – slightly elongated handovers or a sit down with a cup of tea on the rare days that I do work from home while Ol naps – for us at least and the idea of ‘managing’ Ellie in that way filled me with trepidation.

 

I turned where most people do these days, the internet, for to gather advice and gauge opinions on what was and wasn’t normal. It seemed a mixed bag, some had a very formal process with a self-evaluation form to comment on their performance, others let it slide by with nothing at all, a good number had an informal meeting or formal chat with a bit of warning that the contract would be reviewed. After canvassing Ed for his opinion, which elicited the information that he was going on a 10 day business trip of which I had no prior knowledge, we (read: I) decided on the slightly more formal chat approach.

 

The next challenge was when to schedule it. Evenings aren’t the best time for anyone and mornings tend to be rushed, certainly on my part, so we were evidently going to have to put aside a specific time. In the end it seemed most sensible to ask Ellie for the equivalent of a babysit and explain that we’d chat once Ol was in bed – takeaway and wine included. Luckily she was amenable to this plan, but once again the nagging conscience which insists that she’s entitled to her own life outside of work and this was an intrusion wouldn’t quite go away, as it does every time we ask for a babysit even though she insists she doesn’t mind.

 

Time and place set I turned my mind to the content. What does one discuss in a nanny’s review? Evaluating performance over the past year was easy -“You’re doing a brilliant job, will you stay until Ol leaves home?” was what I essentially wanted to say. There were no foreseeable changes and we didn’t need to modify the contract. Once again I turned to the internet and discovered that nannies typically wanted to discuss holiday and payrises. Ah.

 

Holiday isn’t a problem as far as I know. Bank Holidays off, 2 weeks her choice, which she tends to take a one week and then a few days here and there, 2 weeks ours, except it’s been more over the last year, and the time between Christmas and New Year. We’ve never sorted our holiday out that far in advance, although maybe we should talk about that and pencil in key dates. And dates when holiday wouldn’t work so well for us. But the idea of a payrise strikes fear into my heart.

 

Much as we love Ellie and I would pay her millions if I could we’re stretching our budget already to afford a nanny for one child. It’s a luxury for us and any rise we could afford would be paltry in the extreme on an hourly basis. We gave a bonus at Christmas, which is uncomfortably close to the review given that I’ve not been paid for January yet, but then again it’s not really her fault she started a new job so close to Christmas when I would happily have given a bonus in June. Sitting down with a calculator I worked out we could afford about £75 a month over a year, which doesn’t sound a lot. If anyone has any ideas on extra things I can do to show appreciation I’d be grateful….

Tablets for tots

You’ll have noticed that THE present for children this year was…. a tablet.

From LeapFrog’s LeapPad and VTech’s Innotab  to Asus’ Nexus 7 and Apple’s iPad mini, tablets are everywhere, loaded with educational apps and games to keep children amused. So what are the pros and cons of tablets for tots?

+1 They’re ultra portable

Books, DVDs, CDs, card games, pens and paper. Leave them all at home, there’s an app that will so it for you. You can also access media content legally for much less than the book or DVD would cost and easily pop on something for you too.

+1 They’re intuitive

Even children as young as 1 can get their heads around touch screen technology. Unlike traditional PC based educational games tablet apps are easy to get to grips with.

+ They promote hand eye coordination and fine motor skills, literacy and mathematical ability

Children have to learn to control their hands and fingers to use a tablet, and some games encourage matching, sorting and counting skills,  shape, number and letter recognition, and phonics, as well as making a variety of e-books easily accessible.

+ They grow and evolve with the child

Leapfrog and Vtech etc aside adults can get as much use out of tablets as children and teens. The sheer number of apps is staggering and a new tablet now should, barring breakages, provide entertainment for years that can vary according the child’s tastes.

-1 They stifle the imagination

There are some good, creative drawing and music apps out there but it’s no substitute for the opportunities real art materials or musical instruments give you. There’s also no scope to put a lion on Old MacDonald’s farm or adapt what the wheels on the bus do if you’re just listening to a recorded version.

-1 They’re fragile

Most tablets aren’t hugely robust, even when they come encased in rubber, and older children will probably want a 7-inch adult tablet anyway. Young children can’t appreciate that their new toy is a complex electronic device to be treated with care and even with the best will in the world a older child may accidentally drop it.

-1 They’re sedentary activities

You don’t move much when you’re using a tablet and it’s certainly no substitute for running around outside. Repetitive use of one hand could also lead to RSI, especially as the way children use touch screen technology when they’re young will set them up for how they use it in later life and it’s not going away.

