My daughter and I used to love going to the local 'Sewing Machine' shop. Sadly it closed down earlier this year so we've had withdrawl symptoms! 

I knew that The Wimbledon Sewing Machine Company had another shop in Tooting Bec for some time but since it's not quite on our door step we hadn't ventured there until now. And boy what an adventure we had...

Some children seem to grasp reading really quickly and need little encouragement to pick up a book and learn the words and phonetic sounds. However my son really struggled at first and in Reception there seemed to be a vast ocean between his reading ability and those of some of his class mates (mostly girls). It was hard not to compare them at first but soon his teacher helped me to see sense and realise that he would soon catch up and that as long as he was making progress that was great. 

She helped me understand that boys generally need to have fun when learning to read so she suggested he read to his teddy bears (with me being there of course). He was disinterested in reading to me so this really helped encourage him to read more regularly. It also got me thinking about how to have more fun with his reading and so we started playing the following games:

'Fun Pavement Sentences':

If the weather is good, get some chalk and write on the paving slabs outside your home. On each paving slab write a different word so that a variation of sentences can be made. 

For example: In the above photo, there is an option to start the sentence with 'My' or 'The'. Then the child can either choose 'cat' or 'dog' etc... therefore the children can compose different sentences/stories such as:

My dog hid in the tin.
The cat sat on the tin

etc.. etc..

Go with your child's ability however start with 3 letter CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words and high frequency words such as 'a, an, as, at, if, in, the, I etc..'. The children will soon grasp the knowledge of the phonetic sounds and grow in confidence!  

You can make the words trickier as the children progress.

My daughter just started Reception so we were doing this for fun at the end of the Summer. My son who is now in Year 3 still loved it!

Another variation of this is...

'Word Hop-Scotch':
Similar to 'hop scotch' you can write 10 'random' words in instead of numbers. Use a stone and throw it onto your 'word hop-scotch' and hop on your 'word hop-scotch' and instead of stepping on the paving slab your stone has landed on your child has to read that word when they pick their stone up.

CAT
BIG    HEN
HER
SAT    TIN
MUG
HIS   PAT
LEG

This game can also be played to help them with their spellings later on with different phonetic sounds to choose from to make up the word.

I.e.
For the word 'school'

L
O   OO
CH      K
S

I-Spy:
"I spy with my little eye some thing beginning with 'b' (phonical sound 'buh')" etc...

Practise their phonetic sounds by reading road names on your way to/back from school or nursery.

Next week, we will be enjoying the NURSERY RHYME Theme.
Here are some lyrics to some of the songs we will sing...

This is the way the lady rides
Trit trot, trit trot, trit trot
This is the way the gentleman rides
Canter, canter, canter
And this is the way the farmer rider
Gallopy, gallopy, gallopy
All the way into the ditch!
(don't forget the actions. x)

Hey diddle diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the dish ran away with the spoon!

Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly,
Lavender’s green.
When you are King dilly dilly, I shall be queen.
Who told you so, dilly dilly? Who told you so? ‘
Twas my own heart dilly dilly, that told me so.

Call up your friends, dilly dilly, 
Set them to work.
Some to the plough, dilly dilly,
Some to the fork.
Some to the hay, dilly dilly, 
Some to threash corn.
Whilst you and I dilly dilly, 
Keep ourselves warm.

Jack and Jill,
Went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down,
And broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got and home did trot 
As far as he could caper 
He went to bed to mend his head 
With vinegar and brown paper. 

Happy singing and reading everyone!

Love

Tabby x

Next week we'll be enjoying the Tabby's Tunes' TRANSPORT Theme, driving our buses, zooming to the moon, toot tooting down the tracks, meeting Adam the Astronaut, PC Stevens, Mike the Fireman and Bert the Lollipop man and riding our bicycles.

Richmond Park however is just on our doorstep! You can hire bikes for adults and children, helmets, tag alongs, trailers and baby seats for littlies from parkcycle. Just by the Roehampton Gate. 

