Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)
  • Bloody 'wow moment' certificates
  • v8ninety
    Full Member

    So my five year old has had some of these shoved in his school bag along with a letter asking parents to fill them in and send them back to school when ‘wow’ moments happen. Now I might be just having a grumpy dad moment, but honestly? I know when he’s done cool stuff, and I big him up, lots. I’m not quite sure why we now need to formalise it in a written certificate and send it to school? We already read a book a night (and record it in a reading diary, ffs, what happened to enjoying books for the sake of them?), practice spellings six nights a week, and complete a weekly homework ‘project’ this is reception, for gods sake, I never did ANY homework (except having a reading book I suppose) until secondary school.

    Anyway, I’m tolerant of the academic stuff; I can see the benefit, I suppose (although; reception? Seriously?) But the wow moment stuff has just, well, bugged me a bit. It’s like the school is checking up on my parenting. I’ll do them, because I don’t want MiniVee number one to feel left out. But inside I’m all <grrrr>.

    Ironically, I googled to see if I could print them out at home, and I found the exact ones on a teachers resource site and the blurb states;

    WOW Moment Parent Slips – These handy WOW moment slips are a lovely way of showing parents what their children have done well, a behaviour management essential!

    Well they’ve switched that around nicely haven’t they? I’d actually be quite happy with that, they already aren’t impressing me with their feedback to parents; it would be nice to hear what ‘wow’ moments are happening at school.

    I might suggest that the wow moment system should work both ways.

    <\dad rant>

    nickc
    Full Member

    Same as gold stars, it positive reinforcement, innit. The point being that the parent/carer recognising the child has done “a good thing”

    It’s like the school is checking up on my parenting

    you probably won’t be massively surprised that school have to do this more than you’d expect. I’d say from the school POV especially in reception it’s a way of very quickly gauging the input they’re going to get from various parents.

    joshvegas
    Free Member

    I never did ANY homework (except having a reading book I suppose) until secondary school.

    I didn’t do any in secondary either.

    Thinking about it that might explain a few things…

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    mechanicaldope
    Full Member

    My girls school encourages us to upload stuff onto a kind of blog that they manage. Each week the teachers probably upload 2 or 3 photos and comments on what she has been doing each week.

    alpin
    Free Member

    It sounds pathetic, and maybe massively selfish, but the stress of schooling is just another reason I’m glad I don’t have kids…

    I never had homework till I was at secondary school. My S-in-L eldest (5) gets homework from kindergarten.

    What happened to kids being kids?

    v8ninety
    Full Member

    Same as gold stars, it positive reinforcement, innit.

    Obviously, I get that. But I’m perfectly confident that my current positive reinforcement strategy is working just fine, thank you. And it’s this encroachment into ‘non school’ related stuff that grips me, I think. If it was asking us to ‘wow moment’ times when he’s demonstrated his newly aquired knowledge and learning I’d be cool with that; they should stick to schooling and I’ll stick to the parenting. (Appreciate there are cross overs, but you know what I mean).

    Edit; repeating myself

    crankboy
    Free Member

    i think the wow tokens are silly and seemed to be used by some parents to brag about their lives from the ones i saw in crankbrats school , but i am 50 and the high point of praise at south ossett infants school when i was a kid was the teacher licking her finger and drawing a wet star on your forehead. Crankbrat appears to really treasure and enjoy being given tokens of praise and will modify his behaviour to earn them (most times.)

    nickc
    Full Member

    And it’s the encroachment into ‘non school’ related stuff that grips me

    From you’re son’s POV it probably isn’t a bad thing though.

    v8ninety
    Full Member

    From you’re son’s POV it probably isn’t a bad thing though.

    care to expand? I’m interested but you haven’t given me enough to go on. I’m confident that my boy’s life would be absolutely fine without the existence of parent oneupmanship wow moment certificates…

    yunki
    Free Member

    I think you’re mebbe being a bit selfish..

    It’s good for the kids to know that parents and teachers are working as a team..
    It’s good to celebrate kids successes as a group at school to develop social skills and groupwork, which will be vital later on, but try asking a reception class kid what they’ve achieved recently at home (or at school) and they haven’t got a scooby.. Their brains don’t work like that, unless they’ve got very very switched on parents who are training them up in a very dedicated fashion (one-upmanship in another guise)

    And as you quite rightly say, the academic acheivements in reception class are gonna be very dull and few and far between with massive discrepencies in ability between the various kids in the class..
    So it’s really really important to be looking at life successes alongside academic success at that stage of development..

