Naughty Nanna.......but doing the best I can!

I've still got all of the Thomas stories on old fashioned plastic LPs. Those were the days. Sigh.

Well, I feel battered and bruised but it's my own fault so I am off to 'Biscuits' and 'Mattress Toppers'.

I so agree that it needn't, and probably shouldn't, be all tv. Story tapes are great. They can do their Lego or toy cars games whilst listening. Good for the old listening skills too. Might even help with the ADHD!

You are bigger than that Teacher. Stick around. #hardshell

I've got a lovely plastic LP of nursery rhymes being sung really well by obviously professional singers. It must be fortyfive years old now. Kept DDs playing calmly somehow.

Not accusing you of being defensive teacher11 I think it is something many occupations suffer from, the "every single one's an expert" syndrome. We don't necessarily knock High Court Judges or even dentists or surgeons (although people do like to quote cases of appalling HVs or midwives or doctors) but on the basis that we have all been through school, have all "experienced" teaching, teachers do get a bashing in general.
However, disagreeing with one poster "doth not a teacher-bashing make" and I think my comment was directed more at imperfect27 who it seemed, sensed criticism of teachers in general.

Teacher11 - you should try being a social worker!!!!

By which I meant that if you want to know what it is like to be judged by the worst example - it was not an exhortation to you to join the SW profession!

petra one of the things that shapes my teaching is the cruel behaviour I experienced from a teacher when I was 8. I only had one bad teacher and one bad year, but that was bad enough. I am sorry to read of your awful experiences and not surprised they have left their mark. I hope my pupils will always think of me as kind and fair - I tell the stories of how nasty my teacher was to me and they are horrified - it is probably therapy for me .

I am often aware when talking to parents that some have a very negative attitude towards teachers, founded on their own experiences. If I am over-reactive, it is because I have been on the sharp end of what I can only describe as absolute nastiness from parents who are not prepared to help their children and actively disrespect teachers in front of them.

Equally, I understand we have to watch ourselves - there is that tendency, because we are so used to telling others what to do, to be heavy handed and for things to come out the wrong way.

Teacher11 and Alea thanks for the grammar and vocabulary lessons today .

Moving on ... does anyone have a song tape with 'Pooky-doodle puppy' on it? If so -title please. This was a favourite when mine were tiny - the repeat choruses seemed to go on forever, but it was very loved and I am wondering if /I can get hold of it for my DD and GS.

Well that took a while to read. Do I hate teachers ? Well only the 2 that made DS1 life a misery, but I would nominate another 1 for a sainthood that IMO helped to make my DD the success she is today. Teachers like any profession are all different. My advice to Teacher11 is lighten up, and change your username I hope you are more than just your profession.
With regards to the OP it's all about little and often no harm done by a bit of good children's TV. My big bug bear is small children given iPads and phones to use as a babysitter, I hate to see it in restaurants where the children are ignored. DD and DDIL feel the same way as do the rest of the family. When we eat out as a family we all interact and help with the children. Again it's all about balance, children should use these gadgets as they are part of life now , but they shouldn't be relied on.

A hated teacher? - please do not take this personally teachers who are reading this!

One of my DDs, who had problems with her eyesight and wore glasses, found reading very difficult indeed. Nowadays she would be classed as dyslexic and have lots of help forthcoming, but in those days there was nothing. There was a teacher at one primary school she attended who ridiculed and belittled her endlessly and destroyed her confidence. Neither my DD nor I can speak of this woman now without seething - and DD gets very distressed when she is mentioned. DD is a big outgoing personality and full if exuberance now, but still the memory rankles.

I remember one occasion when, at the age of about 10, she struggled her way through an entire (very easy) book and at home we all acknowledged her success with hugs and smiles. She came home from school the next day in tears as the she had told the teacher of her achievement and was told "Katy X has read dozens of books!" How to put a child down in one easy lesson!

I used to dread parents' evenings, not just with this teacher, but many others whose first comment whenever we entered the room is "She's not as bright as her older sister" - in the end I would just say "Is this relevant?" I sent them to different schools at secondary stage.

As a counter-balance, I had the same teacher for 2 years at the latter end of my primary education and I loved him unreservedly. Avuncular and tweed clad, with a pipe in his pocket, he was wonderful - Mr Farrell I salute you! And the skinny white-haired lady music teacher who told me I could sing and changed my entire life. Dear Miss Matthews.

There are excellent, good, indifferent and poor in every job, but the thing about teachers is that our precious, beloved DC and DGC are entrusted to their care.
I have encountered nasty ones and wonderful ones - inspiring teachers and absolutely useless teachers who failed children and blighted their choices for the future and may well have damaged their confidence.

Most of us probably have at least one teacher in the family, even if we did not choose that profession for ourselves. I hope the teachers in my family are excellent and inspiring!

However, very few people on here choose their profession or job as their username.

Quite right.....Perhaps at the first sniff of a criticism shower it is best to stick to biscuits and mattress covers. Then the shower will soon pass over. Don't rise to the bait????

However, very few people on here choose their profession or job as their username
(But some do remind us at every turn)
Personally I think I am much more than either a Mum/Granny/ teacher/ wife/dog slave owner/book reader/cook/ these may all be a part of my make up, but what I am is different from what I do/did.

Looking out for new members calling themselves 2nd handcarsalesman, dodgyestateagent, flashbanker or queenoftheunitedkingdom

It does seem rather odd to use ones former profession as a username, it sounds smug and that's possibly why some people's responses have been a bit snippy. We have doctors, dentists and social workers on GN among many other occupations but they don't bring it to our attention with every post!