In the Summer I believe they are open week days and weekends however now that's it's Autumn it's probably best to check their website before going: www.parkcycle.co.uk although I'm sure they're still open at weekends.

There's so much to do in Richmond Park. In the Summer you can take picnics however there's still so much you can do in the Autumn like climb trees, throw pooh sticks in the stream, play hide and seek and keep a look out for the deer. You might even see the stags rutting at this time of year!

Happy cycling everyone! In the meantime, please see below some lyrics to some of the songs we'll sing next week.

Love 

Tabby x

Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer do.
I’m half crazy
All for the love of you.
It won’t be a stylish marriage
‘Cos I can’t afford a carriage.
But you look sweet upon a seat
Of a bicycle made for two!

Zoom, zoom, zoom we’re going to the moon. 
Zoom Zoom Zoom we’ll be there very soon. 
5 4 3 2 1 Blast Off!!!

Then Tabby's verse:
Zoom, zoom, zoom to Earth we're going to go.
Zoom Zoom Zoom look out for a U. F.O.
5 4 3 2 1 Blast Off!!!

My Big Red Bus
My Big Red Bus
A little Morris Minor
And a Big Red Bus

My Big Red Bus
My Big Red Bus
A little Morris Minor
And a Big Red Bus


Ferrari, Ferrari.

A little Morris Minor
And a Big Red Bus!

There is a painted bus,
With twenty painted seats
It carries painted people
Along the painted streets
They pull the painted bell,
And the painted driver stops.
And they all get out together 
At the little painted shops.

So last week we sped full throttle into the new term with the much loved TRANSPORT Theme. We drove our big red buses, zoomed to the moon, met Adam the Astronaut, flew like Aeroplanes and caught the runaway train! 

Chugging on the train reminded me of our recent camping trip when we caught and spent the afternoon on a wonderful renovated Steam Train. Read below about our experiences with camping or skip down to the bottom for lyrics to some of the songs we sang last week at the TRANSPORT Theme.

Camping is a wonderful family experience. We started camping last year when my youngest was 3 1/2 years old. Many people camp when their children are younger but I'm glad we waited until all our children were out of nappies, generally sleeping well through the night and we didn't have any midday naps to work around. 

It's a lovely little sandy beach, with a cafe, an ice cream hut, a and rockpools too - perfect! There's even a place where you can hire kayaks. There were parents taking their young children out which looked like fun. £10 for an hour with life vests that could fit a child as young as approx 4 years old.

Last year the weather was just amazing, so most days were spent at the beach. However this year it was much wetter. The great thing about this area is that there are so many things to do if the beach isn't really an option - there's Monkey World, The Tank Museum which was fantastic - highly recommended! We even got to ride on a tank!

One afternoon we caught the wonderfully renovated Steam Train to Swanage. What a treat! It was a really fun family afternoon that was scrumptiously topped off with a good old clotted cream tea in Swanage.

You can visit Corfe Castle which the steam train can also stop at and there's even Punch and Judy on the beach at the end of the line in Swanage.

We stay in a very well organised, clean, tidy campsite called Wareham Forest Tourist Park. So far we have chosen to have a few 'luxuries' to sweeten the family camping experience. We opt for an electric hook up which means we can plug in a camping fridge and can easily charge up mobiles etc. However this particular campsite even has lockers where you can charge up phones, ipads etc. They have a heated pool, a shop and you can buy freshly baked croissants, pain au chocolate and baguettes in the morning. A fish and chip van arrives weekly every Tuesday too!

Camping is an adventure. The kids love it and you will love it because they do. Last year was so much fun because it was sunny every day. This year was much harder because it rained most of the time. Thankfully our tent didn't flood and there were lots of things to day trips that we could do.

So my tips for your first camping trip would be:

1. Borrow as many camping things from friends as possible
   
2. Only go for 3-4 days max.
3. Preferably have a 'tunnel' tent - the larger the better. For the four of us we were very fortunate to have been able to borrow a 10 man tent and this was perfect for the 4 of us. A 'tunnel' tent means you can stand up anywhere in the tent and therefore you are bending over less, so less aches in your lower back! (see picture of a tunnel tent below)
4. Before your trip, cook the food for your evening meals such as mince, ratatouille, chicken casseroles, pasta sauces etc.. and freeze them. Once you are there the food can slowly defrost in your camping fridge or coolbox and all you need to do then is re-heat your chosen meal for the night and to cook some pasta or rice to go with it and grate some cheese.
   

