Numberjacks book/magazine

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Thanks Liz and Ali.
I must admit I never stop to look what's in Toybox!  I'll get it!
Yes please Ali, it would be good to hear what you think of the bumper activity book. What puts me off any of these is the mention of colouring pages, even stickers don't get me going although DS does like stickers (is there a child that doesn't?), but colouring in, he has zero interest (and tbh when there are free downloads of colouring sheets of every possible subject I don't really see the need for a colouring book, although he does have a couple).  The rest of it does sound good though.

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we have to act out roleplays with problem blobs and numbertakers

this is really amusing!  DS doesn't act out but gave us an entire run down of a blobber episode just after bath the other night, it's all very serious stuff!  I've just started to record a few episodes for him to watch at a convenient time of day and he just wants to watch the same episode over and over and over. As he is poorly just now he's watched 3 episodes of numberjacks about 10 times each today    Just seems pointless arguing over it, he does eventually wander off to play with an actual toy.  Today after a lot of sofa cuddles he didn't seem to need me so much and I went to the kitchen, he left numberjacks to come see what I was doing and begged for a cloth so he could wash the cupboard doors with me.  Numberjacks finished in the living room and he again demanded it was re-played, even though he wasn't watching it!  This boy is obsessed.

[*Ali*]

We watch it on demand on our tv service. There are a week's worth available normally. I  think you can get on demand on a computer too.

Ill give you a run down when it comes.  Colby lives colouring (well,  drawing tiny coloured circles over everything anyway) so he can make use too.

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Bit OT but it always amazes me when I see other kids focused on colouring or drawing/scribbling for a period of time. I remember seeing a little girl draw an intricate maze like wiggly line, one pen, one piece of paper, for an hour at play group. At snack time she had a melt down that she'd been interrupted.  She was a few months older than DS and I honestly thought he'd get to that stage of development too - well he hasn't, and that was a year ago.
I love the sound of Colby's little coloured circles

[*Liz*]

Megan went through the coloured circles stage. So very cute, and a nice change from the standard scribble!

[Buntybear]

Olly isn't interested in coloring in either. Managed abut 5 mins of painting today though but I have to be there painting too or he loses interest. Odd isn't it? Thought they would love the colours and creativity 

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Yeah, DS asks for painting frequently but he doesn't actually paint. What he likes is getting all the paints out, getting a big blob of each colour on his pallet, then doing ONE dab with each colour and walk off. That's IT.  If I do it with him and really work hard on making it exciting and directed and encourage him etc etc we might get half an hour but it's like getting blood from a stone.  His coloured pens he's always been the same, name the colour, take the lid off, do one mark with it, put the lid back on, next colour. It was never about drawing only about colour naming and fine motor getting lids on and off.  He does always look excited and enthusiastic if arts and crafts are mentioned but the activity itself fails to meet up to his expectations.

[*Liz*]

Sounds like it hasn't 'clicked' yet, but it will do at some point  . Jacob was like that for a while, and then just started drawing real pictures. He isn't much about creative effects - would far rather draw deadly creatures for me - no matter what medium I give him yk?

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This months Toybox magazine is a numbers one

We got it!!!!
I tried 5 or 6 shops, no Toybox, then put in an urgent request to my Aunt who works in WH Smiths and after a hunt she found one in a cupboard out the back which I think had already been taken off the shelves but not yet returned to the publisher!  Hurrah for Aunts 

We've only had a very quick flick through as today has been so busy, but brilliant! Thank you so much for letting me know, my eyes were so intent on finding Number Jacks each shop trip that I would never have even thought to look at Toybox.
 

[*Ali*]

We got the toy box mag too. Thanks Liz.

We received the numberjacks activity book but haven't started it yet. Had a quick look through and some of it seems similar to the stuff in the aforementioned toybox mag but some is drawing which is really too old for Cadan. E.g. Draw a picture of what humpy dumpy would look like if his legs fell off We could just about manage an oval I think.

I'll let you know how Cadan finds the book. He whizzed through a lot of the stuff in toybox until he got sick of Colby bothering him trying to colour on the pages and stick the stickers everywhere. We'll have to wait until he is napping next time.

[*Liz*]

Glad you both found it 

I got it for DD as she is hopeless with numbers. Wouldn't recognise one if she fell over it  .

I must admit, DS ended up doing most of it for her, and really it is a bit simple for him. Silly kids!

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I think DS will answer the questions on the toybox book but is unlikely to do the 'tick the box' or 'circle the answer' type things, in a way that's fine as he will just go back and do it all again another day without the answers already being marked.  I suspect he will struggle with parts, like 'which has most' questions but that's ok too, it gives us a chance to keep looking and talking about those things.  I find it funny how he can count, one to one count, add, subtract (small numbers) could put together say a group of 10 objects and another group of 20 but still can't say which has most from 1, 3, 5.  It'll be interesting to see how he finds the magazine.

I wouldn't be able to get DS to even draw an oval.  He just will not draw on request. he did it once (just before his 2 yr dev check) when I badgered him to draw an O, a circle, the number zero, no, no, no, then "can you draw Earth?" oh yeah, and did it. That was the first circle he ever drew.

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Liz, DS is just obessed, it's just his 'thing', he was reading numbers before he said Mummy. Honestly I gave up that I was EVER going to be recognised as a person with a name. At 18 months he could read and say 2 6 7 8 0 3 (he learned out of sequence), at 20 months knew all the numbers to ten, could read and say 18 letters of the alphabet (the rest came at 21 months, again out of sequence) but he didn't bother to say Mummy until 21 months AFTER he learned to count backwards from 10 to 0.
When I say he is obsessed with letters and numbers he really is.  I think kids just decide what they like and go for it.

[*Liz*]

Megan is more interested in letters, but obviously not great at all. I think she will learn by phonics and songs. She is quite musical, and very imaginative. She def needs to learn through play rather than out of showing any interest! Obviously at this age it hardly matters, but I still think it is really interesting how they develop.

She didn't really get the 'tick the box' thing, so DS did that for her, and he wrote all the numbers in for her. She managed all the shortest/ longest/ biggest stuff though - I think they had to stick a sticker to point at it? She did that easily.

My Mum (ex EYFS/KS1 teacher) says her practical maths is good, but the numbers part completely missing. She said she sat her down with 4 tubs and was asking her to put 3 bears in each dish, and she couldn't do it. She would sit and count '1,2,3', and then dump a handful of bear counters in the dish. So Mum would say 'no, Megan, 1,2,3 bears please' and she would say something like '3 bears, mummy and daddy and baby', then dump a handful in! What we are not sure is if she was taking the pee - she has a fab sense of humour - and we both seem to remember her denying she knew her colours for a very long time as well  .

Language is her 'thing'.

Anyone OT - but I just find this stuff so interesting - sorry 

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It really is interesting.
DS also dumps handfuls if asked to count into a tub, or to separate two different groups of objects (say blue cotton reels and red cotton reels) and yet one to one counted 50 chairs in the hospital waiting room with only maybe twice being corrected on what the next number was. I think with tubs he just doesn't see the point, it's as though he thinks "if you want them in there lets just put them in there" and cracks on with all of them, however if asked how many knives and forks we need to set the table he will count (in his head) correctly adding up mummy daddy himself and nana if she's here (so it is not always the same number) and will be able to get the correct number.  It's like he sees the point to that but not the point of tubs.
Separating too, he will separate the seeds from a pepper to bin the seeds, or make traffic jam lines of cars all of one colour next to another line of another colour, or he will take down and collect every blue magnetic letter and number off the fridge just because he wants to but asked to separate into tubs and he just says no or dumps them all in without separating.
Funny aren't they