Preparing for primary school.

VickyA_2

Becles wrote: »

I've been a parent helper in school. Girls are worse - imagine sticking your hand down a dozen pairs of sweaty girls tights to turn them back the right way round - YUK! :rotfl:

*shudders at the reminder*

Thanks so much for reminding me about one of my least favourite parts of a school day. :rotfl: Thankfully, I have a sink with soap next to it for such occasions.

mrcow

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

I've just asked him what lunchbox he'd like and he wants my husband's Beatles one. It's metal though and probably not suitable. He's never heard of 'Cars'. We have looked in the shops and he's not interested in any we've seen so far. (Not sure why you thought I was deciding for him.

We have already ordered the desk. I'm not sure why you thought he'd have to sit at it on his own? He can read already (not fluently, but manages sentences with relative ease) and we like to snuggle on the sofa or in bed to do that, but I thought it would be nice for him to have a space of his own for if he's asked to draw a picture for homework. I don't want to have to break him off from it because I want to set the table for dinner. Doesn't sound like a foul swoop to me.

Hey calm down, I'm just giving an opinion

He's four years old. I just think it's a bit early for fussing about desks or homework. You'll be expected to read with him in his first year and perhaps practice spellings and probably not much else.

Most children will be able to chose the type of things they like in terms of lunchboxes etc is all I said. Most shops like supermarkets or toy shops have a pretty good selection of lunchboxes and bags. Even if he's not had any experience of the characters involved, he may still like the design. (eg. My son is a fan of Ben10, although hes never seen an episode of it in his life!). They just get exposure and and an idea of what they think is cool from mixing with other children. Most of the time, children want to conform to what their peers are doing. If not, just get a plain one that you both like - he'll soon tell you in coming years if there are any new characters he likes.

Gingham_Ribbon

mrcow wrote: »

Hey calm down, I'm just giving an opinion I am calm.

He's four years old. I just think it's a bit early for fussing about desks or homework. You'll be expected to read with him in his first year and perhaps practice spellings and probably not much else. And if he's learning spellings he'll need somewhere to do that won't he? I'm not expecting him to be writing essays or anything. I was asking how much homework they were expected to do because I didn't know.

Most children will be able to chose the type of things they like in terms of lunchboxes etc is all I said. Most shops like supermarkets or toy shops have a pretty good selection of lunchboxes and bags. He doesn't think so. He thinks they're all boring. Which is why I asked for suggestions. Even if he's not had any experience of the characters involved, he may still like the design. (eg. My son is a fan of Ben10, although hes never seen an episode of it in his life!). They just get exposure and and an idea of what they think is cool from mixing with other children. My son mixes with other children almost every day. He hasn't got to the thinking things are cool just because other people like them stage yet though. Most of the time, children want to conform to what their peers are doing. If not, just get a plain one that you both like - he'll soon tell you in coming years if there are any new characters he likes.

It's not a big deal. I just don't see any reason to shove advertising for films/cartoons etc down kids' throats because they're the only things available in the most obvious shops. ESPECIALLY if the kids don't like them. He mentioned the Beatles, the Angel of the North, the Humber Bridge and a bunch of bananas as things he'd like a picture of on his pack-up box. So we'll probably buy a cheap one and let him decorate it.

mrcow

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

He mentioned the Beatles, the Angel of the North, the Humber Bridge and a bunch of bananas as things he'd like a picture of on his pack-up box. So we'll probably buy a cheap one and let him decorate it.

Good luck with that.

Gingham_Ribbon

mrcow wrote: »

Good luck with that.

What do you mean? I have no idea what all this is about.

mrcow

I said good luck. It wasn't a loaded comment. If he wants to decorate a plain lunch box with pictures of the Humber Bridge, then good luck.

I know you said that you were calm earlier, but I am thinking that perhaps there is something else going on as you don't seem calm?

It's a lunchbox. Not a big deal.

There are hundreds of them on the market. Even if he just picked one from something he's seen at the cinema recently it's easy enough to find. Or your current idea is fine if that's what he wants for school.

sealady

[FONT=&quot]If you don't want a lunchbox with a character on it why not just buy a normal clear plastic lunchbox. Or something with his name on it http://www.shop-com.co.uk/Double_Lunch_Box-79545308-99065728-p!.shtml?sourceid=309.

You seem to be very concerned about a really simple thing.
[/FONT]

Gingham_Ribbon

mrcow wrote: »

I said good luck. It wasn't a loaded comment. If he wants to decorate a plain lunch box with pictures of the Humber Bridge, then good luck. I assumed by the wink that you were implying something but I couldn't work out what.

I know you said that you were calm earlier, but I am thinking that perhaps there is something else going on as you don't seem calm? No, there's nothing else going on. But your post seemed to be criticising me and I was trying to understand why, particularly about the desk which you seem to think will be some kind of prison where he's expected to sit and work.

It's a lunchbox. Not a big deal. I know that.

There are hundreds of them on the market. Even if he just picked one from something he's seen at the cinema recently it's easy enough to find. Or your current idea is fine if that's what he wants for school.

He's never been to the cinema. Like I said, I was looking for something that DIDN'T have characters on he'd never heard of. Totally off topic again, and this is a minor problem, but I don't see what the cinema has to do with lunchboxes. I was looking for something that he'd like, not something he's expected to like because Disney say so. There is no way on earth he'd sit through a film at the cinema. Not a chance. And at 4 years old, I didn't think that was unusual.

Gingham_Ribbon

sealady wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]If you don't want a lunchbox with a character on it why not just buy a normal clear plastic lunchbox. Or something with his name on it http://www.shop-com.co.uk/Double_Lunch_Box-79545308-99065728-p!.shtml?sourceid=309.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]You seem to be very concerned about a really simple thing. [/FONT]

That's the one. Thanks.

I really am not concerned about the lunchbox. I was replying to this:

He'll deceide himself whether he likes the look of the characters. Disney have really cool lunch boxes with Cars etc - he's a four year old so he's heard of those?

which implied to me that when I said he wasn't interested in the characters that I meant I wasn't. And that he should know about Cars etc when he's simply not interested.

Or maybe I'm just misunderstanding this winking smiley thing which looks sarcastic to me.

sealady

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

He's never been to the cinema. Like I said, I was looking for something that DIDN'T have characters on he'd never heard of. Totally off topic again, and this is a minor problem, but I don't see what the cinema has to do with lunchboxes. I was looking for something that he'd like, not something he's expected to like because Disney say so. There is no way on earth he'd sit through a film at the cinema. Not a chance. And at 4 years old, I didn't think that was unusual.

What kind of things does he read then if he has never heard of fairy tales characters. Not all characters have to be disney. Are aware that sometimes the children watch video's at school for educational purposes or on wet play days or as special treats