Phew! Scottish island mum has been a very busy little elf today and I think I might have missed a dressing up opportunity so I am a little cross about that.
Today is the day the nation was asked to wear Christmas jumpers and/or decorate a jumper before pledging £1.00 to the Save the Children campaign. I have been promoting it for the last few weeks on my social networking site but today was all about face to face persuasion. So off I dashed around the island with my tinsel jumper on in the full knowledge that I would get some strange looks. I would, of course, use these strange looks as conversation starters in order to tell the stories. This I did and I am delighted to say that in every case people donated. I also want to pay tribute to my 18 year old son who wore his decorated jumper with pride. Good for you Harry. xx
The stories are grim as children are now literally freezing to death in Syria as winter takes hold and I can't contemplate celebrating Christmas while this is going on. This campaign allows Save the Children to provide winter packs which includes warm boots, beanie hats, jumpers and blankets. So this was one determined Scottish island mum today. The latest is that they have raised over £140,000 and that is truly fabulous. Can I just say thank you to all the people that I pestered today because you were all so kind.
Recent blog posts have focused on education and, more specifically, the poor state of our education system. So I am delighted to be asked to review a learning programme that I believe is an excellent example of what constitutes good education. The Scottish Government's Playtalkread online scheme plays fun at the centre of the programme. The programme is aimed at parents who want to encourage their young children to learn key skills in speaking and reading while engaged in a playful environment. I have a lot to say about early education and the pressure we put on the very young child to learn but I would exclude this programme for these comments. By putting play at the centre it makes the whole thing more enjoyable for both the child and parent. The current Christmas theme allows parents to occupy their children with some fun and engaging activities over the festive period and the links to sites such as Pinterest makes the whole scheme accessible. The advice for parents is useful without being patronising and that is to be welcomed.
I spend a lot of time with parents of young children who are concerned about when learning should get underway. Children learn all the time but I always try and persuade parents to resist too much formal learning before their children start school. You all know that I don't believe children should start school until 7 years but I remain a small voice in this debate. Playtalkread is a scheme that I would recommend for parents of preschool and early years children because the emphasis is spot on. There are now so many online learning sites that it can be difficult to know which ones are offering the right sort of learning experiences. The fact that this one is sponsored by the Scottish Government gives me a glimmer of hope. Sometimes it is simply about being creative and this scheme has grasped the importance of that. I am, therefore, delighted to say that Scottish island mum recommends the scheme and I do hope that those of you with young children will give it a go and share the link with your friends who also have young children.
In the middle of today Scottish island mum joined together with some other mums to help make Christmas a little easier for a lovely young family that are having a testing time. Once again I find myself being humbled by the support shown by this little band of mums with very big hearts. I have other little elf things planned for a few more people and I will try to remember to dress up next time.
Until tomorrow. xx
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