Our Blog.
Welcome to our blog. Here you’ll find news, updates and events relating to Little Cedars Day Nursery along with useful articles and information about childcare, parenting, nursery life, Streatham and early years education.
Contact Us
Little Cedars Day Nursery
27 Aldrington Road
Streatham
London
SW16 1TU
020 8677 9675
Email us here
Opening Times
The nursery is open
7.45am to 6.15pm
Monday to Friday
(Except Bank Holidays,
Christmas Week &
1 inset day per term)
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Latest Posts
Streatham’s Famous People
You probably thinking “Brad Pitt … in Streatham?” … but bear with us! In our last post, we discovered that a Prime Minister was based in Streatham Park back in the 18th Century and Sir Henry Tate, founder of The Tate Gallery and synonymous with the Tate & Lyle sugar empire, also lived here. Continuing with our famous ‘Streathamites’ theme, we now take a look at some of the other famous, influential or important people who lived, worked, or were born in Streatham. As it turns out, it’s quite a long list with some very illustrious names — and yes — the list genuinely includes Mr Pitt! Take a look:
Famous ‘Streathamites’
Sarah Beeny, the TV presenter and entrepreneur, lived for a while in Streatham before moving to Somerset.
John Torode, the co-host of MasterChef, lived in Streatham.
Simon Callow, the actor famous for films like Four Weddings & a Funeral, was born at Pinfold Road in Streatham in 1949.
Actor Peter Davison was born and raised in Streatham, attending Granton Primary School and later, of course, becoming Doctor Who and starring in many successful films, TV productions in theatre and on radio.
Edward Stanley Gibbons, founder of the now famous Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue used by most philatelists, lived in later life at Stanhope Road in Streatham.
Those who remember TV’s Ready Steady Go from the 60s will remember one of its co-presenters, Cathy McGowan, was also from Streatham.
Ken Livingstone was born at 21 Shrubbery Road, Streatham, in 1945 and also later attended the Philippa Fawcett Teacher Training College there. He was
Streatham’s Surprising History
Streatham has a long and interesting history stretching back almost 1000 years. On taking a look, we came across some interesting facts that we thought we’d share:
The Meaning of Streatham
Streatham was called Estreham at the time of the Doomsday Book (1086). The name meant The Hamlet on the Street, which was a throw-back to it lying on the path of an important Roman trade route, explained below.
The Roman Road to the South Coast
Image: Harper, Charles G. (Charles George) / Streatham Common
Streatham, as it’s known today, lies directly on the “The London to Brighton Way”, which marks the route of an important Roman road that stretched all the way from London (Londinium back then), through Streatham, Croydon, Caterham, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and Hassocks (then the site of a large Roman cemetery) to the south coast. It ended up somewhere between Portslade and Brighton. It’s highly likely that, during Roman times, the southern-most arrival point was at an important port, possibly then known as Novus Portus, but which has long since been lost to the sea. This route from Streatham to the south coast eventually influenced the route of what is now the A23 – an incredibly important route today.
Streatham was in Surrey
It may be a surprise to learn that Streatham used to be in Surrey. Subsequently, in 1889, it became part of the County of London and then later, in 1965, part of Greater London. Now, of course, it’s mostly part of the London Borough of Lambeth with a few parts of it extending into the London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham’s Springs & Wells
Image: Nicky Johns / Rookery Well, Streatham
Streatham boasts its own natural springs, first discovered when a farmer was ploughing a boggy field. Places like Wellfield Road are, indeed, so named because of their important position along the main route from the village to one of the busier natural springs. Another spring was located at the southern side of Streatham Common in the spot now known as The Rookery. These Streatham Wells, first became popular during the 18th Century. Although not pleasant to taste or smell, the spring water was believed to be good for health and soon the surrounding area began to be gentrified due to the popularity of the spa. Wealthy London merchants were attracted into the area from places like the City and soon many had what were then country residences in Streatham, this period being before
Dyslexia – How to Spot the Early Warning Signs
A dictionary defines dyslexia as “a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence”. When it first came to the attention of doctors in the late 19th Century, it was more commonly referred to as “Word Blindness”, which pretty much sums up how dyslexia affects people afflicted by it.
The Adverse Effects of Dyslexia
Those are incredibly unfair ramifications and that’s why we are taking a closer look at how parents, carers and education professionals can learn to spot the signs of dyslexia early, so that dyslexic children can be helped as soon as possible.
Rough Guide to Teething
When Does Teething Start?
