Square Eyes? Angry Eyes More Like! (Or Where CBeebies Get It Wrong)

by 25 Comments

I don't tend to rant on my blog, possibly a little bit on twitter, definitely in real life. My blog, however, tends to stay nice and safe. Therefore, please excuse this mini-rant.

Last week, I was sent a press release from CBeebies about their new and upcoming programmes, and a few changes to the schedule. I've been meaning to blog it since I had it, but you know how it is, other things happen and suddenly it was the Monday morning when the 'Love to Learn' block started.

At 9 o'clock.

When Show Me, Show Me should have been on.

I'll just give you a moment to allow that to sink in shall I? ….

…

… sorted? Right, good. See in this household, and I'm pretty sure in hundreds of thousands of others nationwide, Show Me, Show Me is an institution and a matter of routine. CBeebies don't really demarcate the passing of time throughout the day, apart from luncthime and the bedtime hour, so Show Me, Show Me is one of those natural timings for the children. They know it's the start of the day proper.

That's aside from the wonderful educational content of the programme, the old-fashioned or traditional play style, the songs, the acting, the interaction from children, the slight innuendoes planted for parents. I have compared Show Me, Show Me in the past as being like Playschool but for our children's generation. And we all know how that ended when they stopped showing that.

Now, I know that CBeebies have merely reshuffled the schedule to accommodate this new learning block, and not taken Show Me, Show Me off the air for good, but that brings me to my next point.

My son is two years old and he won't start school until September 2013, therefore I do not want him to experience a 'lesson' until then. Even then he won't because of the introduction of the Foundation Phase, which promotes learning through play and experience. I've watched the new 'Love to Learn' block for two days in a row, and it doesn't sit comfortably with me; it feels like forced learning. Someone said to me (earlier on twitter), "Well, turn it off then!" but really that's not the point is it? Of course I can, but surely a television company don't want you to do that? They want you to stay tuned? Keep the schedule as it is, and I won't be.

I don't have a problem with any of the programmes: Numtums seems a little simplistic but that's just me; I'm not a personal fan of The Numberjacks but The Boy loves it; and you can't go wrong with Alphablocks or Abadas as far as I'm concerned. Each of these programmes is good, however combined together into a 35 minute block I think has been a wrong decision. I think they have more effect when they are interspersed with the other programmes; more of a drip-drip gentle learning than 'here are letters and numbers: learn them'.

And yes, I'm a teacher. And yes, my son knows his colours, shapes, recognises single digit numbers and can count to 39 (40 is 30-10 according to him). And yes, he typed his name on the laptop the other day. However,  this has all happened through gradual play activities and learning through play. Not through 'here, you must learn' activities or television programmes.

Now, anyone who knows my blog will know that I adore CBeebies and feel that they never get it wrong.

However, CBeebies, you've got it wrong: put Show Me, Show Me back on at 9 o'clock and lose the 'Love to Learn' block please. It's not helping the channel or our children's education.

Weekend Activity: First Weekend of Spring

by 11 Comments

Saturday morning beckoned, bright and sunny. It was a refreshing change to the grey drudgery of the past week and so, after a slow start to the day, we headed down to Cardiff Bay Barrage to get some fresh air and blow the argumentative cobwebs away.

The Boy is becoming so confident on his scooter, it's fabulous to see. I just need to get daddy to have more confidence; he rushes over everytime he stumbles or crashes, whereas I'm the one who is standing back and saying "stand up then, brush your hands down!" to The Boy. It's hard work, but maybe it's the teacher in me, he'll cry if he's hurt himself and he's got a helmet on to protect his head. It's working too, so those parents who smirk at it can bugger off!

While on the barrage I managed to take these two photos, which I'm quite proud of. There's a lot of interesting angles and lines down there: the whole barrage is a real work of art. In the right hand picture, the 1950s style hut is actually a bright pink, but it didn't come out properly so I desaturated it.

And so to Sunday: I declare the 2012 season of sandcastle building well and truly open!

We built sandcastles, we went paddling in the sea (in our wellies), we played football, we ate sausage and chips on the beach (I had cheese and chips), we scooted along Barry Island promenade and we had a Mr. Creemy ice-cream. It was a balmy 15°C; madness for a Sunday in February!

When we came home, we decided to get a head start on planting some seeds we'd been sent.

I have a feeling that The Boy is going to love gardening this year.

