Be Our Best

Counting coins

2012-02-23T12:55:00.000+10:00

A little while ago, our daughters finally reached their savings target to buy this Littlest Pet Shop Hamster house:

They saved their pocket money each week, did extra chores and counted their money every few days - sometimes every day, to see how close they were getting.

When they finally reached their goal of $39 saved between them, they counted and checked their money one last time, then put it into their purses and off we went to the shop.

When we got to the checkout, the sales assistant scanned the hamster house and then waited while the girls opened their purses.

You should have seen his face when they emptied all the coins onto the counter!

He said nothing, but began to count. He counted the single $10 note, then $19 in gold $1 and $2 coins. He then set them aside and turned to me to say,

"That's $29, now do you have a $10 note for the rest, as I can't put all those coins in my till."

I have to say I was shocked. My poor daughters who had spent so long saving and counting those coins - and they were now worried the shop wasn't going to take them!

I politely told him that I didn't have any money - that was the remaining money - pointing to the pile of coins on the counter.

At this point, a supervisor walked past, saw the pile of coins and rolled her eyes. She said to the sales assistant, "Is it all there?'

He replied that is was, and she told him to put it in his till and she would bring some bags to sort it out.

Thankfully we managed to pay with those coins and the girls left the store very happy.

But I was left wondering about how it is becoming rarer and sometimes more difficult to deal in cash - particularly coins.

Did you ever have a jar that you saved up a particular coin in? I remember as a kid saving up 10 pence pieces. When I'd filled my money box, I took it to the bank, where they counted it and put it into my account for me.

Nowadays, in banks (certainly in Australia - I'm not sure about other countries) banks won't count coins for you any more. You have to count and bag those coins yourself before they will accept them (even though they will then count them themselves anyway to check you counted right!!). I have even heard of some banks refusing to take piles of coins at particularly busy times as it takes up too much of their time.

I also learnt that in the UK, shops are only legally required to take payment up to a certain amount in coins:

COINS:

Coins are legal tender throughout the United Kingdom for the following amount:

$5 (Crown) - for any amount

$2 - for any amount

$1 - for any amount

50p - for any amount not exceeding $10

25p (Crown) - for any amount not exceeding $10

20p - for any amount not exceeding $10

10p - for any amount not exceeding $5

5p - for any amount not exceeding $5

2p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

1p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

(source: http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Question566491.html)

While I can understand shops not wanting big piles of coins when they could have nice easy notes and larger value coins in their place, to have this as a fixed law seems a bit extreme.

Particularly with kids, this rule is a bit harsh.

Children should be encouraged to save for things, to learn about money - particularly cash, and be able to spend their carefully earned and saved coins. This is an important part of their education - to see and experience this in real life

For our daughters, in the national curriculum for their age groups, the younger (grade 2) must learn to:

Count and order small collections of Australian coins and notes according to their value

And the elder daughter must learn to:

Solve problems involving purchases and the calculation of change to the nearest five cents with and without digital technologies

(Source: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/)

Kids are far more likely to learn and remember concepts that they can experience in real life.

We will continue to encourage our kids to earn and save up their coins for things, and they take them to shops to buy what they choose.

I hope the sales assistants we encounter will be sympathetic to what our kids are doing!

Have you ever had an experience like this ? Do your kids save and earn small amounts of coins? What do they do with them?

Jill

The Fun Theory

2012-02-17T20:00:00.000+10:00

As a parent and a teacher, I am well aware that if you make something fun, people are much happier to do it. I always try to make things fun for our kids - particularly educational things that we do outside of school.

Have you seen this video? I remember seeing it a while ago and wanted to show it to our girls.

The last time I watched it, I didn't notice the website address on the video, so this time I took a look and found more ideas for making things fun to change people's behaviour. (http://www.thefuntheory.com/)

One of them reminded me of a theme park in Holland called Efterling that I visited as a child where the rubbish bins had a kind of suction mechanism in them and were shaped like people and animals with their mouths as the hole to put your rubbish in. When you put your rubbish in the bin, it was sucked in, and the bin said 'Thank you'!! Everyone wanted to put their rubbish in the bin then!

