If you were asked this off-hand: how many people are there on the planet? What would your estimate be? Seven billion? Eight billion? Chances are that this would have been a piece of general knowledge you are well accustomed with, so the answer would be on the tip of your tongue. But what if you […]
Category archives: parenting
Managing phone reliance
Media mogul Simon Cowell has reportedly ditched his phone for over ten months, and has been quoted to say the withdrawal from technology has been good for his mental health. Cowell expressed how irritated he was with the quality of interaction he had with those around him, and how – ever since he ditched it […]
Teaching Children the art of balancing
Among the useful life skills we can teach or children is the skill of learning to balance. Because life is about balancing. And when I speak about balancing, I don’t mean the physical skill if riding a bike or going about on a scooter. I refer to the skill of leaning on one set of […]
Quotes on Parenting
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. The best gift, and investment, you can give your child is your time. When we choose to be parents, we accept another human being as part of ourselves, and a large part of our emotional selves will stay with that […]
Before facts, teach purpose, relevance and meaning
How do we assess if children have learnt a fact or not? Usually it is their ability to recall a matching answer to a question we post them. “What is 10 x 10?” “One hundred.” (Learnt! Tick!) “If ten friends give you ten sweets each, how many sweets do you have?” “Er .. er… er […]
Why and how to encourage openness to learning
One of the traits that should be inculcated in children is arguably the importance of keeping an open mind. Why is this so? Well, keeping an open mind means being able to enjoy and welcome new experiences, which result in learning something new. Imagine two different children – one goes out of the house to […]
Different Parenting Styles
We often talk about the kind of child we have, but how often do you hear of someone talking about the kind of parents there are? Here are some common types. The Pause Parent Pause Parents somehow manage to stay calm when their children aren’t getting on, even if they’re hurling abuse at each other. […]
Managing Screen Time
If you feel like blaming your children or teens for their fixation on screens, just think of the times when you, as a sensible adult, have stayed up too late, against your better judgement, watching something unmemorable on television. Or the times you’ve been lured into checking out just one more Facebook post or YouTube […]
Some reasons for toddler misbehaviour
Limit-pushing behaviour can confound even the most attuned parent or caregiver. Why would our sweet darling throw her toy at us when we’ve just asked her not to, and then add insult to injury by smirking? Is she evil? Does she have a pressing need to practice throwing skills? Maybe she just hates us… Sensitive, […]
Tenets of respectful parenting
Basic Trust Basic trust means believing in your child’s competence and supporting her authenticity. It is believing that whatever your child needs to know, she will learn. In this way she will grow to trust in herself and in you. This will promote her feelings of security and allow her to begin to develop good […]