Tuning in to Kids is a parenting course that aims to give you helpful ways of teaching your child the skills of emotional intelligence. The program teaches you about how you, as a parent, can help your child develop good emotional skills. Developed by University of Melbourne researchers, it is a group parenting program that helps parents teach children to understand and regulate their emotions. Read full article
I am writing this post a day before my eldest son’s Higher School Certificate results are released. I’m still living in blissful ignorance but we’re expecting results in the disappointing to disastrous range. That’s okay. Yes really okay. My son and I sat down the other day and worked out a contingency plan in case we’re faced with the disaster scenario. He, however, is dreading telling others his results, and now wishes he’d worked harder. That’s a lesson he had to learn. What have I learned this year? Here are a few random thoughts. Read full article
According to Ali Macgraw’s character in the the 80s cult movie Love Story, ”love means never having to say you’re sorry”. Perhaps that’s because, according to Elton John, “sorry seems to be the hardest word”. I agree with the latter but not the former. While it can be hard to say, in our family, love means being willing to admit when you’re wrong. I apologise to our children ... Read full article
It was only last night that I was talking to a trusted friend about the inaccuracy and sensationalism in online and offline publications - especially their headlines. As a publisher myself I confess I do find the whole headline 'thing' a challenge. I can laugh at the silly and sensational and even salacious sometimes, even though I hope I will never 'go there' myself. But using headlines that misinform people about research simply for the eye-catching impact - please stop it. Take this one from today as an example: "Revealed - Marriage Breeds Better Children" ... Read full article
Ann Dunham (Soetoro) Sutoro’s life is changing the course of history, yet most people have never heard of this remarkable woman. When I first met Ann in Jakarta in March 1981, I had no idea how great an impact she would have on world history and politics ... We had an immediate rapport. Ann saw me as a young person who shared her idealism and passion for solving the problems of poverty in Indonesia. Perhaps I reminded her of her son Barry, born in Hawaii in 1961, a few years younger than me, and then studying and working in the United States. Read full article
It will sound like a pun but I just don't "buy" this - well not all of it. I love to read research about children's wellbeing and think about its practical application. So headlines about this new UK research caught my eye. For example this one: "Must-have possessions that make a child happy: Why the best things in life aren't always free" ... Researchers for the Children's Society in the UK* surveyed 5500 children about their levels of happiness (also called 'subjective wellbeing') and their access to material goods ... Read full article
Sometimes I think all children have double identities. There’s the ‘at home’ child, the one the parents know and love, and there’s the ‘out in the world’ child, the one that the rest of us see. Here’s what I mean ... Read full article
While the shift towards shared parenting is real, a recent study found “seventy-five percent of men worry that their jobs prevent them from having the time to be the kind of dads they want to be.” And when asked what single change would make the greatest difference in their ability to juggle work and family life, fathers named workplace flexibility as their top demand. The research shows that fathers are right to want to spend more time with their children. Read full article
According to current popular discourse, modern day parents fall into one of two distinct categories: relaxed free-ranger or over involved and controlling helicopter. And while much fun can be had satirising the extremes of either parenting style, missing from the discussion has been a deeper analysis of the larger context in which everyday parenting decisions are made ... When I examine my own parenting I find myself veering wildly between the two extremes, the parenting equivalent of the hybrid car. Read full article
"I don't know how you do it." I never quite know whether this comment equals pity or amazement, but my reply is usually, "I don't know. I just do it." ... Nobody has a one-size-fits-all answer of how to stop the merry-go-round, but there are ways that we can gain renewed patience and calmness, that have a positive effect on our children’s wellbeing too. Read full article
