After church one Sunday, I watched an elderly lady donate $50 to sponsor a teenager on youth camp. "What else can we do for our young people?" she asked, "And how can we get to know them?". Despite a large contingent of teenagers in our church, I am sorry to say that 'getting to know them' is no easy task - the older members of the congregation would be lucky to even come in contact with one.
Topics: Parenting, Teens, High School, Primary School, Community
I have the school number programmed into my contacts so that when the school calls I know it’s them. Since my children are humans and not robots, I will probably get a call from one of their teachers at some stage to chat about some behaviour that needs addressing.
Topics: Parenting, Teens, Teachers, High School, Behaviour, Primary School
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.
Topics: Teens, High School, Primary School, Homework
Worry is a normal feeling that happens to all of us from time to time. As an emotion, it is our natural response to real and anticipated or imagined situations. We worry about something because we perceive it as a threat and worry causes us to focus on the issue or situation at hand. A little worry can in fact be good for us as it gears us towards taking precautionary measures such as checking the road before we cross or putting on our seatbelt when we get in a car.
Topics: Parenting, Teens, High School, Behaviour, Primary School, Preschool, Prep, Toddlers
Ever felt stressed out by your children’s homework assignments? Do you feel a responsibility for the work your child hands in?
Research from the UK suggests that parents who help their children with their homework may be having a negative effect on their children’s grades.
Topics: Parenting, High School, Primary School, Homework
Think play dough is just for pre-schoolers?
I am always amazed at how much time older children and even adults will spend happily squidging and modelling if they get their hands on it.
I have used play dough to divert teenagers at youth groups, as an ice-breaker at grown-up parties and as a medium for imaginative play and learning.
Topics: High School, School Holidays, Primary School, Preschool, Prep, Toddlers, Craft
