Going to private school won’t make a difference to your kid’s academic scores, write researchers Sally Larsen. and Alexander Forbes In Australia, around 30% of primary and 40% of secondary school children attend a private, or independent, school. School fees vary widely, depending on the type...
We have a solution, report researchers Julie Sonnemann and Rebecca Joiner. Almost all teachers (92%) in our study out today said they don’t have enough time to prepare effectively for classroom teaching – the core of their job. The Grattan Institute surveyed 5,442 Australian teachers and school...
Don’t fret about buying the ‘right’ toy for your child, writes Nicola Yelland Besides the new COVID-era concerns about retail supply chains comes the age-old question: what’s the best educational toy to buy for the child (or grandchild) in your life? There’s a vast range of toys...
My daughter started to describe me as disabled long before I was ready to do so myself, writes Shakira Hussein For several years after my diagnosis with remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis, the most I was prepared to concede was that I had “a potentially disabling disease”, and...
Simon Ryan reports it's just the latest conservative book ban On March 1, 2022, Toby Price, an assistant principal at Gary Road Elementary School in New Byrum, Mississippi, faced a problem. The reader booked for a Zoom session for 240 grade two students hadn’t shown up....
Research shows that the first years of a child’s life may be the optimal window for establishing healthy eating behaviours. Like all child development, learning to eat is a skill that takes time and practice. As parents, there are a number of things you can do...
In Australia, on any given day, about 43,000 children have a parent in prison and there is no formal system to support them, wrotes Catherine Flynn. We have to use the word “about”, as there is no official process to identify this group of children. There...
Dr Jeanne Marie Iorio and Professor Nicola Yelland look at why living in the 21st century is so complex for children If you spend just five minutes thinking about young children, how do you see them? Where do you see them? Playing on the playground? Being...
Lisa Johnson wavers about giving straight answers to kids’ curly questions. “Mummy, what does ‘rape’ mean?” Five simple words, one short question, but when coming out of the mouth of a chirpy eight-year-old boy, quite disturbing. So disturbing, in fact, that my friend, the mother of...
It can feel overwhelming to talk to a child about difficult things that are happening in the news or at home. In this resource, we share suggestions for talking with a child about difficult current events, listening to a child’s feelings, and loving them during challenging...
