damzel

Are there any dance classes other than ballet or street dance? My 7yo daughter loves dance and has been going to ballet since she was 3 but as she struggles with coordination and instruction (she's dyslexic) it's getting a bit beyond her now and she doesn't want to go. Her freestyle dancing is really expressive and she is desperate to carry on dancing, but ideally in a more unstructured and imaginative way, so it would be great to find a place that uses this approach. Does anything like that exist? I wondered if any local drama schools incorporated dancing and singing, perhaps that would fit the bill.

Has anyone bought or sold a property through an online estate agent? There seem to be loads of them now and the deal of c?600 is extremely tempting when considering the usual 1% fee of a high street EA, especially when you consider the ridiculous prices that houses in ED are selling for. I'm wondering how much of service you get in terms of ensuring your potential buyer has a mortgage agreed and has a buyer for their property, finding out how long the chain is. And after the sale has been agreed, do they push the buyer through the process of getting surveys, instructing solicitors etc.? I'd be grateful to hear personal experiences of buying/selling through online agents, but am not interested in opinions of those that work for estate agents. Thanks.

Thanks hazelnunhead. The BBC dance mat typing I think would scare my daughter off as she would feel under pressure finding the letters in that way. Good tip about looking at dyslexia sites, stupidly hadn't even thought of that. I found Nessy Fingers which looks likes a better approach and I don't mind buying it if it is good - has anyone used it? http://www.dyslexic.com/nessy-fingers/ Read Write Type looks good too, shame about the American accent. Anyone used it? http://www.talkingfingers.com/readwritetype/RWT-learning-system.html

Can anyone recommend a good and fun online typing tuition course for a 7yo? Needed for my dyslexic daughter moving up to Y3 so she can type rather than write when appropriate. Thanks

Thanks for the history Mrs TP, I thought it must have been something like that but ?100! Wow, what a bargain! It really does look fantastic.

I visited the Wild Life Centre on Marsden Road at the weekend and am intrigued that the entire street of Victorian houses have matching wrought iron fences and gates. They are quite modern with wild life detail throughout - frogs on the gates and the tops of the fences shaped into leaves, for example. It seems unlikely that all the owners would have bought into a scheme as it would have been quite expensive I would have thought, and there are a lot of houses. Does anyone know the history of them? It really makes the street unique and looks great!

I think Reading Eggs is brilliant too and really helped my daughter who was struggling to even get started with reading due to her dyslexia (we didn't know at the time). I think you get a 30 day free trial.

Anyone else feel a bit disappointed? The nearest option for us is a bus from Oval. Shame it's not the Northern via Bank that they chose to include as there are loads more buses from Elephant. https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/images/nighttube-map.jpg

These ones http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000067.pl?WD=pheromone&PN=Clothes%2dMoth%2dPheromone%2dtraps%2d%2dpack%2dof%2d10%2dtraps%2d%2d%2dmothpherom%2ehtml#SID=187 I've been using them for 4 years and the moths love them

I use the moth pheromone sticky traps. They only attract the male moths but this prevents them from breeding (or is it the other way around?) It seriously cut down the number of moths year by year but suddenly this year they are back in avengence. Will have to invest in a spray too.

Thanks all, good to know it wasn't completely normal although I think I'll try the ginger tomorrow. Good luck to all of you who have to use it regularly, you have my sympathies.

Does anyone know if the hidious traffic this morning to Elephant is normal whilst the road works are underway? Or did I just get very unlucky? I left ED at 7:15am and got to work in the city at 9:30am. I've hurt my back so went to work today on the 40 because it was the only route I could think of that would guarantee me a seat, but it ended up causing me more pain bc it took so long! I think I would be in less pain if I had cycled in like I normally do (or stood for 20 mins on the Ginger line). I need to make a plan for the rest of the week

Well, the tickets are in East Dulwich. The gig is tonight at The Dome in Tufnell Park and I have hurt my back so can't go! 2 tickets @ 12.50 each ono I would hate to see them go to waste. Pick up only from near Dulwich Library as I am not very mobile at the moment. Typical that this is one of very few times that they send actual tickets and not an e-ticket that I could have sent anywhere. Sorry, I know this shouldn't go in General ED issues but since it's such short notice, visibility is better here

johnie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > DulwichFox Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > > There have been many road accidents where > > drivers were distracted by Graffiti. > > > > > I've looked quite hard on the web for evidence to > support this statement, but can't find any. Can > you point me towards the statistics? Thanks. Yes, and in particular, where the driver was stationary at traffic lights, looking straight ahead, thus seeing both mural and traffic lights at the same time (wow)

I loved it and it always created discussion in the car when waiting at the lights by the library. Has it really been there since 2008? I would have guessed 3 years, how time flies (arf). Is the scaffolding still up? Perhaps the white is a backdrop for a new mural.

Yes please extend, 5pm is really tight. My daughter loves Nimble Arts, my only concern is that she never eats much of her packed lunch, says there is not enough time. Perhaps she gets distracted by the excitement, she always finishes it at school!

Same story here - the areas of concern you mention are exactly the same as my daughter who is now 7 in Y2 and was diagnosed dyslexic last Sept. Through Y1 we suspected an issue and the school were recommended by Sunshine House to test for dyslexia (this is a school responsibility apparently) however the school said that they didn't test until year 3 or 4 which we felt was much too late, especially considering our daughter was fast losing confidence and was struggling to understand why she couldn't perform the same as her peers. We decided to get a private assessment which was expensive but worth every penny. Fortunately, the school accepted the assessment and my daughter now gets specific assistance with the dyslexia and (importantly) understanding and support in the classroom. I say "fortunately" because I found out afterwards that schools do not always accept independant assessments as they can be manipulated by parents who want additional support for their children who may not actually warrant it. However, the lady that we used is well known to Sunshine House and the school system so they were happy with it and actually pleased to have such thorough information to work with. I am still keen for her to learn to write so am holding off on the typing side for the moment (you can't type greeting cards can you) but as the work gets harder and the content more important, we will move to typing. Good luck Bishberro, it's extremely stressful not knowing what and if there is a specific issue. I have heard that some children are just late starters and it all starts to slip into place at around age 7. We are seeing a bit of that now ourselves thank goodness. I hate our educational system that has such high expectations of young kids - all this will do is create unconfident, insecure and perhaps rebelliousness from those children who arent ready at such a young age.

Annasfield Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not easier for girls in terms of makeup and > washing hair I do that before I leave home. I cycle at a relaxed speed so don't sweat enough to warrant another shower or make-up

I think its easier for girls, I leave bottom half in the office and take a top in every day. A male colleague just takes his shirts to dry cleaners in the city so keeps them all at work

No I don't think you are neurotic, judging by the fact that there were no posts but a number of PMs. Thx to those that sent me messages. Sorry I posted the question (what a sad world we live in). I won't post any areas or street names if anyone else would like to PM me with good family friendly streets.

I'm looking for areas in SE22/24 that are good for kids and families. Safe and friendly where kids can pop from house to house. I think the Abbotswood area behind Sainsburys probably ticks the box but is there anywhere else? Does anyone know if Greendale area is generally young or old generation?

Thanks. It was the stop cock outside that hadn't been opened properly. Needs to be replaced apparently as it is really old and hard to turn. I thought Thames Water had done our road?

Actually, I do have water but the pressure is really low

Does anyone else not have water on Landells Road? I had my boiler fixed earlier so it might be related to that but just wanted to check before I called them out of hours. Ta