I recently read Enid Blyton's 'Magic Faraway Tree' series with my sons and they were astonished. Not so much by the exciting adventures of Silky, Moon Face et al but more by the volume and complexity of chores the young protagonists were expected to do. Barely school-age children were chopping wood, preparing meals, darning socks and cleaning houses.
Topics: Parenting, Teens, Primary School, Preschool, Prep, Toddlers
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
Yesterday, I helped four Year 1 boys research 'toys and games from the past'. Last week I got very competitive playing maths games with Year 4 students. Next week I will be doing some one-on-one work , listening to young children read. I have little friends all over Primary who wave to me and share stories of their weekends, and a sneaky insider's knowledge of day-to-day school life.
Topics: Parenting, Teachers, Primary School, Prep
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.
Topics: Parenting, Behaviour, Primary School, Preschool, Prep, Toddlers
The term ‘fine motor’ refers to the use of the small muscles of the body. Any part of the body that uses small muscles, such as hands, wrists, fingers, feet, toes, lips, mouth and tongue, are covered by the term ‘fine motor’.
Topics: Primary School, Preschool, Prep, Toddlers
Is four too young to start school?
If your child’s birth month would make them one of the youngest in their class, would you wait a year and let them start Prep with greater maturity? Or would your sparky preschooler be bored and unchallenged by another year of Kindergarten?