Another example of making something fun changing people's behaviour I saw in New Zealand 20 years ago (don't know if they still have this now). At several petrol stations, they had kind of 'fruit machines' set up which you worked by placing in empty cans instead of money. You put in your can, and the pictures spun around. Sometimes you won prizes that would be printed on a ticket that came out of the machine - like an ice lolly from the petrol station, or a discount coupon for your petrol! This definitely encouraged people to recycle their cans rather than just throw them away! We often saw kids picking up discarded cans to go and play on the fruit machine!

Is there anything that you make fun to get your kids to do it, when they would otherwise be reluctant?

Jill

Tell the truth

2012-02-16T20:00:00.000+10:00

We always tell the kids to tell the truth, but do we practice what we preach?

For me, the reality is that some things should and shouldn't be said.

If something is hurtful it shouldn't be said, it is sometimes better to hold your tongue. Equally, we can't sugar-coat the truth too much. If someone is extremely obese, we may not shout out that the person is fat, but kids never ignore things they see and we need to let them know how society expects them to act.

We place huge importance on being honest and telling the truth. We always say to the girls that it they must tell the truth even if it shows up something bad. If the girls do something wrong, break something or even lash out at each other in frustration, the punishment is always (and necessarily so) less if they fess up and tell the truth.

Kids follow the example that we as parents set, so how we act directly effects what they do and how they act in any given situation.

The value of telling the truth is equally an important building block in a child's development and lets them explore trust, fairness, how to act and hopefully choose to be kind to others around them. On the flip side, understanding that they are able to tell a lie and not be caught out and manipulate and be manipulated is part of life and is a lesson in itself!!

Do your kids lie? Have you got a great story of a lie or a funny situation like when a kid is asked if they ate the chocolate and they say no despite being covered in it??

Euan

Picture source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PinocchioProfil.jpg)

Certificates offering encouragement

2012-02-15T20:00:00.000+10:00

Now our girls are getting back into the swing of school in a new year, they have returned to the computer education programmes used by the school.
One our school uses is called Studyladder. The kids all have access through the school -with their own user name and password. The teacher selects educational games and activities for the students to do that are relevant to what they are currently studying.

As the children work their way through the activities, they are rewarded with points with which they can buy things for their online character - clothes and toys etc. I have also just discovered that at certain levels of points,they are awarded certificates - which can be emailed to the parents, or just downloaded from the site, and you can print out to encourage your child to continue playing to gain more certificates. These rewards and certificates encourage the kids to want to play these educational games beyond what is set for them as homework. Anything that makes learning fun for kids, and results in them wanting to do it, has to be a good thing!

There are several of these types of educational websites around. Our kids also use Intrepica and Mathletics, both of which have the same concept of points earned and things to buy with those points.

I like the idea of a printable certificate too - something tangible they can put on their wall and see all the time.

Rewards are a great form of encouragement for children to achieve. I know in recent years there has been a step away from rewards for achievement and more of a focus on participation awards. However, I'm definitely of the more traditional view that achievements should be rewarded and celebrated with certificates, medals, trophys and awards.

What do you think? Are you in favour of participation awards over achievement awards? or the other way round?

Jill

Learning to push yourself

2012-02-15T11:06:00.000+10:00

Here in Australia, the Biggest Loser TV series is on again. This is a family favourite for us - our girls love watching it and I think it is a good thing for them to watch and be aware of what can happen when you let yourself and your body go, when you don't exercise or eat healthily

Watching the show this year, I've particularly noticed how much the trainers are telling the contestants to push themselves out of their comfort zones. They have made comments, that some of the contestants , particularly the younger ones, have never done this before and don't know how it feels to push themselves.

I believe that learning to push yourself is something that every child should learn at a young age.
When something is difficult or painful, by far the easiest option is to stop, to give up. But knowing when and how to push on, helps develop skills of determination, confidence and that of overcoming fears.

In watching our girls as they grow and encounter new things, I see their reactions of both fear and refusal of trying something new, and that of excitement and wanting to have a go.

Both our girls have experienced both reactions in different situations and at different times, but character-wise one daughter is more prone to the fear than the 'have a go' attitude, and we do our best to help her overcome this and to learn to push herself out of her comfort zone.