Teething is the process of the milk teeth beginning to “erupt” (protrude) through the gums into plain sight. It usually begins when children reach the age of about 6 months. It varies, though, with some children even being born with one or more teeth. For each tooth that erupts, the teething process takes about 8 days, including roughly 4 days before the tooth is visibly protruding through the gum and 4 days where it moves through and into plain sight. During the 8 days, an “eruption cyst” (a bluey-grey colouration) may be visible on the gum in the area concerned. Of course, all of this can be uncomfortable and painful for the baby, particularly when the larger, back teeth come through — but it’s something we all go through. Ultimately, babies will usually end up with 10 milk teeth in the upper jaw and 10 in the lower by the time they’re 2½ to 3 years of age.
What are the Signs of Teething?
How Can You Help a Teething Baby?
Parents can help teething babies in several ways. Distraction is a powerful tool, so anything that will distract the baby from their discomfort can help — for example,
The Benefits of Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is nature’s perfect way of giving babies exactly what they need to thrive. Indeed, a mother’s milk is automatically tailored to suit the baby as it gets older, gradually adapting to the baby’s changing needs as they grow. That’s incredible when you think about it.
Breastfeeding has an enormous range of benefits to the baby — perhaps many more than most people realise. What’s more, breastfeeding is hugely beneficial to the mother too. In this article, we’ll explain the many benefits of breastfeeding in detail, so mums are well-informed, enabling easier decisions around breastfeeding and how long to continue it in a child’s early life …
Rough Guide to Weaning
The Cambridge Dictionary defines weaning as “the act or process of causing a baby or young animal to stop feeding on its mother’s milk and to start eating other food.” It’s all about babies moving from a liquid, milk-only diet to a more varied diet that includes “solid” foods (albeit usually mashed or blended initially).
Also known as complementary feeding, weaning is an important milestone for any parent or baby and usually occurs when the baby reaches the age of about 6 months. Sometimes babies simply tire of milk and weaning thereby comes naturally. In other cases, a baby needs a bit more encouragement to make their transition towards solids. Here, we’ll explore the whole topic of weaning in more detail, including ways parents can help to make the transition smoothly and stress-free for all parties.
How to Help the Weaning Process
First off, parents must realise that weaning is a gradual process i.e. there is a period of overlap where baby continues to drink milk and starts eating other foods. Usually, he or she will gradually eat a greater proportion of solids and less and less milk as time goes by, as opposed to suddenly changing from one to the other in one huge leap. So, weaning is a process, not a single step.
Moving to solid food can be exciting, surprising, confusing, hideous or anything in between for the baby. The world of textured food and new flavours is a whole new experience for baby; each mouthful can represent an explosion of new flavours, textures and adventure. This can be wonderful, or sometimes troubling to the child, depending on the individual and, of course, the tastes and textures involved. Therefore, starting slowly with tiny steps is fine; it’s OK if the baby does not want to eat much at first. They’ll gradually catch on as they get used to this brand new concept.
Remember that the baby will take a few tries before they perfect the art of eating solid foods, so they may unwittingly push some food out again at first. Until now, they have only been used to breastfeeding or drinking from a bottle, so pushing food out their mouths initially may not mean that they don’t like what you’re feeding them. Give it another try. You’ll be able to ‘read’ their facial expressions anyway. Those are the real giveaway as to whether they enjoy a particular food, or find it repulsive. Their reactions can also be the cause of much laughter!
Tips For Weaning Success
There are several additional things parents can do to make weaning a success. Here are a few tips:
Guide to The ‘EYFS’ Early Years Curriculum in the UK
All Ofsted-registered early years childcare providers are required to adhere to a specific set of standards known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (‘EYFS’ for short).
The EYFS framework sets the statutory approach required for pretty much every aspect of early years childcare and education provision in the UK. The standards cover the learning and development programmes, learning goals, approach to assessment, safeguarding, welfare of children, staffing, and much more. In this guide, however, we’ll focus purely on the 7 key areas of learning and development covered by the EYFS. Essentially, these form the core curriculum at nurseries like Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham. Let’s take a look …
The Early Years Curriculum
The EYFS’s early years curriculum requires a core focus on 7 areas for learning and development in children under five. These are all inter-connected in real terms.
First, the 3 ‘Prime Areas’:
These three areas of focus are considered ‘prime’ areas because progress in one will help towards progress in all the others. They are:
Kids Say the Funniest Things!
As every parent, carer or teacher knows, children say the funniest things! Particularly when they’re young, they tend to have a knack of being naturally comical. They can make you smile or laugh out loud when you’re least expecting it. With that in mind, here are a few of our favourite things that young children have said … enjoy!