Here is our check list of things to take:

• tent (obviously!)
  
• mallet
  
• poles
  
• tent pegs
  
• camping/inflatable mattresses
  

Food items:

• (pre-cook and frozen meals for each evening meal)
  
• cereals
  
• tea bags
  
• coffee
  
• salt & pepper
  
• hot chocolate
  
• butter (put in a tupperware box)

The rest can be bought at the supermarket/shop when you're there.

Zoom Zoom Zoom
We're going to the Moon
Zoom Zoom Zoom
We'll be there very soon!
5 4 3 2 1
Blast Off!

(Tabby's 2nd verse)
Zoom Zoom Zoom
To Earth we're going to go
Zoom Zoom Zoom
Look out for a U.F.O!
5 4 3 2 1
Blast Off!

Chorus:
Oh you pretty Chitty Bang Bang,
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
We love you.
And our pretty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Loves us too!

High, Low, anywhere we go on Chitty Chitty we depend.
Bang bang Chitty Chitty bang bang
Our fine four fendered friend.
Bang bang Chitty Chitty bang bang
Our fine four fendered friend.

You’re sleek as a thoroughbred
Your seats are a feather bed,
You’ll turn everybody’s head today!
We’ll glide on our motor trip with pride in our ownership
The envy of all we survey!

Well Tabby's Tunes' Summer Term is nearly over, all change for September! Saying goodbye to children I have seen every week since they were 4 months old has been very emotional for me! However welcoming new parents, carers and children is always uplifting. Some of the 'babies' are now racing around on their feet, walking for the first time and moving up to the Toddler classes.

Last week we enjoyed the FOOD theme so I thought you might like some lyrics to some of the songs PLUS my Grandmother's much loved recipe for Watercress soup and a recommendation, a new food passion of mine - Guava Jelly! Both of which we enjoyed when some fellow parents from school came round the other evening for a hilarious ab-aching Soup & Cheese Quiz Night... I digress!!

Please see below the soup recipe and the lyrics.

LOL

Tabby x

Watercress Soup:

• 300g Watercress
  
• 450g tender leeks
  
• 50g butter
  
• 1 1/2 pints of chicken stock
  
• 2 medium potatoes
  
• 150ml double cream
  

Firstly de-stalk the watercress. This is the only time consuming part but worth the effort, sorry. Chop up the leeks. Try and use the softer most tender parts of the leek. Peel and chop up the potatoes. Add the butter to the saucepan and melt. Once the butter is melted add the watercress, leeks and potatoes and mix so that everything is coated in the butter. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over a low heat for 20 minutes. 

Next add the stock and cook until all the vegetables are tender. Allow to cool and then liquidise and poor in the cream.

Now on the evening of our quiz night I serve this soup with baguettes, good old mature cheddar and guava jelly. You just cut a generous slice of the jelly and place on top of the cheddar - delicious! 

Tesco certainly used to sell this however you can buy it on eBay or if you have a Portuguese or Brazilian food shop near you they should sell it. The brand of guava jelly I found was Predilecta.

Children and Farms are always a happy combination. We have been enjoying the Tabby's Tunes FARM Theme this week, so I thought I'd recommend a lovely Farm to take your children to. It's completely free and easily accessible from Wimbledon. You can either walk or get the bus there. We always walk, it's a lovely walk too, next to the Wandle river.

Dean City Farm:- They have sheep, cows, goats, alpacas, pigs and various poultry. So many animals to see, stroke and feed. You can even be a young farmer for the day, how amazing is that!

There are pony rides for under 7s and if you're 8 years and over you can have riding lessons!

The farm is completely free and is such an asset on our doorstep so please do make sure you leave a donation to help keep Deen City Farm running for generations to come.