There have been times when I've felt like a cruel pushy parent in getting her over a mental hurdle of not wanting to participate in something. (and I'm sure people watching would have perceived me as such). But the end result has been worthwhile as I've seen the joy and delight on my daughter's face as she realises she can do these things -and even better, enjoys them!
The older she has got, the better she has become in pushing herself in situations that may be new or scary and I am proud of her ability to get out of her comfort zone

I think part of learning to push yourself, is learning about consequences of your actions. Watching the Biggest Loser, you can see this clearly over the series as you watch the contestants pushing themselves physically and mentally; the pain this causes them and how hard they find it - but in the end the amazing transformations starkly show the clear benefits of their actions.

In relating this to our kids, I think of academic work - of times when our daughters don't want to do their homework, or spelling practice. They are now beginning to understand the reasoning behind the practice and it's benefits in class as their confidence grows and test results improve.

As a child, I remember my father giving me extra Maths and English work to do each week. It wasn't much, but I never enjoyed it. However, I do remember liking being a little bit ahead at school often and grasping concepts quicker, having already covered them at home with my father (who was a teacher himself). In hindsight, I am grateful to my father for the time he spent helping me push myself at a young age!

As with everything it is important to find a balance and not push your child too much. I hope we achieve this balance and our girls grow up to be both confident and determined with an ability to go out of their comfort zone to move forward and achieve their desires in life.

Do you push your children? Do you believe children should be pushed?

Jill

Dominoes

2012-02-10T20:00:00.000+10:00

After school today, our girls got out a box of dominoes each to play with. I never know what might spark their interest at any time. They just went to the games cupboard and that's what they came out with today.

They didn't then play an actual game of dominoes - but used them to set up 'domino runs'. These developed to include spoons and balls!

It's great to see them using their imaginations and creativity to construct these things. Perhaps inspired by science experiments at school - or just kids boundless creativity and exploratory play. It's great for their hand-eye co-ordination, problem solving and also patience. Amazing how much you can get out of a few small blocks!

Of course I had to look up Dominoes online to get some background information. I discovered that Dominoes is believed to have originated in China in the 12th Century - and the number combinations are taken from those numbers found on 2 dice! The game then gradually spread around the world, and has been and is popular in many cultures. The more complicated tile game Ma Jong developed from the basic Chinese dominoes game.

To play the actual game of dominoes, you share out the tiles face down on the table amongst the players, and then take it in turns to place them down - matching the same numbers together until no more tiles can be placed. The winner is then the one whose dots on their remaining tiles add up to the lowest value!
It's a nice simple game with easy numbers so even young children can play.

Of course there are the inevitable online versions of dominoes, and I even found an app for your phone to play domino rally!

Do you ever play dominoes? Do your kids?

I'll leave you with a video of a domino rally - an impressive number - just a little more than my girls games this afternoon!!

Jill

The influence of teachers vs parents on our kids

2012-02-09T19:32:00.000+10:00

Have you ever told your child something that has no effect, only to later hear their teacher tell them the exact same thing and they do it unquestioningly?

I remember the first time this happened - when our eldest daughter went to Kindergarten. We had spent many hours in parks trying to help our daughter learn to swing by herself to no avail. Then just after she started Kindy, she came home one day and proudly told us she could now swing herself - as her teacher had taught her!

There have been countless times since then that this has happened. It's not that our girls don't listen to us as parents generally - because they do. Nevertheless there is clearly something different about a teacher telling you something compared to your own mother or father telling you the same!

Perhaps this is due to our kids wanting to be more independent. From birth they do what their parents tell them. We are the ones in control of their lives. Kindergarten and school for many children is the first time they get to do things without parents there - their first taste of 'independence'. I think the teachers and instructors are a part of that independence so things they say to do are acceptable to listen to.

I wonder if those parents who home-school their kids ever notice this effect happening with their kids and any other adults. If anyone reading this does home-school - I'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts on this!

How about you? When have your kids listened to their teachers or another adult when they haven't listened to you?

Jill

Homework - is it really worth it?

2012-02-08T19:49:00.001+10:00

Our two girls are now back into the swing of school after the long summer break. Homework started last week for the eldest, and this week for the youngest. Both are expected to read each night, and record what they read to show the teacher.They also have spelling words to learn each week, and Maths and English work too. This homework, together with after school activities makes for a busy time - but there is still plenty of time for play, and I am happy with the amount of work they are doing.

