Fond Farewells: explaining death to a four-year-old

Kristy Diffey takes a direct approach to explaining death to her four-year-old son. Grief is a funny thing...

11 April, 2024

Living with a Hyphen: liberation or complication?

 Tamara Heath wonders if liberation equals hyphenation – or is it just more complication? For want of a better solution, my daughters have a hyphenated surname. And I am the first to admit the ‘double banger’ name can be more than a little annoying. It takes careful...

04 April, 2024

Multiculturalism through young eyes

Kellie Haratsis comes to understand that multiculturalism is normal to a five year old. Some changes in life are easy; others challenge our thoughts and actions. Recently, our family moved from the country to Australia’s largest capital city. We had no time to explore options for...

28 March, 2024

Defining moments in playground language

Kids have a tendency to give our language a whole new meaning, writes Donna Reis. At my children’s primary school back in 2011, maths lessons are gay. Salami sandwiches are gay. Ironically, boys playing with girls in the playground is gay. In the late seventies, when I...

14 March, 2024

Why we need regular reading tests in the early primary years

Struggling students need early support, reports Anika Stobart, if we want more Australian students to learn to read When you send your child to school, you expect they will learn how to read. However, according to 2023 NAPLAN results, about one-third of Australian school students can’t...

14 March, 2024

New evidence-based guides support Australian doctors help kids with anxiety

Professor David Coghill and Sydney Stevens report on the Australian-first guidelines that are designed to help health professionals treat and manage anxiety in young people.  Riley* is a 15-year-old boy from Melbourne’s outer western suburbs. He lives with his mother, father and two younger brothers. Riley...

13 March, 2024

Why are my kids good around others and not me?

Why are my kids good around other people and then badly behaved with me? writes Trevor Mazzucchelli Parents may be familiar with this scenario: a child is well-behaved at school and polite to their teachers but has a meltdown at home in the afternoon. Or they say...

07 March, 2024

How to make sure pocket money teaches your kids financial skills

When should you start?  Asks Robyn McCormack. How much should you give? Giving kids pocket money can be a really challenging decision for families. It raises questions about when to start it, how much to give and whether it should be tied to chores. As a finance...

29 February, 2024

How Taylor Swift’s brand could come under threat

Team Taylor – why Swift’s brand works so well There is no escaping Taylor Swift, writes Louise Grimmer. Even if you try to ignore the star, she is currently everywhere.  On the airwaves, on playlists, streaming services, social media, in the news, on the big screen and...

29 February, 2024

How do we retain teachers?

Supporting them to work together could help, report  researchers Andrew Kingsford-Smith,  Hoa Nguyen,  Rebecca J Collie  and Tony Loughland Australia is in the grips of a teacher shortage “crisis” according to Education Minister Jason Clare. Federal education department modelling shows there will be a high school teacher...

25 February, 2024