—

I'm linking this up to Country Kids

Spring Has Sprung!

by 4 Comments

Last week, the doorbell went and, as usual, The Boy rushed to the porch door.

"Postman!" he shouted, and turned away. I went and rescued the dejected looking postman and the large box that he was carrying, which ironically was addressed to The Boy. When he realised this, he squealed with delight and was eager to open it up.

This lovely gardening kit was sent to him from innocent so that he could plant his own seeds and take part in the exciting promotional project that is going to be featuring for the next few weeks. Throughout March and until the end of April, every box of the innocent kids’ smoothies or fruit tubes will come with its very own pack of easy to grow seeds. There are six different varieties to collect including carrots, tomatoes, cress, basil, violets and sunflowers – all of which will show little ones how a garden grows.

So yesterday afternoon, we did some gardening. First we made some eco-friendly newspaper plant pots, the brain-child of Christine from Climbing Rainbows.

Then we planted our seeds into the newspaper pots, but we saved one set of seeds for a special pot to be kept in a secret place. More on that in a bit!

In total, we planted sunflowers (my favourite flower), violets, basil, tomatoes, carrots and cress. We'll be planting more seeds over the next few weeks; peas, courgettes, leeks, and seed potatoes. Gardening is an important activity to help teach your children about the world around them, how things grow, what is needed to keep plants alive, etc. While planting these seeds, we discussed that they needed water and warmth to start them off, and then once the leaves have appeared that they need sunlight. We counted the scoops of soil we put in, talked about textures and materials. Gardening is such a fun and educational activity, that really provides children with a sense of achievement.

While waiting for our seeds to grow, we'll be visiting the innocent gang's garden and uploading photos of our plants' progress. Join in with the seeds that you get from the innocent smoothies 4-pack boxes and learn some top gardening tips, upload photos andyou could be in with a chance to win cool prizes from innocent's friends at Rocket Gardens and the Royal Horticultural Society.

And so to the competition.

But not quite yet. In about a week's time, I will be posting on my blog, a photograph of one of my plant pots but in a secret location. I'll also be posting photos on twitter and instagram of the seeds as they grow, using the hashtag #innocentseeds. The competition will involve guessing where the special pot is, and what is growing in it. Correct entries will be placed in a virtual hat (otherwise known as Rafflecopter) and one of those clever souls will win a innocent smoothies gardening set like I received.

ShowOff ShowCase: The One That Should Have Done Better

by 3 Comments

This weekend is your opportunity to link-up a post that you wrote that filled you with a sense of satisfaction. You typed that last full stop, pressed 'publish' and thought "yes, this will be a good one!" and waited.

But no bugger actually bothered to read it, or if they did they certainly didn't comment on it!

Why? I can still hear you shouting it at the stats counter/comments log.

Heaven only know why. They didn't deserve it, they were good posts. It's not their fault that they were published on a Bank Holiday or when people were experiencing blog-apathy. They don't deserve to feel inadequate, not when they've done nothing wrong.

This weekend, I'd like you to help that post to hold its head up high! Brush them off, stick my badge at the bottom of the post and show them off for everyone to see. Don't be ashamed of them, help them shout at everyone:

I SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER!

ShowOff ShowCase

Recipe Shed: Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagne

by 14 Comments

I'm adapting and editing this recipe from the original one published in February 2012, due to the fact that I've discovered the filling cooks much more nicely in the slow-cooker.

Vegetable lasagne.

One of the staples of most pub menus and a reliable dish to produce on mass and in a hurry for vegetarians anywhere. But good God, it's boring. I get so fed up of mushrooms, broccoli and carrots stagnating in a heavy tomato sauce and then drenched in a non-descript bechemal sauce. When I make vegetarian lasagne, I tend to make it with quorn mince, and whoever I serve it for, absolutely loves it. This always surprises me because;

  1. I'm a decent cook but certainly not Delia
  2. it's vegetarian and people normally complain if I enforce a non-meat dish on them.

However, the serving dish is scraped clean as people always go back for more. And despite the fact that my mother-in-law once highlighted that it wasn't a proper vegetarian lasagne because it didn't use vegetables, she wolfs it down too.

Saying all this, last week I had half a humble butternut squash that needed using up and having had risotto the night before (and not in the mood to make pastry for tomato and butternut squash pies), I decided to make a lasagne using the bizarre orange vegetable.