I disagree with teacher11....some of the children's programmes are brilliant and educational. I was a teacher for 36 years and I see nothing wrong with little ones watching selected programmes. I have been amazed at how my 2 year old granddaughter has taken in so much. It comes out in her role play and in her talk. We spend hours reading to her and I would venture to say quite strongly don't just stick to picture books. She loves stories and non fiction too. Her vocabulary is amazing and she uses words like 'ingredients' which she has picked up from a CBeebies cookery programme. Anyway, they are so little and fir some watching a to programme is a bit of downtime. As long as they are having lots of different play experiences, both inside and outside, they are talked with, played with etc they will thrive. Rant over!.

Ok.. so most of us on this thread seem to have arrived at the consensus that, like dieting a mixed diet in small doses is probably the best. 'All things in moderation ' really applies with children's development, and no-one, surely, dumps babies and toddlers in front of the tv all day.

I well remember in the 70s loading the kids into the car and setting off for 3 or 4 weeks annual holiday which involved several days driving through France to S.Spain armed with endless cassettes of The Tales of Beatrix Potter, TTTE, etc . No earphones, so we all had to listen until after endless repeats of the Flopsy Bunnies, DH would be pleading for a bit of Nana Mouskouri, or, at a push, James Last. When all else failed there was always the default position....I Spy... aargh!

Nowadays it seems as if no journey with children can be undertaken without each one having an iPad, or a personal DVD player attached to the back of the passenger seat . The audio cassettes may have driven us adults bonkers, but at least we were slightly connected to our children, now they do seem to be oblivious of their surroundings, scenery or mum and dad. Don't get me wrong... I'm far from being a Luddite , I've enthusiastically embraced Kindled, iPhones etc, but this 'advance ' in modern technology seems a bit sad.

Apologies for wandering off-thread

Surely consigning teachers to room 101 is a bit harsh! Most primary teachers now are IMO absolutely wonderful doing stirling work often with difficult children.In our day maybe not so much, but we have all learnt things important to us in our school days. I could still name several teachers who have had a major impact enthusing me for a range of learning opportunities.

BTW I was a teacher too, but of adult learners coming back to make up for missed opportunities. They were a joy to teach.

Judthepud the children I most enjoy working with come from socially deprived backgrounds ... I was the child from the council estate with an alcoholic father, a manic depressive mother who was often absent through ill health (Dad used to take me to the pub to keep an eye on me!) and although I went to a grammar school, in the days where you really were made to 'know your place' I was ever aware of my background - I wasn't given the lead part in a school play in sixth form because ' You don't speak properly'. I HATED secondary school and dropped out during A-level years. I went back to college in my late 20s and went on from there.
I am now passionate about education because I see the value of it, most especially for disadvantaged children for whom it is a route to a better life. And I hope I can show some of the sensitivity and pastoral support that was so lacking in my own educational years.

Well, I have been accused of being aggressive, defensive, too pedantic, of hot housing too early, of being smug, of using the wrong Gransnet name, of being a bad teacher, of rising to the bait too easily and of of employing jargon. Phew!

I think almost everyone on GN is simply trying to do the best they can, be they on this thread a teacher or a gran.
I have always taught in the private sector and feel lucky to be able to just be ME in the classroom and beyond. Of course I still have to strive to make the pupils achieve their potential, and of course there is the occasional politics in the staffroom, and of course the parents are an issue. However, it seems to me we're all aiming for the best results possible - just taking different paths to reach them - and if it works for you, do it!

I just think that people who are trying to support an OP resent being lectured and spoken to as if they are children who know nothing.
That is probably what has annoyed other posters.

It is interesting to think about what education is for - I think that it is easy to lose sight of this. Lillie quite rightly says "we're all aiming for the best results possible" but I guess it depends what you mean by best results - it seems to have come to mean passing SATs and making the prescribed progress at each level to make the data look good for the school. There is also an element of rushing the children through - the concept that early and speedy progress is good and anything else is bad - thereby rushing children through their childhoods.

I am not blaming teachers for this - not all teachers buy into the edicts from above from politicians. But some do, and even those who don't are put under pressure to abandon their ideas of what true education means and to toe the line.

I find all this very disturbing and see some of the effects on our children.

From my point of view our poster Teacher11 gives the impression of buying into it and that is what I have been taking issue with. I would be interested to hear your comments about this.

I agree,*Luckygirl*, I think the national curriculum is far too prescriptive for the teacher and too limiting for the pupil. We should be allowed to take the good bits from it and ignore the rest. No one practises for SATs in my school but we achieve higher results than the school close by which spends months rehearsing the papers. This is in addition to Art, Music, Drama ..... even Jazz Dance, horse riding and other activities we enjoy. There is a way to incorporate it all and I am certainly not a fan of measuring everything by academic achievement.
Some teachers, usually the under confident or, dare I say lazy ones, just blindly toe the line and tick the boxes and others must get stressed out having to teach from a specification they don't really agree with ............ surely then it becomes just a job, not a vocation.

To Luckygirl.

My first and foremost priority for my own children and those I taught was that they should be happy, secure and comfortable as children don't learn unless they are. Once they were at ease my next priority was to get the children I taught the best results of which they were capable.

As the social worker above posted, those who work with the public are often 'damned if they do, damned if they don't.' You can't please everyone but if there is one subject about which everyone is an expert it is education as everyone went to school and everyone had contact with teachers.

To other posters,

I seem to have attracted extreme opprobrium for the views which I expressed and for some I didn't!

I am bowing out now. I have tried (twice) to resign from Gransnet in the past hour and am not having much success. Hopefully, they will delete my account soon.