    I’ve noticed a lot of parents who can’t wait to have a barney with the school about something that the parent thinks the school is getting wrong, which is fantastic role modelling for a kid and introduces the ‘school is shit and pointless’ mentality into the child at a very young age..

    you go for it though you thoughtless, paranoid lazy bstard 😉

    nickc
    Full Member

    I’m confident that my boy’s life would be absolutely fine without the existence of parent oneupmanship wow moment certificates…

    In the absence of wow certificates yep, probably. But they exist in his world now, and I’ll bet you money that when he sees other being handed in, and knows that he has had those experiences with you, he’ll want that celebrated.

    It’s only parent oneupmanship in your world, not your son’s

    v8ninety
    Full Member

    And as you quite rightly say, the academic acheivements in reception class are gonna be very dull and few and far between

    I certainly didn’t say this; reading, writing and numeracy have improved massively since last year; and these are praised and celebrated by both me and the school, rightly so. I guess what I struggle with is the line between school business and a personal life for the miniVees. I feels that school is for learning cool stuff and gaining skills, not wittering about (or concerning themselves with) the fact that ‘Johnny put his shoes on without any help’ (genuine example given by school). That’s parent stuff. Concentrate on doing good schooling instead, please.

    v8ninety
    Full Member

    NickC, I did say that I’d be doing them, for that reason. Doesn’t mean I can’t whinge about it though… 😛

    yunki
    Free Member

    WOW.. get over yourself

    30 seconds of your day to contribute to a school group activity that helps build your kids confidence and gets them to be able to bring some homelife into the alien school environment..

    It’s no biggy is it?

    nickc
    Full Member

    I did say that I’d be doing them, for that reason

    you did. and I agree that suggesting the school do them as well is a good idea.

    v8ninety
    Full Member

    😆 I’m over it already, and thank you for offering an alternative perspective which I can see even if I don’t entirely agree with, in true STW fashion. I’m still going to grumble about them to myself, mind you 😉

    kayak23
    Full Member

    At least they’re not ‘wow, just wow’ certificates.
    Now that WOULD be kin annoying…

    nach
    Free Member

    There should be some giant comedy opposite-of-wow certificate for whichever adult came up with this idea.

    mechanicaldope
    Full Member

    Maybe you could give him WOW achievements for STW approved actions… First Woodburner laid and lit etc…

    yunki
    Free Member

    Happy to be of service 🙂

    squirrelking
    Free Member

    Sounds like absolute horse-s**t to me and that coming from the father of a three year old that is constantly having WOW moments.

    If you don’t give a stuff about your kid you wont fill them in. The only people who will fill them in are those who do care and are prepared to go along with the idea. Some being much more embellished than others.

    That aside I don’t see how publically judging a child at that age against their peers is helping anyone. The first thing another kid might think is wow, I did that last year and then proceed to rip the piss out of the poor recipient. Never mind how a child feels when they realise they can’t do something their peers can (been there with mine already).

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    son’s POV

    Blimey, is this homework now?

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    Just send one back every time he does a big poo, reaches the height of himself when peeing against a wall, that sort of thing. They’ll soon stop sending them home.

    yunki
    Free Member

    The first thing another kid might think is wow, I did that last year and then proceed to rip the piss out of the poor recipient

    I don’t think you have a very good understanding of reception class children if you think this is how they operate

    Just send one back every time he does a big poo

    My oldest used to name his ‘creations’ when he was still potty training..
    I think ‘Giant beanstalk that’s grown right out of the potty’ was his best effort… or perhaps maybe it was ‘Grandma version 3’ 🙂

    squirrelking
    Free Member

    I don’t think you have a very good understanding of reception class children if you think this is how they operate

    No, of course I don’t.

    I’ve had to console my daughter when a certain 4/5 year old in her nursery repeatedly told her she was a ‘baby’ when she moved up into the older group.

    I don’t remember in the slightest kids getting an absolute ripping in primary school for being a bit slower to develop.

    So no, not a clue mate, care to fill me in? In the model UN already are they?

    yunki
    Free Member

    LOL calm down 🙂

    we’re talking about kids age 4 sharing their experiences under the guidance of a teacher during a group activity in class..

    You don’t remember reception class, cos your brain wasn’t developed enough to hold memories from that time, so no, you won’t remember any bullying..