So continuing the Farm Theme...here are a few lyrics to the songs we were singing last week.

I went to visit a farm one day
I went to visit a farm one day
I saw a duck along the way,
What do you think I heard her say?
Quack quack quack
Quack quack, quack quack
That’s the way she goes,
Quack quack, quack quack
Everybody knows.

Five little ducks
Five little ducks
Went swimming one day
Over the hills and far away,
Mummy duck said
Quack quack quack quack
But only four little ducks came back.

Four little ducks etc...
Horsey, horsey, don’t you stop
Horsey, horsey, don’t you stop,
Just let your feet go clippety-clop,
Your tail goes swish and the wheels go
round,
Giddy-up we’re homeward bound.

Chorus:
We ain’t in a hustle,
We ain’t in a bustle,
Don’t go tearing up the road,
We ain’t in a hurry,
We ain’t in a flurry,
And we ain’t got a heavy load.

Horsey, horsey, on your way,
We’ve done the journey many a day,
Your tail goes swish and the wheels go
round,
Giddy up we’re homeward bound.

Milk milk milk your cow
Milk milk milk your cow,
Sitting on a stool,
Squirting pulling,
Squirting, pulling,
‘Till the bucket’s full.
(sung to row row row your boat)

Happy singing everyone!

Lots of love

Tabby x

I've also included the words to 'We're all going on a Summer Holiday' so that you can sing it with your children in the park, in the car on the way to the airport or whilst building sandcastles here in the UK!

Happy eating and singing everyone! Have a wonderful Summer and hope to see you in September!

Lots of love

Tabby x

Well I can safely say we've 'got the T Shirt!'.

As some of you may know my family - son, daughter and darling husband are recovering from Chickenpox.

Recommendations from friends plus reading lots on the internet helped us to know how to cope with the symptoms of Chickenpox so I just wanted to give you a 'Toolkit' so you can be ready and armed when it's your turn to combat what can be a really miserable disease. Some children get it mildly so I really do hope this is the case for you and your children.

Unfortunately my children especially my son had it pretty badly so here is a list of medicine, creams/ointments & tips we used and would recommend:

• Calpol
  
• Nurofen (on the internet it advised not to take it "This is due to a very small risk of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, causing adverse skin reactions during chickenpox". This said, my son was in so much pain that a doctor said it was so rare to get a reaction like this that it would be best to give Nurofen to him so we did and it did help.
  
• PoxClin
  
• Eurax
  
• Metanium (for nappy area)
  
• Piriton
  
• Baths with Porridge Oats -  Yes Porridge oats. Put a couple of handfuls in a sock or some tights and run under the tap to make the water all 'milky'. You can also squeeze the milky liquid over their skin too which seemed to really help.
  
• Baths with Bicarbonate of Soda - 1 tablespoon dissolved in a bath. Although we preferred the "Porridge Bath".
  
• Ice-Lollies - nice and cooling and fun to eat especially if they get spots in their mouths.
  
• Lots of water/liquid to keep them hydrated.
  
• Dampened Cotton pads for eyes (My children got the spots all over their eyelids and you unfortunately can't put anything else near their eyes). 

Our children had high temperatures so we gave Calpol. We also gave Nurofen since they had terrible tummy pain and headaches. 

PoxClin helped at first and is so easy to use, and you can use it anytime they are feeling itchy. It's great and easy to use on their scalps. Once the spots had scabbed over the PoxClin seemed to hurt their spots. We even bought good old Calamine Lotion but this didn't help either. Eurax on the other had did. It was recommended by a friend who had been advised by a consultant, so there you go.
 
We used Piriton throughout (pretty much every 4 hours) to alleviate the itching. It did help.

Like most girls it seems, my daughter got spots in her 'bits' and we used Metanium (a nappy rash cream which is excellent). It seemed to sooth her and made us feel we were able to do something to help her discomfort. Baths with Porridge Oats in a sock really helped too especially at 3am!

