Raising Successful Children in the 21st Century
Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at my children’s school. The talk was about raising successful children in the 21st century. There so many aspects of success that it would be impossible to cover them all in one short session so I focused on the following five points which I believe to be very pertinent to…
The Science of Touch: A Hug a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
When I was a new Mum, I was warned not to carry my baby too much or he would get spoiled. “Try not to pick him up immediately when he cries or he will expect to be picked up whenever he makes a sound,” they said. In my ignorance, I heeded that advice – initially -…
Physical Fitness and Exercise Increase Cognitive Performance and Brain Health
There is so much evidence supporting the brain benefits of exercise and physical fitness that I am convinced this is our magic pill. I was also convinced that I knew all I needed to know about reaping the benefits from exercise. When a friend passed me a copy John Ratey’s book – Spark: the Revolutionary…
Sleep Helps Children Perform Better
We go on and on about how sleep deprivation is bad for our kids… Well, here’s a terrific video that explains more about the effects of sleep deprivation and the harm it causes: Notes from the video: sleep deprivation can cause hormonal imbalance, illness, and even death sleeplessness is also linked to inflammation, hallucinations, high blood pressure,…
Successful Kids Have Strong Social Skills
Social skills are essential for raising happy and successful children. Now there is even more evidence to support this statement… Social Interactions can Enhance Creativity Social interactions can help us to be more creative, and creativity is one of the most important qualities we can have. It has been said many times – creativity does not exist in a vacuum. Indeed,…
Emotional Intelligence: Children Need Empathy to be Successful
We have always believed that education should not only be about filling a child’s head with information but to develop the whole child – heart, mind and body. The more we pursue this aspiration, the more evident it becomes that everything is interconnected. Empathy, for instance, may seem to be merely a moral skill that is nice for…
Self-Control Precedes Success
“Self-control precedes success” was what one of my school teachers always used to say. The real meaning of the adage used to fly right over the top of my head. It wasn’t until I learned about Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow study that I finally understood what she meant. “The ability to delay gratification is critical for a…
Parenting: Discipline – The Restorative Justice System
Discipline has got to be one of the hardest tasks of parenting. We want to raise moral children who can feel empathy for others. When our children behave in a way that goes against that, it is hard to manage our own emotions as we try to deal with what they’ve done. I say “we” but perhaps I…
Executive Functions Help Children Succeed
Executive Functions help children succeed academically and in life. They may even be a better predictor of success than IQ. If you look at what predicts how well children will do later in school, more and more evidence is showing that executive functions — working memory and inhibition — actually predict success better than IQ…
Reading is the Key to Unlocking Academic Success
When I first began the journey of early learning with my children, I was a novice. There was a lot of trial and error – yes, I made mistakes and there are things I would do differently if I had another child. With my children grown up a little more, I have also affirmed what…
Do You Know These Study Techniques that Improve Your Child’s Learning?
Want to know how you can help your child study more effectively? Here we go… 1. Spaced Study One of the biggest mistakes students make is leaving everything to the last minute, then cramming before an exam. A better way is to have two revision sessions with time in between. The time in between allows…
Technology in Education: What is a Flipped Classroom?
Technology has transformed today’s schools and the face of education as we know it. The classrooms of our children are worlds away from the ones we grew up in. For some parents, this new era of education may be dauntingly unfamiliar so we have started to explore some of the “new” ideas being implemented in 21st century schools: Connected…
Developing a Growth Mindset: Permission to Fail
I remember the first time my SIL told me about the Growth Mindset. She had read that telling kids they were smart could ruin them. I also remember the skeptical look I gave her. It was such a radical thought that I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Until I dug a little deeper… The…
Gamification: Using Games to Learn
Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals. Badgeville Gamification is not a new idea. In fact, it has been around longer than the term has existed. Anyone who has ever learned geography playing Carmen Sandiego can attest to that. However, it is…
Mindfulness Enhances School Performance
Although the practice of mindfulness meditation has been around for a while, it is only in recent times that it has begun to gain traction in schools. As more research builds up to support the case for mindfulness, more schools are beginning to incorporate mindfulness into the curriculum. The body of scientific research illustrating the…
Nurture for the Future 