single mum of 3 beautiful children....... I have new hopes, aspirations and dreams, 1st to get debt free, pay off my mortgage, get healthy, buy a new car (accomplished), do some much needed home improvements- phewwww - deep breath.. and spend more time with my children. In July 2011 I took redundancy due to restructuring at work, and from 31st August 2011 I was no longer a teacher.

I have used this opportunity to set up my own home based childcare business which will mean a very big pay cut, but at the same time will give me the opportunity to raise my own children, and home educate my youngest. So I am going to have to realise my dreams with a little inginuity and and a new frugal lifestyle, so this is my journey......

Friday, 24 February 2012

Nursery place ?????

I put Lil lady's name down at my sons school when she was born, I  received a letter last night via mini man to say she has been allocated a place for mornings at the nursery, her free 15 hours entitlement. I know at nursery learning is through play, and I am tempted to take up the 15 hours, but am then worried that they will expect her to attend nursery, and if not then her name will be known to the local LA and I will have problems. 
I have been in touch with my local Home Ed rep who has told me that with being a teacher if they do get in touch then i wont get many problems,  but still i hate interference of any sort, these are my children and i should be able to raise them the way I want to.
 I do have another option of using my 15 hours with a childminder (even though I will be a childminder myself) However the childminder will have to be accredited. I even found out yesterday I can claim the government grant myself as a childminder ( but i have to spend the money on resources) but i am not accredited yet, and it is another year long process at least ( still waiting on bloody CRB checks, she will be 16 by the time they get done at this rate).

I am not sure which way I am going to go yet, the school need to know by 2nd March, but the more i think about it the more i talk myself out of it. I am not a snob by any means, I was brought up on a tough inner city Manchester council estate, there were no working class families, no one worked. However I was taught morals and values, and my education was valued and encouraged by my mother who left school at 13 knowing how to read write and add up. The area in which i live (which i can afford) is a big step up from my council estate days is not the best and the parents at the school are a mix, some work, and like me want better for our children , they value their education, and have raised some lovely children, but more and more in recent years I have seen parents I cannot even put into words, effing and jeffing in the playgound in general and swearing at their child, who use the school as a babysitter, while they go back home and sit in each others houses drinking brews, and gossipping  and the children they are raising, ( not the childs fault)  I would not choose for my child to be around. 
It really puts me off sending her for her free place. Also the nursery care they receive although through play, I still see that the children are being made to conform at such a young age, I don't want my child's personality being "taught" out of her.
Whether or not mini man stays at the school is another issue I am contending with, but then again, most of the schools are the same and with him only having 2 more years left at this school, I don't want to disrupt the friendships he has made already.
decisions, decisions
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6 musings:

  1. I lived on one of those estates. Wasn't brought up on it but I was brought up in what was then termed a slum, in East London. People did work, though, but they had no choice back then.

    You're not a snob. I hate the idea of children being 'moulded' by mainstream school, too. Especially at such an early age. Listen to your heart and you'll know what's best.

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  2. Is there a private nursery near not attatched to a school where you can use your 15 hours.The kids there would probably be going on to all different schools and so you wouldn't feel as tied into the system.

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  3. Your not the only one who is having seriuos doubts about schools and nursery..my littlie iris is ready for nursery but the one that will take her is awful ..well imho..the kids seem to run around with no supervision and even in the bitter cold some of them were out with no coats on..i did go to have a look but was horrified at it..so many children running around and the assistants were looking totally overwhelmed..my other concern is my other girl..she just isn't getting attention..sounds awful but she is very quiet and at parents evening she was criticized because of it...she seems to get left out of things because of it..so i have taken to teaching her at home at weekends..her reading and spelling have improved ten fold also her math is coming on..so i am stuck..do i take her out of school and teach her at home or leave her to be overlooked because she is a quiet child..very difficult..i actually don't like the school..and some of the parents are awful..more than awful really..i avoid them at all costs..
    you do what you know is right for your lil lady..
    sara

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  4. Sara, I feel for you and your little one, as a teacher i know that the quiet ones often get ignored, and a lot of the teachers time is spent focusing on the louder or disruptive children, unless you luck out with a wonderful teacher that tries to cater for the individual needs of the child, which is getting impossile to do , with rising class sizes and a teachers work load. drop me an email s.adetoro77@yahoo.co.uk and i will direct you to a lovely facebook group, they are so lovely, they will be abel to provide you with lots of info.

    Lin, I dont like private nursery's i have done some work experience in quite a few, and some have not been fit for animals let alone children, and others are so sterile, and regimented, they looked fab from the brochures/outside, but the children were miserable.

    Sharon, I think 3 is far too young to start nursery/school too, I have decided not to send her, and seeing that i will providing the same kind of learning (EYFS) as a nursery she wont miss out, anyway, even if i was not, I already do so much with her, that she would not miss out.

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  5. You are her mother and know whats best for her.
    Trust you gut feeling
    You are not a snob wanting in the best for her
    you only get one crack at raising them, go with what you think is the best for her.
    You are such a good mother and your values are spot on ; I admire you tremendously.

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  6. Lizzie thank you so much xxx i have been busy looking at a new school for mini man too, his dad would fight me if i was to home school him, but I am trying to find the best of a bad lot, hoping to get the bal rolling properly tomorrow, i wish i would have done this sooner, but with working before all my energy was zapped.

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