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This is learning. This is entertainment. . Parents often feel obliged to ‘continue the learning’ (and avoid ‘the learning gap’) over the summer holidays. Parents also feel obliged to entertain their children, with planned activities and days out....they don’t need to do either. . Just because they have six weeks out of a classroom, it doesn’t mean kids stop learning, in fact they can learn WAY more about the world and how it (and they) work by ‘just’ playing. They don’t need printed maths problem worksheets, spelling practice or Biff, Chip and Kipper to learn. If we think that’s what learning is, then we’re more messed up than ever. . Kids don’t need endless planned activities or expensive days out for entertainment. Boredom is *wonderful* for them. It makes them use their imagination (that so often they don’t get chance to use at school). It interests them in nature, it inspires play. . . This summer holiday, scrap the ‘continued learning’ and resist the urge to fill every day. Let them be bored, let them play, let them be children in a world that is increasingly forcing them to lose sense of what childhood really should be. . . . #summerholidays #schoolholidays #schoolsoutforsummer #summerholidayactivities #summerholidayfun #sarahockwellsmith #gentleparenting #unschooling #homeschooling #freerangelearning #schooloflife #childhoodunplugged #natureplay #consciousparenting #mindfulparenting #indefenceofboredomWhen we tell children “you can have some chocolate/ice cream/cake IF you eat up all your dinner”, what we’re actually doing is encouraging them to overeat and making sweet food seem like a treat, which also encourages the child to over-indulge in them when they finally get to eat them. . . . #gentleeating #gentleeatingbook #instinctiveeating #intuitiveeating #intuitiveeatingjourney #intuitiveeater #toddlereats #toddlereating #familyfood #weaning #babyledweaning #gentleparenting #mindfulparenting #mindfuleating #mindfuleats #attachmentparenting #instinctiveparenting #peacefulparentingIs it a box? Or is it an earthquake personal protection device? A time-travel pod? A portable camping bedroom? . If you have a child aged 7-14, with a vivid imagination and a desire to change the world for the better. A child who is a natural inventor, a STEM superstar or an engineer, then you should absolutely check out the Young Imagineers competition. . In collaboration with The Science Museum, and sponsored by Equinor, the competition is a nationwide search to find Britain's most imaginative and creative young people. Children aged 7-14 are being tasked with coming up with an invention to make tomorrow's world a better place. To enter, children need to submit a simple sketch and 100 words explaining their invention. . Find out more at: www.youngimagineers.equinor.com . . . #STEM #childrenintoSTEM #littlescientist #littleinventor #summerholidayentertainment #summerholidayactivities #ad #kidsloveboxesAnyone else struggling with ‘end of the school year itis? . I hate this time of year, I feel like we’re all slowly limping, or pulling ourselves along the floor on our bellies, towards Friday’s finishing line. I’m tired, grouchy, under the weather, can’t think straight (not good when I have a book to finish this week - this picture is literally me right now!), the heat is stopping me from sleeping well so I’m absolutely shattered. The kids are tired and grumpy, we’re all snapping at each other. Plus in their wisdom, school have thrown in numerous productions, activity days, dressing up days and the like (WHY do they put these things in the last week? Is it out of spite, because it sure feels like it 😂). . Who’s with me, wishing it was 3:30pm Friday already? . . . #schoolholidays #endofterm #endoftermexhaustion #tiredmama #tiredmum #sarahockwellsmithTop Posts & Pages
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Tag Archives: cio
Self Settling – What Really Happens When You Teach a Baby to Self Soothe to Sleep
So many, parents and experts alike, advocate the idea of “teaching a baby to self settle” or “self soothe”. Self soothing is often referred to as the holy grail of baby sleep, once babies can self soothe, parents are told to expect … Continue reading →
Posted in Babies, Preschoolers, Toddlers
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Tagged amygdala controlled crying, cio, gentle sleep training, gina ford, hippocampus controlled crying, maternal nurturing, pick up put down, self settling, self settling myth, self soothing, self soothing myth, sleep training, teach baby to self settle, teach baby to self soothe, the baby whisperer
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116 Comments
I Can Get any Baby Sleeping Through the Night in One Week
WARNING – THE START OF THIS POST IS FICTITIOUS I DO NOT REALLY RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING – PLEASE READ TO THE END! I am 99% certain I can get any baby, even a tiny 8 week old ‘sleeping through’ 7pm … Continue reading →
Posted in Babies
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Tagged baby expert UK, baby sleep, baby sleep expert, baby sleep trainer, baby sleep training, baby whisperer, cio, contented little baby sleep, controlled comforting, controlled crying, controlled soothing, cry it out, gina ford, parenting expert UK, pick up put down, spaced soothing
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44 Comments
An Open Letter to Gina Ford – Author of The Contented Little Baby Book
Dear Gina, I was interested to learn of your latest book “The Contented Mother’s Guide” (via this Daily Mail article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110738/Don-t-say-sex-ready-childcare-guru-Gina-Ford-tells-new-mothers.html). I haven’t read your book yet so am only commenting on what appears to be the press releases sent out … Continue reading →
Posted in Babies, Mothering
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Tagged attachment parenting expert, baby expert, baby feeding routine, baby sleep through the night, baby sleep training, birth trauma, cio, contented little baby, controlled crying, cry it out, Daily Mail, dream feed, gina babies, gina ford, gina ford book, gina ford feeding, gina ford routine, gina ford sleep, gina ford weaning, new baby routine, newborn routine, parenting expert, pnd, postnatal depression, postnatal recovery, Sarah Ockwell-Smith, sleep training, uk baby expert, uk parenting expert
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67 Comments