If you or your partner hasn't had Chickenpox I think my husbands words would now be "Go get the vaccination"! He just kept putting it off and now regrets it. He was in a lot of pain but thankfully I had read that adults can be prescribed Antivirals but they must be taken within 24 (some say 48 hours) which we did. Even though my husband had a really tough 3 or 4 days we believe the Antivirals helped him enormously.

So here's hoping your children only develop a few spots and are hardly affected by them. Please note however that even though it is a very common childhood disease it really isn't a very nice one.

Listen, I am not a doctor and these are just the things that helped us personally cope with Chickenpox. Please read the NHS website for more info since it's really helpful and you will need to be made aware of the symptoms and know what to look for since children and adults can develop serious complication: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chickenpox/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Good luck!

Lots of love

Tabby x

As you may or may not know, Tabby's Tunes also does parties. Choose from a variety of themes. We can entertain your little ones, face paint, play a variety of games, provide the cups, plates, cutlery, napkins, balloons, tablecloths, a pass-the-parcel and prizes. We also make beautiful handmade filled goodiebags which always go down a treat! 

At the moment, the only thing we don't provide is the party food, drinks and the cake. So in case you are new to children's parties and would really welcome a few handy ideas and tips, here are but a few...

1. Keep things simple.
2. Prepare as much as you can in advance.
3. Just have 2 lots of juice, say apple or ribena
4. If you get lids and straws with the paper cups this obviously help avoid spillages but you can also write the children's names on the lids!!
5. Picnic food is perfect for children's parties, such as:

• Cocktail sausages
  
• Three different types of sandwiches (ham, cheese, and jam sandwiches perhaps)
  
• Cucumber and carrot batons
  
• Cherry Tomatoes (cut in half to avoid anyone choking at the party!!!)
  
• Grapes (again, cut in half to avoid anyone choking at the party!!!), orange quarters, slices of apple and banana (cut these up just before serving since they will go dry and brown and won't look very appetizing!!)
  
• Hoola Hoops, Pom-Bear crisps or something similar
  

Followed by...

• Jelly and icecream and/or
  
• Fairy cakes
  

A tip for the jelly and ice-cream:
If you have 10 children coming to the party. Make some jelly and set into 5 little jelly moulds/bowls. When you are ready to serve the jelly and ice-cream, remove half of the jelly from each mould/bowl and put them in the 5 remaining empty moulds/bowls and place the ice-cream on the other half, thus providing each little bowl with half jelly/half ice-cream.

If you have decided to make a cake, I can't recommend highly enough a book that was given to me when my son's first birthday was looming: 

You can buy it on Amazon for roughly £5-£10 and I believe you can even buy it on Kindle if you have one.

Oh and don't forget to have some food for the adults, something simple and easy like pizzas are always a good idea.

Happy Partying!

Lots of love

Tabby x 

Happy New Year everyone!!! 
I hope you all had a very happy Christmas and that you are now happily settling back into the 'normal' routine of school runs, playgroups and classes.

The Tabby's Tunes Spring Term has started and now the snow has arrived - such excitement!!!! So I thought you might like to learn the words to the song 'Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes' which we will sing in a couple of weeks for our WEATHER theme.

Below the lyrics are also a few 'snow games' which you might have already played in the park today. If not I hope you will enjoy playing them with your kiddiewinkles before the snow goes...

So, first of all here is the lovely little song which I hope you will enjoy singing followed by the games I hope you will enjoy playing.

Lyrics by ©Tabitha Blyth 2009

Games no 1:
'Big Balls'
Pair up into teams of 2. Each team has to make a snowball. The winners are the team with the biggest snowball. The game ends when the teams can't move their snowball anymore or they run out of snow!! (To make snowballs - first start off making a small snowball by compacting it in your gloves then place it on the ground and roll it around in the snow so that it picks up more snow and therefore gets bigger and bigger!!) 

Game no 2:
'Snow skittles'
Basically make piles of snow (at least 3) and ideally place a pyramid of tin cans on top of them - 3 on the bottom, then a row of 2, then 1 at the top. Make a pile of snow to mark the 'base' from which the children should throw from. Now the children just need to take it in turns to knock down the pyramids. The winner is either the child who knocks down the most pyramids or the child who uses the least amount of throws.

