All posts tagged: Children

Tooth Fairy Inflation? Parents Left Reeling Over Payout For Single Tooth

Tooth Fairy Inflation? Parents Left Reeling Over Payout For Single Tooth

Published by Sam

Growing up I used to delight in seeing a 50-pence piece under my pillow after leaving a fang out for the tooth fairy. But it seems gone are the days of getting small change in return for your vacated gnasher. A Reddit post has left the internet reeling after a parent said their child’s friend at school received $50 (£37) and a bracelet in exchange for their first tooth. The poster said their six-year-old son had lost his first tooth and was “thrilled” as it meant he could leave it out for the tooth fairy, who left him a very generous $5 (£3.70). While the child was “excited” by his monetary gift, the parent added “you could tell that a little part of him was bummed it wasn’t $50″. “Please, rich parents, think of those less fortunate … A going rate of $50 per tooth is setting all of us up for failure,” they added. In response to the post, some commenters suggested families need to change their mentality and avoid trying to “keep up …

Meghan shares video of trip to Disneyland with Prince Harry and children Archie and Lilibet | US News

Meghan shares video of trip to Disneyland with Prince Harry and children Archie and Lilibet | US News

Published by Sam

The Duchess of Sussex has shared a video of a family trip to Disneyland to celebrate daughter Lilibet’s fourth birthday. In a post on Instagram, Meghan, 43, thanked the theme park, in California, for “giving our family two days of pure joy!” The video collage of photos of the trip with Prince Harry, 40, and their children Archie, six, and Lilibet, who turned four on Wednesday, is set to singer Peggy Lee’s It’s A Good Day. Image: Pic: Instagram / @meghan The children, who are pictured from behind or with their faces obscured by hearts, are seen meeting Elsa from Frozen in one video clip. The family are seen enjoying rides including Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Dumbo The Flying Elephant, Star Wars: Rise Of The Resistance, and the Cars Land ride. In one image Meghan and Harry appear to be screaming, with mouths open, on the front row of Space Mountain. Image: Pic: Instagram / @meghan Image: Pic: Instagram / @meghan Lilibet, who was named after the late Queen’s childhood nickname, is barefoot and wearing a …

Are Children Losing the Ability to Read?

Are Children Losing the Ability to Read?

Published by José

Parents are increasingly disinterested in reading to their kids — and it’s majorly hurting the young ones’ literacy skills down the line. In interviews with The Guardian, childhood literacy experts expressed concerns about shrinking rates of at-home reading, which occurs as the prevalence of so-called “screen time,” or time using tablets or smartphones, balloons ever higher. Spencer Russell, a Texas-based former elementary school teacher turned literacy coach and influencer, told the website that gen Z-aged parents, or those born after 1997, particularly seem to have difficulty reading to their kids — perhaps because they were raised on such screens themselves. “I don’t think we can divorce the role of technology influencing gen Z parents and their kids with the decline in reading out loud,” he explained. “Screen time is replacing one-on-one, quality interactions between parent and child.” “We see children who can sit still and focus for hours on YouTube or Miss Rachel,”  he continued, “but when you sit them down with a book, they move, wiggle, or scream and run away.” It’s well known that …

School Bans Phones After Pupil Received 9,000 Messages Overnight

School Bans Phones After Pupil Received 9,000 Messages Overnight

Published by Sam

A headteacher has opened up about the eye-opening moment a teacher at his school looked at a Year 6 pupil’s phone – only to find they’d received 9,000 messages overnight. Simon Botten, executive headteacher of two primary schools in Bristol, one of which is Blackhorse Primary School, said the pupil had left their phone in a box in the teacher’s cupboard overnight. (Children are currently allowed to take phones to Blackhorse and hand them in when they get there.) When the teacher picked up the phone the following day, and the screen briefly lit up, they saw a notification of 9,000 missed messages from the Year 6 pupil WhatsApp group. In a blog post, Botten said he has spent almost two decades watching a “technological phenomenon unfold slowly”. “At first it was imperceptible: the odd argument via old-fashioned texts, the odd child seeing something online which they shouldn’t (always at home). But over the years I have seen the risks grow ever more significant and ever more frequent,” he wrote. The teacher cited witnessing a …

Children need more say in their education – here’s why it matters

Children need more say in their education – here’s why it matters

Published by skeptic

Education shouldn’t be a passive experience, with children simply absorbing the knowledge teachers pass on to them. Research shows that when children have an input into their learning – helping to decide topics to cover, or specific activities, or how they are assessed – they feel more motivated, engaged in learning and happier in school. But when we asked children about their opportunities to make choices in their education, they were often downbeat. “I’m a child and I can’t do anything,” one seven-year-old said. This powerful statement captures a sentiment we found repeatedly in research for our new book. We set out to understand how much agency children have in their education, and what difference it makes when they do. Our 40-month study, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, involved in-depth research across three contrasting primary schools in England: an independent (fee-paying) school, a community state school and an academy state school. Academy schools operate independently from local council control with greater curriculum flexibility, while community schools are run directly by local authorities. We spoke with …

