Why Your Child Should Play Chess

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Chess is often considered a game suited only to intellectually gifted people.  People assume that to play chess you must already have a rather high level of intelligence or at least be ‘a little bit smart’. While chess may be more instantly appealing to those whose minds already think in a strategic ‘chess-like' manner, research is showing that this increasingly popular game has significant benefits for everyone.

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Topics: High School, Primary School, Prep, Numeracy

Helping Your Child with Projects & Assignments

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When I was at Primary School, one of my favourite times of the week was ‘project time’.  It was when we were all given a chance to explore a topic of interest, in greater depth and to write and draw about it in our project book.  I loved the planning, the reading up on a topic, drawing or finding pictures and then laying it all out nicely with my best handwriting.  Sometimes we even took our project books home so that we could continue our work at home before bringing it back to present to the class.

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Topics: Teens, High School, Primary School, Homework

How to Help Your Shy Child

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We have a shy child.  She is the product of two parents who were both chronically shy as children and who are also both on the far end of the introvert scale. (Not that being an introvert automatically means you are shy, nor does being an extrovert make you immune to being shy.)  But there she is, your fairly typical shy child, doing her best to make her way in the world. 

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Topics: Parenting, Behaviour, Primary School, Preschool, Prep, Toddlers

"But Everyone Else Is Doing It!"

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I don’t think it matters if it’s the makeup on your daughter in Year 11 or the ice blocks with your Prep child, sooner or later your child will try and convince you that you are the ONLY parent drawing a line in the sand on any given issue.

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Topics: Parenting, High School, Behaviour, Primary School, Preschool, Prep, Toddlers

Leadership Skills for Headstrong Tots

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Most of my friends have had the experience of consoling me after I have been dealing with my daughter’s strength. “The force is strong with this one” seems to be a blissful statement that doesn’t even begin to touch on her perception of her capabilities.

I was fighting it hard. But for all my efforts, trying to teach this tiny woman with an iron clad will that she would submit seemed to be useless. I am a fundamentalist. And there was a part of me that believed that ‘good parenting’ meant submissive children. Enter massive issue…..my daughter will not submit, she wants to lead.

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Topics: Parenting, Behaviour, Social Skills, Preschool, Prep, Leadership, Toddlers