Moorfield’s Toddler Music on Friday morning attracts a regular crowd of mini music makers.  Held in the school’s pretty dining room there is plenty of space for everyone.  Traditional songs to promote learning  give little ones a cheerful  introduction to singing.  The large choice of instruments for them to bang and shake produces a loud accompaniment to help the pianist!  A break for a story and then craft gives carers time for coffee and a chat before the goodbye singing end the session.

Anyone is welcome to come and the charge is on a ‘pay as you go’ rate of £3 a week.  This gives you the flexibility of choosing to come as it suits you.

Parents are always more than welcome to have a peep into the Nursery, which is next door.  Moorfield’s outstanding Early Years’ Foundation Stage is worth looking at.  A stunning building gives children space, light and access to the outdoors.  But this is only the start – seeing is believing.  Moorfield offers an education that sparkles with vitality and quality.

Go alsong to the OPEN DAY on Saturday afternoon, 24^th March from 2pm to 4pm if giving your child the best start in life is important to you.

Local mum Sara Muir opened a new Kumon Centre in Ilkley in January this year.   Sara says: “I am a part-time teacher and came across Kumon through my work.  The company originated in Japan and has been running in the UK since 1983 with over 600 study centres now in the UK.  I was attracted to Kumon because I have seen results amongst children of all ages and abilities in both the maths and English programmes.  This is because the programmes are tailored to the individual child’s needs with repetition encouraged until the necessary speed and accuracy are achieved.”

The programme caters for pre-school right up to A-level with the aim of getting children above their school level within a year. The sessions are not taught in a classroom style but instead children are given worksheets tailored to their individual needs with guidance on how to complete within a set time.  They are encouraged to complete worksheets every day at home and at the centre once or twice a week.  This should not take more than 30 minutes a day.

Classes are available at St Margaret’s Church in Ilkley on Tuesdays and Thursdays 4pm-6pm.  Contact Sara on 01756 796553 or at ilkley@kumoncentre.co.uk for a free assessment and further details.

Since 2005, the launch of NCT’s first strategy, the charity has doubled in size.  This growth and expanding role makes it an ideal time for NCT to re-examine its charitable remit. So the charity now has an updated vision, new priorities for the future and a strategy for the coming decade – to 2020.

Middle-age, middle-class

Belinda Phipps Chief executive says: “NCT is reaching huge numbers of parents right across the social spectrum, but is reputed to only be working with middle to higher income families. This image puts off others. We have been changing this, and want to go further still to make sure the means we use to reach people work for everyone. We need to change the way people see the charity too, so every parent knows they are welcome.”

New strategy

The charity’s new strategy includes a focus on growth, services and policy which benefits all parents, and partnership, working with a wider network of organisations and services to benefit all parents.

Belinda Phipps continues: “NCT has been instrumental in changing policy and law on breastfeeding but we need to be clearer that we provide support services for everyone. Our breastfeeding counsellors can help when you are using formula as well as when you are breastfeeding.”  The charity wants all parents-to-be and new mothers and fathers to know it is there to help.

NCT Whafedale is recruiting.

They are looking for volunteers to help them implement the new strategy locally and help the NCT to reach 20 million parents by 2020!  Local NCT chair Eleanor has taken the time to tell us more about the vacancies available.

Want to get back into shape after having a baby? Want to meet other parents of young children?  Local sling walks and pushchair walks organised by local mums are the answer!

Sling walks

Local mums Barbara and Sue will be leading sling walks once a month – every 3rd Tuesday of the month starting on 21st Feb.  There is a different meeting point each month and the walks will last around 1h.  As the name implies, you need to have your baby in a carrier.  For more details and contact details, click here.

Pushchair walks

The pushchair walks have been going in Ilkley for nearly 3 years!  They are a great way to get some fresh air and meet other new parents.  You don’t need to be particularly fit, you just need a pushchair and some comfortable shoes.  Teresa has been running these walks for nearly a year but she is taking a few weeks off now that she is expecting her second baby.  So, Barbara and Susan will be taking over.  Come and meet them every Thursday morning outside Cafe Nero in Ilkley.  For more details, click here.

Get involved

Do you organise a local group or activity aimed as local parents?  Let us know so that we can tell other parents about it.

Ella and her Wheely Cow

We, here at MoorMums, have been running the monthly competition for a year now.  So we’d just like to take a moment to sing ourselves happy birthday (it is also the website’s 3rd birthday this month – cards and cakes in the post please…), and think about all the great prizes we’ve given away!  Don’t worry, we’ve got some more coming too!!

Wheely Bug

By far and away the most popular prize was the Wheely Bug which was won by Hannah from Ilkley.  Daughter Ella has had hours of fun with it already and has personally thanked MoorMums for such a great Christmas present (pictured here).  Hannah said: “We were so excited to win the cow wheelybug. I had actually looked at buying Ella one previously but we couldn’t really justify it so it was great to win it in the Moormums competition. It is a really good toy that looks great and Ella and her toddler friends have had lots of fun with it.”

Photoshoot

In the summer, Faye won a photoshoot with award-winning photographer Cecilia Costello.  Cecilia met Faye and her family for the shoot.  Cecilia says: “It was a lovely shoot and the parents were over the moon with the images.”