-1 Children can access the Internet unsupervised or run up a bill buying apps

Most tablets aimed at the children’s market incorporate parental control but if you accidentally leave that off and your iTunes or Android marketplace account logged it’s scarily easy and fast for a child to run up a bill. Most free apps include a quick link to the full version and an imprudent tap or two could be pricy.

-1 They’re addictive

You know those adults who always have some kind of electronic device in their hand? Chances are they’re addicted. The brain quickly becomes dependent on the instant gratification a smartphone can provide and this can also less to problems with concentration later on. Children are especially vulnerable because their brains are still very plastic, which means new habits can form easily.
Our verdict:

Handle with care, both literally and figuratively! While they might keep children occupied for hours, you should also make time for activities away from the tablet, even if you’re essentially doing the same thing. If you’re a childcarer make sure to communicate with the parents about appropriate usage and stick to their rules.  Consider limiting use to specific locations or certain times of day to ensure that it isn’t overused and always double check the content and parental controls on a standard tablet. Finally, remember an interactive tablet is no substitute for an interactive adult!

Keeping up with the Thymes

Nannyjob is delighted to introduce our new parent blogger -Mrs Thyme – who will be blogging about the ups and downs of employing a nanny and family life.

© Kuvona | Dreamstime.com

Let me start by saying I’ve never actually blogged before. I love and loathe in equal parts the various Mummy blogs that pop up periodically on my Twitter feed – love them because I’m a proper nosy parker, secretly loathe them because they are filled with the kind of perfection I aspire to. So bear with me while I work this out and here goes!

 

The logical place to start seems to be introducing our family, a cosy little group of 3 – Suzannah (that’s me), Edward and Oliver (18 months) – plus 1 –   Ellie, our nanny who has been with us for almost exactly a year. We all work full time, Ol probably hardest of all playing and growing, and are probably all having trouble adjusting after time off over Christmas.

 

It’s times like this, after the holidays, where I feel enormously grateful for having a nanny. Colleagues who drop their children at a child-minder or nursery don’t have the luxury of coming home to a tidy house and an empty laundry basket. I don’t know how she does it but Ellie by herself with Ol is more productive than Ed and I put together tag teaming toddler demands and miscellaneous household tasks like putting a wash on and hanging it out to dry. Add cooking 2 nutritious meals, and fitting in a class or run around at the park and some kind of art, craft or baking. I’m exhausted thinking about it.

 

I’ve tried to see how it’s done when working from home, but I know nannies hate that (parents working from home, not domestic espionage) because you disrupt their routine, no matter how hard you try to limit your caffeine and biscuit consumption so you don’t need to go to the kitchen. Children’s bat like hearing can pick your voice up from the other end of the house if you’re on the phone to a colleague or a client and you can forget about going to the loo. I laugh at people who say working at home is wonderfully relaxing. They either have school-aged children, or better yet no children at all, and sit productively at their computer simultaneously dyeing their hair and waiting for their toenails to dry. I tried it once but the increasingly loud sighs and increasingly lengthy tantrums every time I popped back to the bathroom to complete the next stage of my beautification put me off.

 

A couple of days after the announcement that I’ll be working from home I’ll be treated to an anecdote from Ellie about something a work-from-home boss of a nanny friend of hers has done. It’s a subtle, yet effective, way of letting me know that I shouldn’t even think about committing that particular sin, although some of them are rather funny like the MumBoss who didn’t get dressed until 10am and took very serious conference calls wearing slinky PJs. I thought in the beginning Ellie would be glad to shorten her day by the 3 hours that cover my commute (yes, 3 hours, the District line can be a little challenging) – fully paid of course – and have the opportunity to have a real lunch-break, maybe even schedule a hair appointment because I don’t mind being flexible, but it seems that isn’t the case, so I rarely do. I will commit the sin from time to time just to save myself the commute and prove that I can be productive whilst working from home, building up credit for those vaccinations, birthdays and, way into the future, first days at nursery or school and nativity plays or end of term shows. In a way I understand, it takes a brave person to sing, dance and discipline a toddler under the watchful eye of another adult, and I would hate my own boss breathing down my neck all the time.

 

So today I’m at work, and basking in the knowledge that when I arrive home we’ll have lasagna for dinner tonight and Ol’s washing will be underway and there may even be cake. If I did all that I’d expect Ed to bring me flowers, so I’ll just pencil in a stop on the way home to pick something up for Ellie even though she does it every day and I can’t thank her enough.