Blog posts for ‘Family Relationships’ 
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Stating the obvious...
Monday 14 May 2012
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Health, Media Influence, Parenting
Yes I know that a great deal of research is extremely useful but sometimes when I read newspaper headlines I just want to scream “Well obviously!” And at other times I seriously doubt the intelligence of the headline writers.
Two recent examples illustrate the cause of my frustration. The most recent concerned people who stay on in education longer. This, the newspapers report, “makes people smarter” and “results in superior memory skills later in life”. Isn’t it more likely...
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The family that eats together...
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Categories: Family Relationships, Health, Parenting, Role Models
The Telegraph last week reported research from nutritional experts in the United States which found that children from homes where the family regularly sits down to eat together tend to eat more healthily than in homes where mealtimes are not considered family events. Such children are also less likely to be overweight, and tend to do better at school.
The research from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, analysed results from 68 separate studies before coming to these...
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The secret to boosting children's reading & writing abilities?
Sunday 25 March 2012
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Parenting, Role Models
Once again the reading and writing abilities of our children are being questioned. According to Ofsted’s new chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw one in five children are still leaving primary school with inadequate literacy standards and will “have difficulty accessing the secondary curriculum”. In other words they will start senior school at a significant disadvantage. Sir Michael proposes to tackle the situation by raising the targets for schools. Does this make sense? Does raising...
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Term-time holidays -right or wrong?
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Parenting
InThe Independent last week it was reported that Education Secretary Michael Gove is cracking down on parents taking their children on holiday in term time. Headteachers will no longer be able to sanction up to two weeks a year for family holidays during those periods when the school is in session and count it as ‘authorised absence’, as has been the case in the past. The article suggests that 4.5 million days of schooling are lost each year by children whose parents take them on...
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Should children do homework in the Christmas holidays?
Monday 19 December 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Family Relationships, Homework
I’m actually a big fan of homework. I think the school-related work children do at home can be important consolidation or extension of what they have learnt at school. Time spent reviewing work at home can provide the valuable opportunity for reflection and reinforcement. Sometimes if your child’s interest is sparked by something at school, they can find the space to do further reading and research in their own time, including on the internet, which can extend their learning and...
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Help - I've got homework!
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Family Relationships, Homework
Homework is a bit like riding a bike. You have to practice to get it right but, once you’ve mastered the skill, you never forget how to do it.
Like it or not, homework is part of school life – or should be. Yes, the teaching day ends around mid afternoon and young people need downtime to re-charge their batteries. No, that does not mean lessons should be forgotten until class the following day.
Why? Because children need to get into the habit of thinking for themselves and doing...
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There's more to relationships than body parts...
Monday 28 November 2011
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Growing up, Sexual Relationships
‘There’s more to relationships than body parts’ attested a recent article in The Education Guardian. Absolutely. We have to recognise that Sex and Relationships Education requires far more than giving information about the biological elements of human reproduction. Our sons and daughters need support as they address the emotional aspects of a developing interest in the opposite sex, and unless schools and parents work together to provide this support, they will look to each other,...
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Trust your instincts!
Friday 11 November 2011
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Parenting
Have you read about the research into how parents can best help their children to do well academically? What’s interesting about this piece of research is not so much the detail – i.e. the more time you spend with your child, the better she will do at school and beyond – but that it confirms that parental instinct is by far the best guide to bringing up children.
In case you missed it, the extensive research by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) across...
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You rule the world...but can't set a bedtime
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Parenting, Teenagers
In a recent article in The Sunday Times, Clarissa Farr, the head of St Paul’s girls’ school, talked about the sessions the school is running for parents who welcome help and advice with how best to deal with their teenage daughters. St Paul’s is a selective, academically very highly performing school, with many very bright, talented daughters of men and women who occupy important and influential positions. But parenting can test all of us. As Clarissa says, ‘I have a lot of...
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First day blues...
Sunday 28 August 2011
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Letting go
The beginning of the new school year in September is an emotionally laden time for many of us particularly those whose children are moving from one stage to another. For the very youngest children September brings their first opportunity to play and learn away from home. Most children approach this experience with confidence and enthusiasm; it is often the parents who find it traumatic.
Although some children are in a care setting from an early age, many are not. Those few years of...
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