From shopping lists to jokes on the fridge—learning how to be a confident and communicative writer is one of the most important skills students learn at school, report researchers Anabela Malpique, Deborah Pino Pasternak, Debora Valcan and Susan Ledger But NAPLAN results show a significant decline in...
Anne Woodin finds that her son’s ability to read creates good challenges for him, and difficult ones for her. When you are pregnant, you don’t think about actually having the baby for the first couple of months. During the last couple of months, it is all...
Sarah Halfpenny reflects on some of the more character-building experiences of her life. My first face-to-face encounter with Hector the Road Safety Cat was not a good one. Despite his daily televised preachings of road awareness in an attempt to save young lives, he almost cost...
Relax, say Amanda Levido and Aleesha Rodriguez, it’s just a ringlight for kids. Recent outrage surrounding a young children’s toy “vlogger” set echoes moral panics of the past, particularly when words such as children, play and digital come together. Aldi recently released a new range of wooden...
– but, asks David Burton and Kate Cantrell, is he a lovable larrikin, or just a bad dad? Bandit Heeler is a hero. The cartoon father of Bluey and her younger sister Bingo, Bandit is the much-loved dad dog at the heart of Australia’s favourite four-legged family....
In the new Disney Pixar movie Lightyear, time gets bendy, reports Sam Baron Spoiler alert: this article explains a key plot point, but we don’t give away anything you won’t see in trailers. Thanks to reader Florence, 7, for her questions. At the beginning of the new...
Here’s how we can protect children’s digital rights, reports researchers Tiffani Apps, Karley Beckman and Sarah K. Howard Schools’ use of educational technologies (edtech) grew exponentially at the height of COVID lockdowns. A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report has exposed children’s rights violations by providers...
This month we are looking at books for older readers, those eight years and over. There are lots of fantasy (mythical/magical) new books for this age group, many have sequels/prequels and have been adapted for the small screen. Many kids this age are dreamers, who believe...
Is this the game-changer for Aussie kids? Asks Wendy Boyd and Michelle M. Neumann Shutterstock Celebrations greeted Thursday’s co-ordinated announcement by the NSW and Victorian governments that they will invest $6 billion and $9 billion, respectively, to provide 30 hours a week of play-based learning for all...
There’s strong evidence that feeling useful builds resilience in children, but how much and what sort of work are modern parents asking kids to do? reports Andrew Trounson, University of Melbourne Next time your child complains about chores, tell them it’s for their own good. Giving children...
