Search Results for: home education

The Baby Show: If Money Were No Object

Posted on by

2

It is three sleeps until The Baby Show

I am so excited

I have loved the show every time I have been

It has special memories for me

Of meeting special people

Making special friends

And of course each time I have been to the show

It has been at a very special, significant, time in my life

Pregnant with Tilda

With Tilda as a baby

Pregnant with Bea

And now this time with Bea as a baby

And as the official blogger for the show!

official baby show blogger

I have a specific list of things I am looking to buy at the show

And with a very limited budget I do need to try and stick to my list

But …

If money were no object, what would I buy?

A Bugaboo Bee for Baby Bea
I have always coveted a Bugaboo. When the twins were smaller I would have loved a Donkey and now I quite fancy a Bee. And it will only ever be a fantasy. We live in the heart of the Kent countryside and a small urban stroller would not fair well at all here. However, if you are a city dweller or reside in an urban area then the incredibly striking and lightweight Bee could be the buggy for you.

For me and for us as a family I think we would be better with a Stokke Trailz. This all terrain pram looks perfect for autumn strolls through woodland paths and harvested fields. It looks perfects for pushing along wet sand close to the sea. It looks to be the perfect stroller for countryside living and with the seat unit being so high you can really connect with baby, communicate with them about all you can see when out on the Trailz!

Stokke Trailz 140402-8I5935 Seat Deep Blue

In an ideal world I would love to buy Bea a Stokke Sleepi and Stokke Care. We have decorated Bea’s rainbow nursery but have not yet furnished it. I love how the Stokke furniture grows and changes with the child. Esther and William have an awesome bedroom so will be nice to treat Bea to something special too.

I love organic clothing for babies and children. I have lots of favourite brands and retailers online but I had never heard of Cudaboo before. I love the ethics of this company, producing quality clothing, educational materials and supporting animal charities. I would love to do some good and give back to nature through Cudaboo by purchasing a Cudaboo Gift Pack

I would buy some Ergo Pouch sleeping bags. I think the 0.3 tog organic cotton sheeting bag could be good for co-sleeping

I would treat myself to a Loveyush London breastfeeding scarf

I would treat Bea to a raspberry Cocooi sleep bag from Merino with a matching hat too! Esther and William each had a travel sleep bag from Merino and they were perfect even when they were teeny tiny babies. Merino Kids sell beautiful safe sleep products for little ones of all ages and stages. Love their Go Go Bags!

I would buy us all a pair of Moccis to keep our tootsies warm til Spring. So many fabulous, fun designs! And I paricularly love all the stars and the rainbows! The penguins are particularly cute with Christmas fast approaching

moccis1

I would treat Bea’s gums to a MummaBubba Birdie teether, in pink obviously. Look at those secret stars!

LITTLE BIRDY GIFT PACK - HOT PINK_New

So there you have it, some of the products I will enjoy looking out for at Olympia this weekend.

If money were no object for you at The Baby Show, what would you buy?

Stressed About Schools!

Posted on by

15

Esther and William are two years old.

They will be 3 in July.

They are due to start school in September 2014.

Our local village school is tiny and I have real concerns about its suitability for Esther and William.

The first class of the school currently has reception, Year 1 and Year 2 all in one class.

This is a huge range and I know that there can be a huge ability range in a single entry class but socially and emotionally I feel it is wrong to put children who are just 4 in a class with children who are already 7.

Esther and William are confident, sociable children and they love older children but I do not want them to be in the same class as children three years older than them.

So what are our choices?

Well, because we literally live opposite the school we do not really have many.

Esther and William currently attend a preschool that is attached to a popular, oversubscribed school that we do not have a chance of getting them in to.

We can express a preference for the school but we know that we do not realistically stand a chance of gaining a place, let alone the two places that we need.

We send them to the village school and hope that the numbers of pupils increase and the school setup can be rearranged.

We home educate or we send Esther and William to private preparatory school.

I have never ever imagined that I would have children that go to private school and yet it has so much to offer.

We have been to look round our local prep school and it was really nice.

I have no idea what to do and I need to make a decision in the next couple of days certainly for preschool.

Do they stay at their current preschool which is lovely and that we all like? They have caring staff that have been so good to us since Tilda died. Esther and William play lots and enjoy the outside space that is provided. I think they will do some letters and numbers there next year but nothing too formal. Here they would attend Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Thursday all day and Friday morning.

Do I move them to the pre-prep where the preschool is slightly more formal and has more structured letter and number activities? My reason for doing this would be because I feel they are ready to start learning phonics and being part of a more structured routine. It would also buy us more time as Esther and William could stay in the pre-prep department through reception until we found them a space in a state school that is appropriate for their needs. If they were to move here they would have to attend 5 sessions a week and as we can only use education vouchers in the afternoons they would have to go for five afternoons. And this could be good as I could do messy play with them in the mornings or go out with them and then go to school for the afternoons. It would mean that we would have no week day to ourselves to do things.

I am going round and round in circles and just do not know what to do for the best.

Any thoughts would be much much much appreciated x