Game no 3:
'Snow jumps'
If your children love horses. Make some piles of snow in the garden or park for them to jump over with their imaginary horses!!

Game no 4:
'Throwing the hat'
Make a snowman (see below for a step by step guide and/or tips).
Once you've made your snowman, each choose a hat to throw 'frizbee' style onto the snowman. The winner is the first to get their hat onto the snowman's head!

To make a snowman:
You probably know how to make a snowman however just in case you don't, here is a step by step guide and a few tips:

1. Ideally you will need to make 3 really big snow balls, all varying in sizes - large (1-3 feet high), then a slightly smaller snowball for the snowman's tummy and then an even smaller snowball for the snowman's head. If you don't have much time just make 2 snowballs - one for his tummy and one for his head.
2. To make the snowballs - squash some snow in your gloves to tightly compact the snow so that it slightly melts. The snow will then re-freeze therefore gluing/fusing the snow together. Roll your snowball around in the snow on the ground. As you roll it around it will pick up the snow thus making your snowball bigger and bigger. Once the 'base' snowball is the right size and in the right place, you can pack some snow around on the ground to secure it in place if it's a bit wobbly.
3. Now start making the next snowball for the snowman's tummy. Make the snowball slightly smaller this time using the same technique of rolling it on the ground. When it's the right size place it on top of the first 'base' snowball. You may need to put some loose snow in between the 'base' snowball and the 2nd snowball to secure them together.
3. Make the smallest ball now to make the snowman's head. When it's ready place it on top of the 2nd/middle snowball (the snowman's tummy).
4. If you have a carrot this is ideal for the snowman's nose. You can then use buttons/stones/pebbles or coal for the snowman's eyes and also dot them into a smile underneath the carrot for his cheerful mouth.
5. Find two sticks and push them either side of the 'middle' snowball to make his arms.
6. Place 3 large buttons or stones on his tummy.
7. If you have an old hat and scarf dress up your snowman to make him complete!

Tips for making a snowman if the snow is too fluffy:
1. You can try compacting large amounts of snow together with a shovel. Once you've made a big pile, sculpt it with your gloves to form a large  round 'base' snowball for your snowman. You will probably only be able to make two large snowballs - one for his tummy a another smaller one for his head.
2. To make his head - compact another pile of snow with your shovel. It won't be a ball at this stage but you can hopefully lift it onto the 'base' snowball and then gently sculpt it into a ball to form the snowman's head.
3. Now you can follow steps 4-7 (see above) to make the final touches to your snowman.

Have fun singing and playing in the snow!

Lots of love

Tabby x

So, are you excited about Christmas yet? Is your little one going to be taking part in his or her's first nativity play? It's a special time of year and seeing your child in his or her's first nativity place is just wonderful, especially for us parents. 
My son took part in his first nativity play last Christmas. I thought I was going to be really emotional and before dashing out the door to go to the performance I grabbed a whole roll of loo paper!!! In the end I didn't need the loo paper. In fact I was in constant giggles because the performance was so cute. I actually tried to video parts of it for my husband who couldn't make it however giggling and videoing isn't the best mixture for producing an acceptable home movie! So I don't recommend it. Instead just make sure your other half is there, forget about the video and just enjoy it!

Top Tip - making an angel costume (one definitely suitable for a boy):
If you child, especially your son is going to be an angel, it's really easy to make a costume, here's how...