It was really tough choosing the best one to publish here but this was the one we liked the most.

Vouchers and classes

There have also been vouchers for local shops – Mummy and Little Me in Leeds and Rugged Ways in Skipton – along with free baby classes – baby yoga and Splish Splosh swimming classes.

What’s next?

You’ve got to be IN IT TO WIN IT!  Closing date for this month’s competition to win a pass for 10 fitness classes is 15th February!

Also, we’ve extended the c-section competition.  So if you’d like a win a copy of Leigh East’s book, please enter here.

Feel like you’re knee-deep in noisy plastic toys?  Can’t get into the spare bedroom because it is piled high with baby paraphernalia?  Get all your old baby stuff down to a local nearly new sale!  There are a few coming up:

February

Bingley – Saturday 25th

March

Menston – Saturday 10th

Guiseley – Sunday 25th

Ilkley – Sunday 25th

April

Ben Rhydding – Saturday 28th

Do you know of any other local sales?  Share the wealth – send us the details!

UPDATE – Family Boogies raised £190 on Saturday 21st Jan!!! If you missed this one, make sure you go along on 18 February and 17 March 2012 and have a great family time whilst raising much-needed cash for Save the Children!

Jane & Andy

Guiseley mum-of-2 Jane started running the Family Boogies with her husband Andy after their second child was born 3 years ago.  The idea was to organise something the whole family could enjoy together over the winter months.

Jane says: “We’d both spent quite a lot of time in other countries where it was the norm for children to be with their parents at parties, music events, festivals and in cafes, restaurants and bars. The children had great fun, they did not need special ‘kids tunes’ or a padded play environment. Back in the UK over the winter months we felt there were very few affordable ‘whole family’ things to do – outdoor play was time limited due to the cold and most of the local pubs/ bars did not allow children in, indoor play areas! We felt that the concept of a creating an afternoon café/ bar/ disco (playing ‘normal’ tunes  ie not kids ones) for the whole family could take off and be a bit of a social hub for local families with young children to get together. We just had to try it!”

They have now been running the boogies once a month over the winter for 3 years.  They have proved really popular and they’ve also raised over £2,500 (prior to gift aid) for Save the Children. The families that come are lovely and the whole atmosphere is vibrant, fun and friendly.

The Family Boogies are held at the High Royds Social Club in Menston – it’s spacious, all on one level,  serves hot and cold drinks and snacks and has a licensed bar (all very reasonably priced!). In addition there’s free parking, baby change and food preparation facility and of course some great tunes! The large ‘disco’ area is usually full of families – kids and parents  up on the dance floor having a boogie/ playing with balloons or sat with their friends around the sides, catching up over a few drinks.  Jane and Andy would really like to thank the staff at the social club (Heather is an absolute star!).

The Family Boogies run from 3-5pm and will be on Saturday 21 January, 18 February and 17 March 2012. Suggested donations are £5/ family – ALL money goes direct to Save the Children.

Jane and Andy say: “We’re really grateful to everyone that’s helped us with running the Family Boogies over the last few years. We hope that the Boogies will continue as a community run event long after our kids outgrow them and would encourage families to come along and get involved.”

The award-winning baby signing classes, Sing and Sign, are launching a new class on Thursday afternoons in Skipton.  The classes start this month so get in touch with Mel to book your place.

Sing and Sign was launched 10 years ago in January 2001.  The popular and innovative classes were soon a success and there are now over 170 Sing and Sign teachers across the UK.

There are some great benefits to signing with your baby.   Signing babies can communicate complex things earlier which can reduce the potential for tantrums and your frustration as a parent.  Research is ongoing into the effect of baby signing on the development of a baby’s brain, with some experts suggesting that baby signing stimulates brain development and enhances the building of brain circuitry.  For more information about baby signing, read our feature.

Melanie Macauley has been successfully running the Leeds franchise for 4 years with classes in Guiseley, Otley, Ilkley and now Skipton.  Visit our listing page for details.

We’ve got a new special feature about physiotherapy for babies and toddlers contributed by Cathy Preston from Leeds Children’s Physiotherapy.

If you are concerned or unsure about your baby or child’s developement, find out more in our feature.  Here are a few signs that you should look for…though bear in mind these are simply a guide and do not automatically indicate that your child has a developmental problem;

• Floppy baby with poor head control
• Predominant use of one side more than the other
• Inability to turn the head to one direction
• Intolerance to tummy lying and difficulty in weightbearing onto hands and knees
• Diffuclty when nappy changing due to stiff hips, rigid or crossed legs
• Difficulty in holding a pen and slow improvement in handwriting
• Frequent falls or trips
• Co-ordination / balance difficulties
• Frequent reporting by your child of pains around the back, hips and knees
• Inability to interact with other children, join in play etc.

Thank you to Cathy for her contribution.  If you have any further questions, please contact Leeds Children’s Physiotherapy on Info@peakphysiotherapy.com or visit their website.

Hope you’ve had a great Christmas and all our best wishes for 2012.

The New Year is a great time to start a new class or try out a new group.  Look up our listings to see what you fancy.

Let us know if you have any recommendations so we can pass them on to others.