There are state policies on the subject of homework. I had a read of our Queensland policies and saw that in Prep (the first compulsory year of school here) generally no homework is set. I remember our youngest daughter wanting homework when she was in Prep as her older sister (2 years age difference) was then getting homework. At that age, homework can sound like fun. I remember wanting the same as the youngest child - and our teacher giving us homework like - "bring in as many different types of paper as you can" or we made a paper basket in class, and we had to fill it with as many things beginning with 'b' as we could! Fun homework!
As the school age increases, so does the expected amount of homework.

I know many people don't like the idea of homework - there are arguments both for and against.
While researching these arguments, I found an entire book written about the case against homework! which states that,

"it is a hidden cause of the childhood obesity epidemic, creating a nation of "homework potatoes."

Personally I think this is a bit extreme - but then that's my opinion based upon the homework our girls get, and remembering my own experiences of homework as a child.

I believe that homework is an important way for children to reinforce things they learn at school, and also a way for parents to see their child's progress and what they are learning at school. It also provides the children with a chance to work independently.

Sometimes, children may not have understood explanations and concepts in class, and then difficulties arise when they have to complete tasks for homework. But this provides an opportunity to learn about consequences - the importance of listening in class; learning to ask questions when you don't understand things; and even learning to research things yourself - asking parents for help, checking in books or online for help.

I think there are many things that will influence how you feel about homework. Each country and indeed school will set differing amounts of homework for children, and have differing expectations.

What do you feel about homework? Do your children get enough? too much? What about your own memories of homework from when you were a child?

Jill

Safer internet day 2012

2012-02-07T20:00:00.000+10:00

Did you know that today is safer internet day 2012? This year's theme is:

Connecting generations and educating each other,

with the slogan:

"Discover the digital world together... safely!"
(source: Insafe)

This morning we had our regular weekly Skype chat with my parents in the UK. With our families spread around the globe, Skype has proved to be a wonderful tool to use to stay in touch and also for our girls to get to know other family members whom we may not see very often.

We do use the internet a lot in our house - and our girls do too - under our supervision. Last year I found an Australian website dedicated to cyber safety: Stay Smart Online.
Our girls recently tried out the Budd:e Cyber security builder game. In this, they get to create their own Budd:e character as they work their way through several activities which teach them about internet safety - what to not click on, what is a firewall and a virus and lots of other useful information.
It was just the right level for them at ages 6 and 8 and we thought it was a very useful thing for them to complete!

The internet is so much a part of our lives now - and our kids lives both at home and at school, that I feel it is important that they learn to be safe online as early as possible.

With stories of young kids committing suicide as a result of cyber bullying, letting our kids loose on the internet can seem a scary prospect. But our children will grow up and they will go out into the world. We can only prepare them the best we can and hope we have instilled good enough values and morals in them so they can make the right judgements and choices.

Most importantly I think we need to encourage our kids to feel they can talk to us and feel happy sharing things with us as parents. Today's internet safety day theme - connecting the generations, provides a good opportunity for this in the sense that we can spend time together as a family exploring the internet and all the amazing information and opportunities it provides to us.
Sharing our learning and use of the internet will I believe encourage discussion and openness with our kids as they grow and become more independent..

Do your kids use the internet? How do you ensure they are cyber safe?

Jill

Rubik's cube

2012-02-06T19:20:00.000+10:00

Do you remember the Rubik's cube?

Created in 1974 by Erno Rubik - a Hungarian sculptor and professor. It was originally meant as a way to explain 3D geometry but the Rubik's cube became incredibly popular as a toy in the 1980s.

I remember my brother and I getting them as kids, and learning the moves to be able to solve the puzzle - making each side one solid colour. Initially Dad got a book with the solution in, and he taught me the moves - giving each move a 'name' to help me remember.

To this day - around 30 years later - I've found I still remember those moves - "twiddle twiddle up.... down down round round up up....." I think I did it so many times, that in the end I learnt the moves by rote - just like my times tables - and they stuck!

Santa brought our daughters a Rubik's cube each for last Christmas - and they are very impressed with Mummy's skill in being able to solve it!

Now there is a whole website about Rubik's cubes. You can buy all manner of Rubiks cubes and novelty items; learn how to solve the Rubik's and other cubes; see pictures of Rubik's cube cakes, and watch Rubik's TV including seeing someone solve the cube in just 5.66 seconds!! Unbelievable!

This amazing cube is used as an educational tool in maths classrooms. There is a whole website dedicated to ways to use the Rubik's cube to teach various maths skills.