11 Phrases Parents Say That Instantly Annoy Every Good Teacher

11 Phrases Parents Say That Instantly Annoy Every Good Teacher

Published by skeptic

No matter how good a teacher is, they’re bound to get annoyed by parents at some point. It’s like a law of nature. Some parents want to be really involved in their kids’ lives and know everything that is going on at school. As a result, they might overstep and ignore some boundaries, eventually using phrases parents say that instantly annoy every good teacher. On the other hand, some parents aren’t very involved and don’t do enough. In an study published in the journal Teachers and Teaching, researchers explained that, ideally, parents will be seen as partners in their children’s education. However, they also noted, “We found that teachers see parents as part of their professional jurisdiction and a task they must address rather than partners or collaborators.” Some of the things that parents say can definitely contribute to this perception by teachers. Here are 11 phrases parents say that instantly annoy every good teacher 1. ‘My child is special’ PeopleImages.com – Yuri A | Shutterstock Few things annoy a good teacher more than parents …

Extra £1bn funding is ‘not reaching children’

Extra £1bn funding is ‘not reaching children’

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Many councils have effectively frozen special school budgets again this year, with leaders sounding the alarm that £1 billion of extra SEND funding is “not getting anywhere near children”. In November, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the core schools budget would increase by £2.3 billion next year, with £1 billion specifically for high needs. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the extra £1 billion would “go directly to providing provision” – and represented a 6 per cent real-terms increase. But Schools Week has found that many councils are not passing on the funding. Confederation of School Trusts (CST) research suggests that, of a sample of 27 local authorities, 20 (74 per cent) have not lifted high needs funding for special schools. The highest increase in the sample was also just 3 per cent. ‘Little choice but to make cuts’ CST CEO Leora Cruddas said the “stagnant funding” – combined with “increasing demand [and] rising costs” – will leave special schools with “little choice but to make cuts to the education of …

Teachers knew what children needed to recover from the pandemic – but their insights were ignored

Teachers knew what children needed to recover from the pandemic – but their insights were ignored

Published by skeptic

Five years have passed since schools and nurseries closed in England as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns. This unprecedented disruption to children’s normal routines created considerable concern – both at the time and in the years since. But based on our research into the impact of school closures on children, we believe that many of the long-term effects have been misdiagnosed or ignored. Funding has been channelled in the wrong direction, hampering real recovery. We researched what was happening in primary schools during the pandemic. We used surveys, interviews and school-based case studies to collect insights from school staff and parents. Our survey data and case studies showed that teachers recognised straight away how the pandemic was affecting the children they taught and their families. Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences. Schools knew that not receiving free school meals and being confined to inadequate …

English schools to increase mental health support – why they need to get children involved in designing it

English schools to increase mental health support – why they need to get children involved in designing it

Published by skeptic

The UK government has announced the continuing rollout of the provision of mental health support teams in schools in England, with the intention of providing six in ten pupils with this support by March 2026. One in five children over the age of eight has a probable mental health condition in England today. Mental health support teams are needed to support children and young people early with their mental health and wellbeing to help prevent problems escalating. Mental health support teams are made up of experts who work with a number of schools in their local area. They collaborate with school staff, provide group or one-to-one sessions for pupils, parents and carers, and help schools create a culture that promotes mental health and wellbeing. With colleagues, I work on research investigating mental health in schools. This has involved assessing the early progress of the mental health support teams – the first ones were created between 2018-19 as part of the then Conservative government’s trailblazer initiative, which aimed to test out approaches and solutions to complex …

Politicians must set out a brighter vision for children

Politicians must set out a brighter vision for children

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles The dire local election results for Labour and the Conservatives will spark plenty of soul-searching. Neither currently offers a compelling vision for Britain’s future – let alone a credible plan to get us there. Here’s one: a Britain where every child feels they belong, grows up proud of who they are and shares in the finest achievements of their fellow citizens, past and present. A country where they can fulfil their potential and live their own version of the good life. That begins with education. Good progress has been made, notably in schools, but we should all be restless to create a system that shatters the link between background and destiny. We need to do five things to fix the foundations. First, raise early years quality by building an evidence-based professional development system for staff, learning from the model for schools and rooting out poor-quality training courses. Second, as others have argued, move to a single, coherent school governance model so every child has access to a great school, …