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Thread: A proud daddy moment

  1. #21
    Commercial Operator Rocky's Avatar
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    Re: A proud daddy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by ducasi View Post
    A friend of mine was "not brilliant" in class, and just as bad at sports. What could a school do to give him a chance to shine?
    Create a school forum and allow him to be a moderator..

    Polish his glasses so they caught the sun and sparkled..

    Light his blue touch paper and step back (on the left foot..)

    Pop a bulb in his mouth that was attached to two electrodes and a lemon...

    Let him pet the school's electric eel mascot...

    Clean the bare parts of his already receeding hairline with duraglit...

    Make him dress in reflective clothing and get him to direct traffic on important school days..

    Attach a miners lamp to his school cap...

    Allow him to frequently bend over to release the rays...

  2. #22
    Registered User Ghost's Avatar
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    Re: A proud daddy moment

    I think the importnat thing with competitions is to focus on the "good" aspects "let's see how good everyone can be and indeed helping your opponents to be better", rather than "winning at all costs" eg when I was in primary school, my friend always won the running races; so I got him to show me how he ran. I spent the year practicing and darn near beat him at the next sports day Another friend who was actually tired of winning showed me his technique for something else which let me win that 3 years in a row, before I got tired with it and passed the info on to someone else. In secondary school I used to play chess with the Kent Champion. She use to crucify me when we started 6th form, but again showed me various concepts and by the end we were about 50/50.

    I'm still interested in the techniques people use to excel at something. I know some weird stuff

    There's also the danger of taking the pleasure out of something.

    Oh yeah - forcing kids to compete
    Last edited by Ghost; 17th-July-2007 at 02:18 PM. Reason: Congrats to your son!

  3. #23
    Dickie Davies' love-child Cruella's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Lory View Post
    This was a major beef of mine when my children were at junior school!

    My son's dyslexic and found every lesson difficult and he struggled badly with confidence issues, as he wasn't stupid but when it came to sport, he shone out like a star.. or should I say, he would have done, if they'd have allowed him.
    Last night there was a sports awards evening at my sons school. It celebrated all the children that excelled at sport. My 11 year old won 'Player of the season' He was so chuffed. When he was having his bedtime cuddle, I said to him "clever boy" his answer was "Why? you don't have to be clever to like sport" He has always had a real insecurity about his brother being the 'brainy one'. This then led to a long conversation about people having different talents and being proud of the talents you have. (Still looking for mine though )

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    Registered User Beowulf's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    I have no problem with sports per se. Not everyone is academic and not everyone finds chess or mathematics enjoyable.. only sad geeks like me the point I was trying to make is that no matter what you do, running, swimming, chess, stamp collecting or morris dancing .. if you do it competitively then someone , somewhere and at sometime will come last. And kids being kids will pick on the weakest REGARDLESS of what it is you do.

    I got picked on for being lousy at sports, and I got picked on if I didn't win chess tournaments, or if I got a question wrong at the inter-school maths competitions.

    Congrats to Dan and Dan's son. Quite rightly he should be proud. Were I a parent I dare say I would be too. Competition does drive us to be better than we were by forcing us to improve but no matter how tactfully it's done every competition by it's very nature will have someone who finish last and kids will be kids and can be cruel I know this from many bitter years though primary and high school.

  5. #25
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Cruella View Post
    My 11 year old won 'Player of the season' He was so chuffed.
    Fabulous!

    I have to say, at my childrens secondary school, things were very different, as it specialised in 'performing arts' and sports. They used to have various award ceremony evenings, including a 'Non Academic achievements' eve.

    Which included stuff like.. 'most improved', 'outstanding effort' and 'personal achievement' awards..

    I thought this was a brilliant idea and I'm glad to say, also had many Proud Mummy moments
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  6. #26
    Registered User Beowulf's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Lory View Post
    'Non Academic achievements' eve.

    Which included stuff like.. 'most improved', 'outstanding effort' and 'personal achievement' awards..
    That is a good idea and they had that to an extent at my high school. I think it's a very fair way of rewarding effort. You could sail though some subjects barely ticking over and never need to exert yourself and yet win "top of class" etc. every time and yet the people who really put in the effort and study hard tend to go unnoticed and yet it's they who should be getting the encouragement and the praise.

    you don't have to come first to be a winner.

  7. #27
    Registered User Tessalicious's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Re. non-academic achievement awards - we had one of these at my school. It was later nicknamed the 'Good Egg' prize. The kids who got it were the ones who got picked on for not being smart, sporty, good at drama etc but desperately wanted to be involved, and as a result spent their social time helping out at all the school events as a scenery mover/stopwatch holder/other backstage role, usually working with the teachers. They then usually got picked on for being more popular with the teachers than with the kids.

