Blog posts for ‘Parenting’ 
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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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Dealing even-handedly with controversial subjects...
‘The Independent’ last week reported that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, was under pressure to publish guidance on how to approach the subject of abortion in schools, following the claim that groups campaigning against abortion are giving children false information. Such misinformation is, according to groups including the British Humanist Association, the National Union of Teachers and some Christian churches, spreading alarm amongst children.
Teaching sensitive subjects is...
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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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Forever friends...
Thursday 12 April 2012
Categories: Growing up, Parenting
I hear that at some schools girls are being discouraged from having a “best friend”. I think this is sad. It is true that there are perils in having one special friend. If she moves away, as mine did when I was 7, it is heart-breaking. I could not imagine ever having such a satisfying, complete friendship again. But of course I did, eventually. And all too often that friend who swears she will be your very best friend forever may move on leaving you bereft, as happened to one of my...
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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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Heavy schoolbags risk 'deforming' our children
Wednesday 21 March 2012
The Daily Mail reported last week on a survey run by the organisation BackCare which warns that some children are carrying as much as a quarter of their body weight in their huge schoolbags. This is causing a significantly increased risk of spinal problems. Bags carried on one shoulder or the crook of the arm cause particular health risks. Schools are criticised for not allocating sufficient storage space for their pupils and parents are urged to keep an eye on the situation. Sean...
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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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The rise of parent power?
Monday 30 January 2012
The Times Educational Supplement (27 January) reports on the developing role of parents with respect to their children’s education. It talks of the rise of parental influence and how this is changing the relationship between schools and families – in some respects positively, in other respects perhaps worryingly. The article explains: ‘Long gone are the days when the majority of parents turned up unquestioningly at the school gates, dumped their kids and headed off.’
To what...
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How can we help girls to be more confident?
Tuesday 3 January 2012
Categories: Education, Parenting, Self-esteem, Teenagers
Our bright, talented, good looking, hardworking girls should be proud of themselves but all too often they lack confidence. Why is this? As parents we may praise, reassure and encourage our daughters but somehow this can fail to penetrate their fragile egos. Once adolescent hormones kick in many girls become self-conscious about their looks, their bodies and their talents. They compare themselves, unfavourably of course, with their peers, with the images they see in the media and their...
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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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