I don't know how technical I could get with this - or would want to, but I do think I'll try to teach our girls how to solve the Rubik's cube. If nothing else it is satisfying to be able to do it - and pretty cool too! If it can also help with their maths, fine motor skills, and provide a good way to help improve memory skills when learning the moves, then so much the better!

Have you got a Rubik's cube?? Can you solve it?

Jill

BOOK SALE!!

2012-02-02T22:00:00.000+10:00

The Book Depository is having a 24hr sale
on NOW!

If you haven't heard of the Book Depository before - it's a fabulous online bookstore which offers free postage worldwide!
What could be better than that!

Their prices are great normally - so when they have a sale -
you just have to look!!

There'll be a new offer every hour so keep coming back to check on what the latest deal is!

Happy reading!

Just do it!

2012-01-30T19:00:00.000+10:00

How many times do you say you're going to do something - but then don't follow through? I'm sure we all do this to some extent.
A conversation I had this weekend made me think of this - and the effect of my non-action on our kids. The conversation was about laser treatment for eyesight. A friend has had this treatment and is very happy with it. She was asking if I would consider it for myself, to which I replied no - I'd rather do exercises and improve my eyes that way. However - the thing is - I'm not doing those exercises - just talking about them!

I even wrote a post about improving your eyesight with exercises last year - back in July. Now, nearly 7 months later I've done nothing!
To be honest - I first read about improving your eyesight with exercises more than 20 years ago - and still haven't motivated myself to do and stick to these exercises to rid myself of my glasses!

So why do we find it so difficult to stick to things and do things that we know will have such a positive and beneficial effect for us? Laziness would be my guess here - the fact that I will need to stick to these exercises every day!

Our eldest daughter is definitely a little short sighted, just like me. We know this just from seeing what she can and cannot read when we're out and about. I don't want to get her glasses - as I know they aren't something that will help her eyes improve at all. Last week back at school, she told me she had to read something on the board and it was small and tricky to read - although she did manage.

It's time I stopped talking and started doing! When I first mentioned eye exercises to our daughter - she was very keen and wanted to try them out! I think she would enjoy it if she and I spent a few minutes each day doing our eye exercises together. Not only would it benefit our eyesight, but it would also be something we could share together - and we all know how much kids enjoy when we spend time with them and give them attention.

So today I have put up the eye-chart that I photocopied last year, and marked out the distance to stand from it to check where our eyesight is now.
I've also got out the folder full of notes I've made on exercises we can do to improve.

My procrastination on this isn't just affecting me - it's affecting our daughter, who I could have helped months ago. Surely helping my kids should be a good enough motivator for me to do something!

How about you? What have you been putting off? What could you start TODAY that would have a positive and beneficial effect on your life and perhaps that of your family and kids too?

Jill

Back to school and a new national curriculum.

2012-01-24T20:00:00.000+10:00

Today was the first day of school for the new year for our girls. After 2 months break they were ready to go back and excited to see all their friends again. I told them I would set the alarm for 7am so that would give us an hour to get up, breakfasted and ready. However, they were through to wake me up at 6.45am already up, dressed and hair brushed!
I'm so glad they're excited about their return and that they enjoy school so much! Long may that continue!

This year (2012) marks the introduction of the national school curriculum in Queensland. Until now - individual states and territories have had their own curricula. Bringing them all in line will make things easier for those families who move interstate, but I wonder what difference if any we will notice? Since I don't know what our curriculum was before now I doubt I will notice a change!

However - knowing there is a new curriculum has given me the motivation to investigate further!

I found that you can view the Australian Curriculum online ! It's very interesting to look at the individual year curricula that are relevant to our daughters, and see what they are expected to learn this year. I am of the view that although it is the responsibility of the school to educate our children - we as parents should not sit back and stop our own role in our children's education once they start school.

At school there is one teacher and perhaps 20 or more students in their class. No matter how good the teacher is - there is not time to give enough individual attention to each and every student to help them with all their difficulties and stretch those who are more able. As a parent - I am able to give my child individual help to match their own abilities.

So much of what our kids learn in the early primary years are basic skills we use in our everyday lives. As such they are skills we can encourage and help them to develop by doing everyday things. For example in year 2 mathematics, the curriculum states that children will learn to:

Count and order small collections of Australian coins and notes according to their value

So when our kids get pocket money - or money for chores, or even when we're just at the shops, we can encourage them to count out the coins and count their money in their money boxes.