    Basically, you can't win, kids will always pick on other kids. But it's important that everyone has a chance to find out where their strengths lie, and to be recognised for that, and school is about the only chance most people get to do this unless they fall by pure luck into the perfect career. So even though I absolutely hated sports day (as a totally unfit and clumsy teenager), I would never agreed with those schools that have scrapped it, because it's important for many kids in developing their self-worth.

  8. #28
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Tessalicious View Post
    But it's important that everyone has a chance to find out where their strengths lie, and to be recognised for that, and school is about the only chance most people get to do this unless they fall by pure luck into the perfect career. So even though I absolutely hated sports day (as a totally unfit and clumsy teenager), I would never agreed with those schools that have scrapped it, because it's important for many kids in developing their self-worth.
    I agree. I wasn't particularly sporty as I have a weak right side. I became one of the bookish types and one of the student librarians instead [ I found my perfect career here - so count myself very lucky indeed thanks to a couple of understanding librarians ])

    My school dealt with my weakness by having the PE teachers team me with the fastest runner and most accurate hitter for three aside volleyball, or other similar combinations for things like softball.

    For volleyball there was a definite benefit to the helpers... I was given an extra bounce on the floor rule - that applied only to me, so I had more chance to get to the ball so I could help them in return ..

    Cheers
    Whitetiger

  9. #29
    Registered User Ghost's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Beowulf1970 View Post
    if you do it competitively then someone , somewhere and at sometime will come last. And kids being kids will pick on the weakest REGARDLESS of what it is you do.
    The best solution by far I've found for this is older kids / grown-ups. The 16 year-old probably isn't going to pick on the 12 year old because he can beat him at chess, run faster etc. So he's more relaxed about helping give advice etc (and how to avoid all the fun mistakes they made) - they've picked up experience of what it's like to loose terribly and can be a good support when you trip over your own feet as the race begins . And they're a very effective deterent against other kids your age picking on you.

  10. #30
    Registered User Beowulf's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by whitetiger1518 View Post
    My school dealt with my weakness by having the PE teachers team me with the fastest runner and most accurate hitter for three aside volleyball, or other similar combinations for things like softball.
    My Highschool PT instructor (ex Army PT instructor.. and I'm sure he still thought he was putting marines through their paces) had a vindictive streak a mile wide.

    Diving for bricks at the deep end. I tried to tell him I couldn't swim. He said jump in or I'd get the belt for not doing what I was told. So I jumped in... and sunk very effectively (and drinking half the pool in the process)

    Same PT instructor teamed me up with the biggest largest most muscle bound brick sh*thouse of a guy for Rugby. The exercise was they start running you tackle them, get to the end of the pitch then swap roles.

    I was a geek.. he was captain of the school rugby team and looked like someone had shaved a gorilla and put him into a school PT outfit. I "tackled" him and got dragged for the rest of the pitch. When it came to my turn there was NO WAY on this planet I was going to let him tackle me.. so when I ran.. I ran like Satan himself was snapping at my heels with his hell hounds!!

    When the PT instructor came over to me and asked why I didn't run like that on sports team qualification day I said "I didn't have someone chasing me!" at which point he bumped someone else off the team, added my name to the list and said in a quite threatening manner.. "you're running.. even if I have to chase you myself!" eek !!

    As soon as I could drop sports I did. I became the bookish sort and ended working in the library like WT

    *as a side note.. I do recall the shaved-gorilla school rugby student being made to jog round the pitch at lunch times for the next week by the PT instructor (who co-incidentally also coached the school rugby team).. Hmm... I wonder

  11. #31
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Beowulf1970 View Post
    My Highschool PT instructor had a vindictive streak a mile wide.

    I think they all do - it must be part of the qualification process:
    "you must be able to recognise the weaknesses in your pupils and exploit them at every available opportunity, especially if it causes them injury to either body or soul"


  12. #32
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Beowulf1970 View Post
    My Highschool PT instructor (ex Army PT instructor.. and I'm sure he still thought he was putting marines through their paces) had a vindictive streak a mile wide.
    We had a fascinating lineup of PE teachers at my old school. The department head was booted out for attacking a pupil at one point. He was a vicious b*****d though - I remember him giving the belt to a kid beside the swimming pool, straight after the boy had come out of the water. Oh, and he wouldn't allow you to shout during football matches, which made things interesting.