1. Take an old white rectangular pillowcase. Place the pillowcase on a flat surface so that the pillowcase is flat and in a rectangular shape (i.e. two short sides, two longer sides). Cut a semicircle at one of the shorter ends (start small as you can always make this larger). Because you will have cut through two lots of material this will then make a circle for your child's head to go through. If it's not big enough for your child's head to fit, make it bigger.
2. Cut a hole 3/4 of the way along one of the longer sides (nearest the hole for your child's head). Do the same on the other longer side of the pillow case. These holes are for your child's arms. You can decorate the edges of these new 'arm' and 'neck' holes with thin silver or gold tinsel. 
3. Cut off the bottom seam of the pillowcase (i.e. at the other shorter end of the pillowcase) so that it is like a tunic. The hem of this tunic can again be decorated with thin silver or gold tinsel.
4. Now all you need is a long white t-shirt to go underneath the tunic, (optional white tights if you can get them to wear a pair) and a white, cream or gold rope to tie around their waists.
5. For the halo - buy a dark brown/light brown (same colour as their hair) 'alice band'. Get a metal coat hanger, untwist it and bend one end around the alice band then bend the rest of it vertically and then make a circle. You can decorate this circle with some more tinsel.
4. Buy some fairy wings. You might even be able to borrow some from a friend's daughter.
He presto, you now have an angle costume fit for a boy!

We will be enjoying our Christmas Themed class in 2 weeks time! So here are a few of the Christmas songs for you to practice at home. I'll give you a few more next week. Don't want to over load you! 

Happy singing!
Love
Tabby x

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay.
The cattle are lowing,
The Baby awakes,
But the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
I love thee Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle ‘til morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer 
had a very shiny nose. 
And if you ever saw him, 
You would even say it glows. 

All of the other reindeer 
used to laugh and call him names. 
They never let poor Rudolph 
join in any reindeer games. 

Then one foggy Christmas Eve 
Santa came to say: 
"Rudolph with your nose so bright, 
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then all the reindeer loved him 
As they shouted out with glee, 
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, 
you'll go down in history! 

Dashing through the snow,
In a one horse open sleigh,
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing,
A sleighing song tonight.


Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.

Did you know that Miss Muffet isn't in fact afraid of spiders! Well not at Tabby's Tunes she isn't. Please find below the extra verse that I sing at Tabby's Tunes which you might like to enjoy singing at home:

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet 
Eating her curds and whey,
Along came a spider who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

The spider he cried,
And said " What a muddle, I only wanted a cuddle!"
Miss Muffet she heard,
Ran back for her curd,
And gave the dear spider a hug!

© Tabitha Blyth September 2012

When my son was little, his Godparents bought him 'The Macmillan Treasury of Nursery Rhymes & Poems'. It's a gorgeous book for children and I thoroughly recommend it. The children love it and we love reading it to them. 

As some of you know I have been teaching the piano for the last 9 years. Over the years many parents have asked "when should my child start piano lessons?". Generally I advise them that children should start having piano lessons from the age of 6 or 7 years old. Children can start from as young as 4 years old however it totally depends on the child, how dexterous they are, how much strength they have in their hands etc. Children that do start from as young as 4 years old are normally big for their age, advanced for their years, especially with a very good basic knowledge of maths which is key.

I started piano lessons at the age of 7 years old. There is no rush. If they are musical they will progress quickly. If you do start too early there is a risk that your child will get disinterested because they will soon start learning to play hands together which can prove frustrating for them which means they can loose their confidence.
 
If you wait until they are at least 6 years old they are much more likely to enjoy their lessons, progress quickly and their confidence and enjoyment will soar. 
 
Learning the piano or any instrument should be fun. If it isn't fun, they won't learn or progress. 

When your child does start having lessons they will need to have a piano or electric keyboard at home. Practicing is vital for progress, even if it's starting with 5 minutes a day.

With regards to buying/hiring a piano, of course nothing beats a real piano however if you don't have enough room for a piano you could always think about an electric keyboard. 

Of course electric keyboards are not as attractive as pianos and certainly there's nothing like playing a real piano however if you are pushed for space electric keyboard obviously take up a little less room. My only advice is that if you decide to get an electric keyboard it is really really important that you get a good one - i.e. that the 'touch' is similar to a piano's 'touch'. Basically the 'touch' is the feeling/resistance you get from the keys which allow you to play softly, loudly, to crescendo, to play staccato or legato notes. If the keyboard doesn't have this, your child won't be able to progress very far, not even to Grade one. Playing the piano is a wonderful way to express yourself so if your child can't do this they won't be inspired to practice and are likely to loose interest and give up.   

