Nicole Thompson considers how we teach our children that manners matter. A single voice pierced the muffled sounds of the airport terminal, and my ears pricked up instinctively. “Lucy, no! Remember your manners,” the voice shouted. “Say, ‘Please, Mummy’.” My son and I turned to fix...
Professor Helen Wildy explains how assessing children as they start school can have a positive and long-term impact on their education. I am intensely interested in the early years of schooling, particularly now that I have two young grandchildren. I have never doubted that the first...
Amanda Walsh questions why parents are more hesitant to raise problems they have with a childcare centre than they would be with any other service provider. You’re a parent, a partner, a worker, a student – there are an awful lot of titles and roles that...
Gemma Rolleman faces up to the fact she no longer has all the answers to her kids’ questions. It’s a sad day when your eight-year-old son turns to you for help with maths homework that might as well have been written in ancient Greek. For no...
When Eliza Johnson’s son was hit by a car, her first-aid skills steered them through the shock and adrenalin. my first-aid training gave my fear a practical focus. About a year ago, I was paying the restaurant bill while my husband took our one and two-year-old sons...
Supratik Mukherji believes adding some history and mystery to maths would make it more meaningful and engaging. As a child, I shunned maths as much as I could. My introduction to its concepts and topics in the classroom was formal, dry and devoid of hands-on verification....
Anna Spunde finds that compromise is key in her search for the ideal childcare centre. In my child-free youth, I had strong ideas about what kind of mother I would be. I’d never raise my voice nor plonk my child in front of the TV, and I’d instil...
Kris Bordessa’s sons have a tendency towards truncation in their communication The bright, bold colours of billboards and street signs intrigued my oldest son, Brad, long before he could read. “What does that say, Mum?” he’d ask from the back seat as we whizzed down the...
Damon Young looks at art education and how children can be encouraged to see and experience works of art, developing their own responses to them. A few years ago, I visited a huge Picasso exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). It was an overflowing,...
The Australian Government's Office of the eSafety Commissioner provides Rosie's top tips for parents. Finding out your child is being cyberbullied must be heartbreaking. As a parent, I imagine all you’d want to do is take some kind of action to stop it—and stop them from...