  • Chop up the butternut squash, boil for 10 minutes until starting to go tender, strain and add a tin of chopped tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper. Stir through.
  • Amendment (22/04/12): Chop up the butternut squash and add to the slow cooker, with a tin of chopped plum tomatoes, two tablespoons of mango chutney and a generous teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. Leave it to simmer away on low for four hours. The butternut squash will be tender but retain it's shape and the mango and mustard will have infused into the sauce creating a mix of sweet and sharp.

  • The ingredients for the bechamel sauce are the same as for any, however when melting the butter, add spinach to it to wilt. To this, add a spoonful of cornflour, stir together and then add the milk, mixing everything with a balloon whisk. Once it starts to thicken up, add a handful of cheese; goats cheese is the obvious one for me with spinach, but cheddar works well if you haven't got any.

  • Place a lasagne sheet (I use fresh egg pasta as it cooks quicker) on the base of the dish, then spoon over half of the tomato and butternut squash mix. Add a pasta sheet on top, a layer of spinach sauce to cover this, another pasta layer, the remainder of the butternut squash mix, another pasta sheet, more spinach sauce to cover, another pasta layer and cover the top with spinach sauce. Sprinkle cheese over the top and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

I remember watching This Morning while on maternity leave, and Gino d'Acampo said you should let lasagne rest for ten minutes or so once out of the oven. I agree, it solidifies a little more and is easier to serve, retaining its heat well.

Serve with lollo rosso or another curly lettuce.

—

I'm linking this up to Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed, click below for more vegetarian recipes.

Recipe Shed

I'm also linking it up to Slow Cooker Sunday on Mediocre Mum

Best recipes of 2012

The Open Road (Guest Post)

by Leave a Comment

Within the past eight months, we've started to make longer car journeys with The Boy, the first was in June when we went down to Winchester for my father-in-laws birthday, the most recent was to west Wales for a weekend break, the longest was to Manchester (eight hours to do 190 miles!) to meet some friends. Trips before last June saw The Boy falling asleep in the car after about thirty minutes and sleeping happily for an hour or so. Then the moment hit when he stopped doing that and just became bored very quickly. Now when we set off, we have a plethora of things we take in order to make the journey more comfortable.

In this guest-post, Sainsbury's bring you some more ideas.

Long Car Journeys: The Ultimate Survival Guide

Not many people relish the thought of spending hours in the car, but there are a few simple tricks that can make long journeys slightly more bearable. After all, the trick to getting through endless hours of driving is good planning, and if you’re well prepared then everything should run smoothly.

Start by checking out your car before you go – and leave plenty of time for a last-minute visit to the garage should you need anything.  Make sure your oil and water is topped up and that you have plenty of washer fluid. Check out those tyres too – not just for wear and tear but for pressure as well.

Next you need to plan your route, not just in terms of directions but also for fuel and comfort stops. There’s nothing worse than being stuck on a motorway with miles to the next service station if you’re busting for the loo or running out of fuel, so be prepared and plan your stops in advance.

Remember to get your paperwork up to date. Getting stopped by the police, especially when you’re away from home, can be a stressful experience. Avoid any unnecessary hassle by checking that your car insurance and MOT is in date, and that your insurance covers your needs for the journey.

Be prepared for the worst. Yes, that might sound a little dramatic, but having a few provisions on board is only sensible if you’ve got hours of driving ahead of you. Make sure you’ve got a few pillows handy for passengers to avoid sore necks, pack enough food and water for the journey, have a blanket and a torch ready for emergencies and carry a working mobile phone just in case (but don’t use it while you’re driving).

Make sure you take regular breaks, or swap over with another qualified, insured driver on a regular basis. Driving can be really draining, and just a small lapse of concentration can be potentially fatal on a busy road.  Avoid the risk and stop every few hours, even if it’s only for a few minutes.

Ensure that there’s plenty for the kids to do. Bored children can be a nightmare on long journeys, so have plenty of activities planned beforehand. In-car games are always fun, or if you fancy a bit of peace and quite then download some audible stories for them to listen to on their headphones. There are also some great in-car entertainment systems available if you run out of inspiration.

And finally, keep your cool. Long car journeys can be stressful and troublesome. Make sure you’ve got some great music to listen to, or tune in to an interesting radio show. You could even use the time to teach yourself another language with an educational CD! Just try to make the most out of your long journey.