    Kids are vicious little swines, but sophisticated bullying like you’re imagining just isn’t feasible for reception class aged kids.. they exist too ‘in the moment’

    As for the name calling your kid got.. yeah, I see that being upsetting for you, I know it hurts, my kids come home with lumps out of them physically and emotionally, welcome to parenthood!
    But it’s got nothing to do with WOW certificates which are just a tool for communication between parent and teacher about homelife for the purpose of discussion..

    no judgements

    you ain’t got a clue bruv

    jamj1974
    Full Member

    There is definitely too much pressure on children and parents in our education system. We support all the homework activities our children are assigned and it is hard work for them and us. We have at least 30 minutes homework per child per night. They are tired already when they get home – before any of the homework is started.

    squirrelking
    Free Member

    You don’t remember reception class, cos your brain wasn’t developed enough to hold memories from that time, so no, you won’t remember any bullying..

    If only that were the case. I remember certain things just fine thanks.

    As for the in the now things – yeah I’ll conceed that they are far more focussed on things they can get their teeth into straight away but that’s not to say they don’t have very long memories. My daughter comes home and asks questions about things that have happened or draws her own conclusions which sometimes need to quickly get corrected.

    There are plenty of other ways of communicating about home life that don’t involve meaningless certificates being “awarded”. Again, my daughters nursery manage to do this perfectly well.

    So yeah, I do have a clue, people in different life experiences shocker.

    yunki
    Free Member

    Ok, you misunderstand me.. kids remember plenty, shockingly so sometimes, but you probably won’t remember much stuff from when you were reception age now as an adult, so this

    I don’t remember in the slightest kids getting an absolute ripping in primary school for being a bit slower to develop

    is irrelevant

    And like I said, the WOW certificates are not awarded for merit, they are used for group discussion

    we’ll agree to disagree on your level of understanding if that’s ok with you?

    slackalice
    Free Member

    Given that anyone can become a parent, yet going for a piss requires a relevant NVQ, I would hope that these ‘certificates’ have been introduced to enable the school to get an early indication of how much parental involvement, or not, could be expected.

    Quite how they would then have the resources available to act upon their theoretical findings is another question of course.

    Somehow, I doubt there has been as much thought as I am crediting them.

    Just stop people breeding.

    poah
    Free Member

    They put them in because not parents are created equally, same reason they put in joint homework.

    v8ninety
    Full Member

    Given that anyone can become a parent, yet going for a piss requires a relevant NVQ, I would hope that these ‘certificates’ have been introduced to enable the school to get an early indication of how much parental involvement, or not, could be expected.

    So, just a symptom of our nanny state then? Cool. Why can’t schools just provide a good education? Who has decided that a school should concern itself with stuff that is not in its remit, like whether Johnny can get dressed by himself? 😕 It’s not like they are going to actually do much about it, anyway…

    onehundredthidiot
    Full Member

    It absolutely is the school’s concern. We have a big list of kids who are “at risk” a lot of that was picked up by frontline teachers.

    The wow slips do sound like they’re going the wrong way. Should be letting parents know when something cool has been done.

    yunki
    Free Member

    Why can’t schools just provide a good education?

    Mate.. you’re starting to piss me off now.. If you can’t see that some dialogue between school and home is useful you’re pretty ignorant..

    It’s a good thing

    yunki
    Free Member

    Why can’t schools just provide a good education?

    Mate.. you’re starting to piss me off now.. If you can’t see that some dialogue between school and home is useful you’re pretty ignorant..

    It’s a good thing

    EDIT: I’ve just been told right off by the other half for being so bull headed about this..

    I suppose it IS a lot of pressure on the parents, some of whom will be wanting to use it as an excuse for one-upmanship..
    But I’m putting a lot of faith in the teachers to use it as a modern day show and tell..

    You can’t ask a reception kid what cool things they did at home this week.. they don’t have the social skills to assemble information that is useful to starting the discussion.. So the WOW certificate gives the kid an opportunity to express something from their homelife..

    I’m a dick maybe, I think if the parents can’t think of anything to talk about then they need to sort their **** lives out..

    I done a picture of a cow
    I put a shirt on myself
    I tried broccoli

    It’s just an opportunity for group discussion which is a massive part of their education surely?
    Making it about home makes it easier for the kid to engage no?

    Anyway, sorry for being a dick.. But if you’re not trusting the school to know what’s good for your kid’s education (they spend more time with them than you do) then take them out of school.. seriously, WOW certificates are the least of your worries

    And if you’re paranoid that you’re not a good enough parent, then listen to that inner voice and up your **** game

    Edukator
    Free Member

    I’m so disappointed, I was expecting a thread about World of Warcraft, femdom (whipped, owned, wrapped) or at least some sarcastic or ironic uses of “wow”. But seeing that it is just some pedagogically dubious primary school nonsense I’m left muttering an underwhelmed “wow (man), just wow… “.

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