Competition – Why Kids Need to Play to Win

The performance-enhancing effects of competition and teams do not apply only at elite levels such as the Olympics or in physical match-ups. Competitions held in classrooms and lunch rooms across the country also push kids to do better. – KQED Some time back, I was at a children’s party. The adults were milling around half

Essential Life Skills for Kids: Stress Management

Stress management may once have sounded like a course that was relevant only to adults, but the hectic and rapid lifestyle of the 21st Century has seen rising levels of stress in children and adults alike. If we want our children to lead healthy, happy and successful lives, we must teach them to learn how

A Critical Thinking Exercise

Some time back, I wrote about the importance of Critical Thinking in the Age of the Internet. Although I have spoken to the boys – particularly G1, since he is older and has more understanding – that they cannot believe everything they see on the Internet, sometimes, it helps to have a real-world example to make

ABRIC Education: Building Key Life Skills

Critical thinking, the ability to ask effective questions and formulate original solutions, is not an optional skill in the 21st century. Innovation is needed to solve the serious problems of global warming, economic crises, and food and water shortages. In addition, rapid advances in technology make it crucial that we not only learn new skill

Book Release: The Modest Tortoise & the Horrible Hare

For almost 3000 years, Aesop’s ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ has epitomized the importance of understanding that, no matter one’s starting block in life, great things are never unachievable. It is a message that transposes perfectly into the world of a modern child with the societal pressure to be “perfect”. It is the fierce bullying

Fun Activities: Running a Class Store

G2’s class ran a store at school to raise money for charity… They made a whole bunch of stuff for the kids to sell to their parents. This was my haul from my shopping trip: Running a store can be a terrific learning experience for children and a great way to introduce children into the world of entrepreneurship. Children

Co-Curricular Activities: Baking

G1 is exploring a new curricular activity this term – Baking. I heartily encouraged this choice because I think every child should learn how to cook because cooking is an essential life skill. Yes, I realise that baking is only a small part of cooking, but you have to start somewhere. How else do you get a

Over-Parenting and Raising Self-Sufficient Children

When I was working in Colgate, I used to be present at a number of the events and exhibitions that were held over the weekends. One of the popular activities that the marketing team liked to organise for the children is a colouring contest. We used to be amazed by how involved some parents would

Learning Through Experience: How do you Teach Your Child to Put Others Before Himself?

Some time back, I wrote about wanting to raise children who are happy, confident and successful. On the Figur8 home page, this brief statement was extrapolated to express what we hope to achieve in raising our children. Since reading “The Parents We Mean to Be” by Richard Weissbourd, I have realised that there needs to be

Arlo the Elephant Introduces Life’s New Experiences to Young Children

Life’s full of new experiences when you’re a child – a visit to the dentist, a flight on an airplane, these are all new experiences that can seem strange and scary to a child. It makes it easier if parents can help prepare their children for what’s coming and sometimes it’s helpful to have simple