There are so many examples like this of things that we can do to help our kids learn! I'm going to use our new curriculum to help me focus on doing some of these things that will help them in their school work this year too!

Have you ever seen your kids school curriculum? Would you want to? and do you think parents should help their kids with extra work and activities out of school?

Jill

Amazing memory!

2012-01-18T20:00:00.003+10:00

This morning I was watching the Australian Open Tennis. The name of the main court (Rod Laver arena) was mentioned by the commentator - and our youngest daughter's eye's widened and she shouted out, " Rod Laver?"
Since neither of our girls has as yet shown any interest in tennis, and have only picked up a racquet a couple of times in school sports lessons, I was surprised she had heard the name.
The elder daughter then asked quizzicslly, "Who's Rod Laver?"
to which the younger replied," He won two Grand Slams and had a weak wrist so used to walk around squeezing a tennis ball to strengthen it until it was so big and strong that that he became famous for having such a big, strong wrist."

Really? How on earth could our 6 year old daughter know all this? and was it true?

I asked how she knew it and she told me she read it in a book!
"Which book?"
"Lunchtime Rules."

She then went and found this book - which is a kid's book from the Go Girls series, and flicked through to the page where this information was. She'd remembered the facts almost word for word from the book! Not only the facts, but which book it was in (she has around 20 of these books), and which page it was on!

She has read this series of books about 3 times over - but so has our elder daughter - and none of this information was even vaguely familiar to her!

Not being that up on tennis myself, I had to google this info to see if it was right. Guess what? It was!!
A Grand Slam is when a player wins all 4 major tennis tournaments in a year - Rod Laver did this in 1962 and 1969.
PLUS he was well known for his very large and powerful wrist:

I found this information here:
His left wrist measures 7 inches, compared with 6 for his right.
"I used one of those squeeze things when I was young," Laver says. "I guess I still should."

I am amazed at our daughter's memory - I've always know it was good - but didn't realise quite how good!

It also made me think about the skill of memory, how useful it is in learning, and how we can improve our memory - those of us who don't have such amazing recall as this!

I put together all the useful information I've found so far here if you're interested!

Jill

8 year old cooks dinner.

2012-01-16T20:24:00.001+10:00

Both our girls have been helping with cooking dinners for some time now, but after reading this article last week, we decided to give our eldest a go cooking an entire meal by herself.

She did really well, and apart from some lifting of heavy pans, basically cooked us all dinner herself!

She made spaghetti carbonara which is one of her favourite meals, plus one she's helped out with lots before.

I directed her, helping her remember the ingredients and steps, and also with what utensils to use.( I'm working on some reorganisation of our kitchen just now, to put things in places where our girls can reach them more easily, thereby making it easier for them to help out!)

After watching "Junior Masterchef' on TV last year, and seeing the young kids on there together with the amazing things they could cook, it did make me realise that both our girls at age 6 and 8 are certainly old enough to learn. I think I probably have held them back in a sense because there are times they have asked to help me cook, but I've refused as I've not wanted to cope with the inevitable spills and mess, or to take the extra time needed to teach them to do things rather than just getting things done quickly myself.

I think this is probably true of not just me,but many parents in many different areas. Kids are capable of more than we give them credit for a lot of the time, and also keener than we would often imagine when we actually take some time with them.

Now our younger daughter is also keen to cook a meal all by herself too. She gets a lot more distracted by things and as a result takes longer to do anything so I shall have to choose a day and a meal that we can really take our time over to do this!

I am enjoying this idea of our girls taking a more active role in the cooking in our house and I have resolved to make more time and put in the extra effort to help them learn.

Last Friday when our daughter cooked us Carbonara, she wanted to dish up and serve the food to us by herself, and then very proudly did the same for dessert with the Banana cake she had made the previous day. This was all a great boost for her confidence and also a wonderful relaxing mealtime for us as parents!

Do your kids cook with you? Have they ever made an entire meal by themselves? How old do you think they need to be for this?

Jill

Blog for kids

2012-01-13T19:59:00.000+10:00

Towards the end of last year, our eldest daughter began asking if she could have her own blog - since she sees both of us blogging a lot. Euan wrote a post about our initial thoughts on this, and we had lots of great comments encouraging us to let her have a go!