Playing the piano is a joy and a gift that I hope your children will be inspired to have and hopefully take with them into adulthood.

So this week, we'll be enjoying songs all about trains, buses, cars, planes and of course bicycles. Now, if like me you have limited storage for bikes this weekly tip that was given to me by some friends of mine might be useful to you too...

Top Tip:
When your child is at the age when they are wanting/ready to learn to ride a bike, you might be tempted to buy those balance bikes which are great however if like me you are limited with space, especially storage space you may want to consider buying a bike that is the right size for your child and make sure you can take the pedals off! Ho ho... This way, you only need to buy one bike. Your child will then confidently learn to balance, steer and brake. Once they have mastered all these things and are ready to learn to pedal, all you need to do is replace the pedals on the bike!! So there is no need for stabilizers!! which defeat the purpose of balancing and actually don't help them to ride the bike in the long run. Your child will be pedalling away in no time! 
Seeing your child ride his/her bike for the first time is very special. It's almost as emotional as seeing them take their first steps. Ah, the joys of parenting! x


Now here are some lyrics for you to enjoy...happy singing! x

My darling daughter got a bit carried away with permanent markers the other day and my laptop obviously looked rather inviting!!!!

Top tip: If this ever happens to you - fear not, toothpaste and a damp cloth gets the pen off the keyboard & surround. Managed to find a screen cleaner called Muc-off for the screen.

Extra bonus top tip: If your darling child decides to use your mobile phone as his or her latest bath toy and drops it in the bath along with the ducks and Gups like my darling daughter did about 6 months ago!!! Obviously whisk it out of the water ASAP, dry it off as much as possible then put it in a Tupperware container and lid (one of those takeaway ones is perfect) and place your mobile inside and fill it with uncooked rice. Make sure it is completely covered and then leave to marinade for at least 24 hours maybe even more!!!!

Talking of water, we'll be enjoying the Tabby's Tunes SEA theme next week, ooh aarrrh! We'll be dressing up as pirates and singing and dancing with all the fishes and sea creatures who live in it.

Here are the lyrics to Going over the sea, happy singing!
Lots of love
Tabby x

GOING OVER THE SEA 

When I was one I played the drum
going over the sea
I jumped aboard a pirate ship
And the captain said to me
'We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea.

When I was two I played the kazoo
going over the sea
I jumped aboard a pirate ship
And the captain said to me
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea.

When I was three I sang merrily
going over the sea
I jumped aboard a pirate ship
And the captain said to me
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea.

When I was four I danced on the floor
going over the sea
I jumped aboard a pirate ship
And the captain said to me
We're going
this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea.

When I was five I did a jive
going over the sea
I jumped aboard a pirate ship
And the captain said to me
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea
We're going this way, that way
forwards and backwards
over the Irish sea.

Well it was lovely to see so many little ones this morning enjoying the Tabby's Tunes FARM theme. Think the parents and carers enjoyed the new Peruvian puppets too!

Thought I'd share a scrumptous 'mummy moment' with you about the sun who's apparently my 5 year old son's new friend!....
Last week, I picked my son up from school. With much excitement he said "the sunshine is my new friend, Mummy. He follows me everywhere I go!" He then proceeded (with much energy as boys do) to charge back and forth on the pavement, whilst looking at the sun. He then said "See! He's with me wherever I go!". Bless. Don't you just LOVE those moments!

To bring a little sunshine into your lives, here are the words to MISTER SUNSHINE which will be one of the songs we'll sing for the WEATHER theme later on in the term.

Happy Singing!

Love

Tabby x

Oh Mister sun, sun,
Mister golden sun,
Please shine down on me.
Oh Mister sun, sun.
Mister golden sun,
Hiding behind a tree.
These little children here are asking you,
To please come out so we can play with you,
Oh Mister sun, sun,
Mister golden sun, please shine down on me.

We've finally done it! Tabby's Tunes has it's first proper website and I am so excited!!! I hope you like it. I'm looking forward to sharing lots of new things in my blogs. So keep posted! Hope to see you at one of the classes soon! Lots of love Tabby x