    One other was booted out after being caught with a 5th year female in the showers, and one of the female PE teachers was, I'm sure, another kind of perv: she somehow always had a reason to come into the swimming pool hall during the boys' swimming lessons.

  13. #33
    Registered User Ghost's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Sparkles View Post

    I think they all do - it must be part of the qualification process:
    "you must be able to recognise the weaknesses in your pupils and exploit them at every available opportunity, especially if it causes them injury to either body or soul"

    They're kinda stuck against pupils who feign weaknesses to throw them of the track though.... (They're not blessed with an overabundance of intelligence either in my experience )

  14. #34
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart M View Post
    We had a fascinating lineup of PE teachers at my old school.
    So did we... Like Mr Reed... Tall, with sun-drenched olive skin, dark eyes and a wonderfully warm smile and always full of encouraging words ... he used to wear white tennis shorts and little white socks (that showed off his muscley legs beautifully )

    oops sorry, I was supposed to write something constructive, wasn't I?

    But I was just remembering why liked PE so much and why I used to try so hard
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  15. #35
    Registered User Whitebeard's Avatar
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    Re: A proud Mummy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Lory View Post
    So did we... Like Mr Reed... Tall, with sun-drenched olive skin, dark eyes and a wonderfully warm smile and always full of encouraging words ... he used to wear white tennis shorts and little white socks (that showed off his muscley legs beautifully )
    I bet they were propper short shorts too (like the ones I had for cycling) and not those stupid knee length things they affect these days.

  16. #36
    Registered User jockey's Avatar
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    Re: A proud daddy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Hudson View Post
    After a particularly hard week at work.. away from home for 3 days and not in till late on one...
    I managed to sneak out of work and get to my boys first sports day

    He was sooo excited that I was there and better still he won his spacehopper race!!

    I am a big believer, rightly or wrongly in competitive sports and that there should be a winner and a runner up etc.... the nursery found a good way to keep all happy! they made a fuss of the winner, then all the others were second winners and third etc etc

    Its amazing how something so small can bring a huge smile to the kids faces, I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the kids running around and enjoying themselves
    I feel just the same as you Dan..nothing wrong with sport..and that one of the great joys in life is sharing your childs enjoyment in something.
    Also, in my work (retail stall in shopping centres) many of my customers are mums with their kids in tow and I really enjoy the kids antics and their interest in the stall..Have you noticed how kids never WALK anywhere - they are always skipping, running, wobbling, doing hopscotch on the shopping centre tiled floors etc. Kids are GREAT! and do much to relieve long and, sometimes boring days at work.

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    Registered User Whitebeard's Avatar
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    Re: A proud daddy moment

    Quote Originally Posted by jockey View Post
    I feel just the same as you Dan..nothing wrong with sport..and that one of the great joys in life is sharing your childs enjoyment in something.
    Also, in my work (retail stall in shopping centres) many of my customers are mums with their kids in tow and I really enjoy the kids antics and their interest in the stall..Have you noticed how kids never WALK anywhere - they are always skipping, running, wobbling, doing hopscotch on the shopping centre tiled floors etc. Kids are GREAT! and do much to relieve long and, sometimes boring days at work.
    One of my favourite partners is a middle-aged kid. She skips as she dances just as if in the playground. But none of that comes through to the follow, which is as light and responsive as a feather. Wonderful.

  18. #38
    Registered User Rogboy's Avatar
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    Re: A proud daddy moment

    I'm now a (late) 30-something from a genreration where I beleve the rot started to set into having competitive sports in School both in schooling hours and after hours.

    I lost out at school due to the teachers not being willing to take on after hours training and, with no facilities or being told where to go to play cricket and rugby, lost the enthusiasm.

    I really enjoy taking my 6 year old to swimming and gymnastics. He has a natural flair for both and both his Mother and I don't want to extinguish that spark. He has all the modern trappings ( Playstation, computer etc..) and does regularly play, however we strike a healthy (and I stress ''Healthy'') balance between that and other activities.

    Needless to say we were both so proud of his End-of-Report for the year as he is a very self-concious boy when it comes to reading. writing even though he is encouraged both at our homes and at school...he has excelled this year.

    I can honestly say I had a tear in my eye when I read it

  19. #39
    Registered User Mezzosoprano's Avatar
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    Re: A proud daddy moment

    My wee girl (my eldest child) is starting school soon... We've just had her nursery report! It was full of things like... "will listen if encouraged"!

    But... now the proud Mamma bit...

    the travelling music teacher says that our daughter is her best singer....

    proud? I thought my heart would burst!!

    But being from a fine presbyterian highland home I just said "well done!" and gave her a hug

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