Race and racism are at the forefront of difficult issues and topics to discuss with children. In part because it forces us to confront our own thoughts, ideas and prejudices about the colour of our skin and that of the people around us. Yet it is important that we do address these difficult issues.
Since the advent of colour television, parents everywhere have been obsessed with limiting their kids’ screen times. The birth of the smartphone and social media has exacerbated fears that the digital world poses serious harm to the development of children. It didn’t help that researchers supposedly found connections between too much screen time and poor […]
We love the idea of summer vacations; we imagine ourselves having picnics in grass-clad fields, kids enjoying thrilling rides in an amusement park, grown-ups having garden parties and barbecue nights while kids are busy in play-dates, and let’s not forget the beach.
One of my nieces is rather fond of reading. She has a large bookshelf that she keeps top-notch and up to date. She loves to talk about books and plans to write one too. My other niece is another story though. Whenever you hand her a book, she starts to whine, ‘I don’t like reading’, […]
As a parent, you have lived through everything, or so you thought. The sleepless nights when your infant just wouldn’t close their eyes, the unbearable cluster feedings, tiny monsters rejecting solids and spitting out healthy spinach soup you just made, toddlers turning the whole house upside down and let’s not forget those never-ending tantrums. It […]
I spent majority of my childhood in a quaint house on a forested trail. Whenever we were allowed to play outdoors, we would grab our rusty bicycles and ride them through the trees with branches stuck in our hair, by the stagnant pond we were fond of and finally to the bumpy pebbled track that […]
Starting school is a challenging moment for both parents and children alike. It is an exciting milestone and parents can’t wait to see their little ones finally go to school. If you are feeling bittersweet and nervous, know that, it is completely normal. After all, it is end of an era – your baby is […]
As soon as my husband comes home, my son jumps into his arms with shrieks of laughter. Our baby babbles happily while his dad flies him around the house like a plane. I am left alone.
When I was a child, one of my favourite pastime activities was going through my parent’s wallet and purse. No, it was not to steal the money. It was due to my intense fascination with the cards, paper money coins and
No sane person in the world would want any harm to come across their child. For parents, it is only natural to shield their kids from various vices of the society.
“My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.” 12 years ago, Sir Ken Robinson challenged the schooling system and questioned the way we are educating our children. According to Robinson, creativity and literacy are equally important, and for a person to nourish […]
For quite a number of years, my niece would constantly bite her nails. We initially took it as a harmless habit, but her mother was concerned about it around the clock. She went to child therapists and consulted a dentist. They advised her to address her child’s anxieties and suggested that a habit breaking appliance […]
The human brain is like a play dough. All the positive and negative interactions that we have, thoughts that run throughout the day, and emotions that we feel, shape and mould the architecture of our brains since the day we are born. During the first 1000 days of life, more than 700 neural connections are […]
Baking is one of those activities that everyone says is fun to do with children, especially young children. ‘They can learn so much’, apparently… little do these ‘wise’ folk without young children know, just what a chore it is to really ‘allow’ kids loose in the kitchen
When I had my son eight months ago, my husband and I made a pact that we would be strict when it comes to screen time. The first five months passed and my baby would only look at the devices in awe. The lights and sounds probably fascinated him.
With the world becoming increasingly digitised day by day, we have a struggle to keep ourselves and our children in ‘the real world’. This is never as obvious than when it comes to occupying ourselves in our leisure time.
The Internet is great. Like, really great. There is so much to see, share and laugh about. It is your best friend when doing research and completing homework.
Melissa’s stomach tightened as she saw the Instagram post with a picture of herself bending down to tie her shoe. The comments above the unflattering image, all in caps, ‘Ever watch a cow tie her shoes? Well now you have!’ The additional comments were worse, comparing her to all manner of farm animals, circus elephants […]
Tutoring Good or Bad… Possibly depends on where you are in the world As I read this BBC article (Meet the ‘tutor kings and queens’) yesterday, I was not really surprised at the success of these ‘Tutors’ in the East. After all, having been born and bred in Malaysia, where private tutoring has always had […]
…so much more than just a ‘pushy’ parent. A few weeks ago I came across a request in my mailbox, sent by a popular mum’s mailing list that I subscribe to: “Looking for a Tiger Mum for fabulous magazine” The request was made by a journalist, who was writing an article on various parenting methods […]