Saturday's sound bites

There is so much in the news today related to families that I thought I would pick out a few of the sound bites that spoke to me and comment. So here goes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12509477
New reading test for 6 year olds to include non words.
I have a few problems with this:
1- why are we testing our 6 year olds?
2- all research I've read says that you can not accurately measure reading ability until a child reaches 7
3- most children look for meaning above and beyond their use of phonics
4- when will our teachers be allowed to focus on TEACHING?
5- measures are only useful if used for the kids, this is bureaucracy

And just to be clear, I will not allow Rachel to be part of any crazy testing undertaken not for her benefit


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12513403
Mixed-race adoption policy gets new guidelines
This is fantastic news, finally a child will not be refused adoption because a family of the sane ethnicity is unavailable. I always thought this was mad and I'm thrilled to see it being put right. Of course every child should ideally be adopted by a family most appropriate for them, with ethnicity being one factor, but that should not overly delay or constrain adoptions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12423543
Development fears over half of five year olds
This article is so disturbing. All the research looked at was how many children about to start school could " share, self-motivate, co-operate and concentrate". Something is going wrong if 5 year olds can't do this; but is the problem real or how it is assessed? I worry with these surveys just how informed the results are. The article focuses on the importance of reading to kids and regularity of bedtimes. I agree, both these are extremely important, but will Yet Another Survey really improve things? As chair of a charity preschool I know how often this doesn't happen, but with simple advice and nurture mostly parents start to change these things. I have to say, I would like more focus on the emotional intelligence of our kids as well, we seem to forget that empathy, security and nurture matter.


P