The Gallery: Landscapes

by 18 Comments

And so travelling Tara has set us the challenge of showing off our landscapes this week. Proper photography required.

This week's theme is: Landscapes.

Go and take a photo of one that inspires you, dig one out of your archives or get creative. Trees (ahem), sea shores, beach, skyline, fields, roof tops, pylons, mountains, snow whatever. Let's show what a wonderful and diverse place the world is.

Mr. TheBoyandMe and I have travelled to some rather amazing places and for that we've been lucky. I can't handle a flight longer than eight hours so I'm not talking anywhere tropical, but there are some amazing treasures around the world and we have been fortunate to experience some of these, before The Boy was born.

San Francisco Salt Ponds

The Faraglioni Rocks

Grand Canyon

Arabian Desert

California coastline

Manhattan skyline from the Empire State Building

But still one of my favourites is the one I call home:

Cardiff Bay

—

Click on the widget below to see the other stunning landscapes around this amazing world we live in

A Holiday Retreat

by 7 Comments

I've always been the type of person who likes to go on holiday for a short amount of time, the thought of a fortnight anywhere makes me feel a little bit anxious. The longest holiday that we've been on was for two and a half weeks to America, and even though we stayed in four different cities in that time, I was incredibly tetchy from day 13 onwards and just wanted to come home. Mr. TBaM and I sat in Central Park listing all the things that we missed from home; proper chocolate, butter, coke (it tastes funny in the US), decent toilet paper, sleep, our home. We were both quite homesick and were so pleased to return to our beloved semi.

Since having The Boy, I've also realised that when it comes to holidays it's not just the length of the stay which is important to us; I also find it difficult staying in a hotel. By and large, being confined to only one living area that is yours is incredibly restrictive, especially when you have a toddler. Therefore we've taken to having self-catering holidays, and because I don't want to put up with other people's noise, detached properties are the way forward for us.

The United Kingdom has such amazing locations to visit, all within a few hours drive, that I can't understand why anyone would want to deal with the trauma of a plane journey and not being in control of the travel. Last week, mum and I settled down to try and work out where we were going to go on our annual family holiday, perusing many websites about English country cottages, farms, holiday resorts etc. We managed to find somewhere in the end, and after last year's disasterous week-long holiday, we decided on four nights in June half-term down in Devon. Usually we go for August, but the weather has been so bad the past couple of years that we decided to go earlier in the 'Summer' instead.

Tradition dictates that I go on holiday down to the south coast of England, something which my in-laws can't fathom. But then they live near the south coast, so for them it's not a holiday. My husband had holidays in the north of England as a child, mainly because his paternal family are from there. I've been up to the Lake District for a weekend to see a friend in Kendal, been to a wedding in Derbyshire and seen a small part of the Peak District, and have visited Sunderland as a young teen to see relatives. The area of northern England that I really want to go to though is Yorkshire. There are so many beautiful beaches and with the contrasting rugged moors, that I look forward to the time when The Boy is old enough to tolerate the car journey and we can investigate cottages in Yorkshire enabling me to live out a little Wuthering Heights moment!

So, which area of Britain do you most want to visit, and why?

Flip!

by 10 Comments

In February of last year I had a discussion with the impish @InceyWinceyMum on twitter about pancakes. We both adore pancake day and were discombobulated to discover that it wasn't until the March. We decided to hold an unofficial one in the February instead, and tried to get others to join in; they didn't! However, we both enjoyed pancakes with ice-cream and a variety of toppings.

This year we had a discussion about pancakes and decided to go for a trial run last week. Only I forgot. So, yesterday we had a practise of pancakes for tomorrow. Mr. TheBoyandMe wanted to know why, I told him 'because' which as far as I'm concerned is a good enough reason. I didn't think 'because I promised @InceyWinceyMum' would work as well.

Spinach and Goat's Cheese Pancake

I added wilted, chopped spinach, seasoning and a small amount of parmesan to half the batter mix. I fried it in unsalted butter as normal, flipped and then added goat's cheese while cooking the underside. Definitely scrummy as it melted into the pancake.

Tomorrow I intend to add a butternut squash and tomato filling to the goat's cheese.

Black Forest Pancakes

To the other half the batter mix, I added Galaxy drinking chocolate and whisked it in. Normal cooking, but served with vanilla ice-cream and cherry-pie filling.

Whatever you have tomorrow, get flipping and enjoy!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...