Well, she has now set one up and started posting, about the cakes and sweet things she makes:

Cakes Creative

I have to say that it certainly seems like a fantastic thing for her to do! I helped her set it up - but it took very little direction from me - she's very good with comupters already at age 8! She designed and made her own header - see the picture above? and has no problem writing her own posts - editing the photos and putting it all together! I'm very impressed!

We waited until the long summer holidays to start this with her - so that it was established before back to school. That done, school now starts again in just over a week, and we'll have to establish a bit more of a routine to bake cakes and post about them.

Not only are we getting some tasty cakes baked for us, which is helping her cooking skills, measuring the ingredients and following instructions. She is also getting practice typing, composing texts and editing her photos!

She loves the fact that she has her very own blog - just like mummy and daddy!

As to how her blog can grow and develop - I stumbled upon an interesting website the other day which may belp us:

It's called Kids learn to blog, and is full of articles and resources all about this topic. I haven't had a chance to explore it yet - but certainly will as our daughter continues to blog, and our younger daughter has now started asking to set up her own blog too!!

Do any of your kids blog? Have they asked to? What do you think about kids blogging?

And please do go and visit our daughter's blog, she's put a lot of effort into it, and loves getting comments!

http://www.cakescreative.blogspot.com/

Jill

Did you know?

2012-01-12T20:00:00.000+10:00

Watch this video and see why it's so important to help our kids be the best they can in each and every way to help prepare them for the future! Things are growing and changing fast - who knows what they will face when they grow up!
The stats are a few years old now - which makes you think about the growth and changes that have happened in the short time since then!

Jill

Scary ages - men and women

2012-01-11T20:00:00.000+10:00

Have you pondered your longevity?

I have always said that it would be great to be given your expiry date from the get go and then be able to live your life to it's fullest before knowing the inevitable has to happen. There are some definite positives (and negatives) in this- think about it!

I had never heard of scary ages and haven't even watched the Sex in the City movie (or series) which gave the phrase recent popularity but the topic is interesting.

When you are a kid, time is so slow, as a teenager you wish it would speed up and only live in the moment and then time flies in your late teens and 20s as there are never enough hours in the day. The it seems the world catches most of us up and whether we have kids, partners or work and mortgage or rent in our lives, we are caught and forced to think about the future. The endless time stops, we have to plan ahead, not all the dreams are readily attainable and reality sets in. Reality or mortality- interesting how they rhyme.

From a female perspective, look at a typical 23 year old-young, no?

A different slant can be taken if you imagine a fairly standard definition of what life may be like at 30 if you asked a young teenager (or older one, perhaps). Many would respond that by the ancient age of 30, they would have two kids (the traditional stereotypical 'one lovely daughter and an energetic son too') which would mean that marriage would be by 27, engaged by 26 and then needing to meet the correct or perfect partner by 24. Wow, where did the years go!!!

I can understand women discussing the fertility issue or watching the body clock. It certainly seems unfair that the first half of a female's life has worries regarding falling pregnant too early or earlier than personal freedom may dictate and the second half wishing they were pregnant and wanting kids! You can also fast forward from there and look at the paradox of singles enjoying life of holidays and ongoing experiences but no kids with the opposite of marriage, family and school fees. It is certainly true that the grass always looks greener on the other side.

From a male perspective it is only really the event of kids that forces a man to mature and accept responsibility. The teenage years and young adulthood has traditionally allowed huge scope for freedom and lack of boundaries both self imposed and societally for males. Moving from one conquest to another whether personal or business is often the norm. Settling with a single partner falls into place and then either becomes a norm or something to escape from. Assuming becoming a parent and sending the kids to school happens, it is then that the mortgage and family experience force you to think of longevity, caring for others unconditionally and even the idea of passing on a legacy all come in to play.

Wow, isn't life complex!?

Whilst consistency and caring is a key part of a successful partnership and provides the foundations to build a family on, it is always vital to continue living in the moment. Yes, we should all have plans and goals, both long and short term but if we lose sight of now, the journey that is life ceases to have the same meaning.

Carpe diem. Seize the day. This was one of my New Year themes and one which I think we can all benefit from revisiting.

What is you take on scary ages and also the male - female differences in experiencing them?

Euan

Jobs for kids

2012-01-10T20:00:00.000+10:00

After being sick last week, and as a result not getting much housework done, it has made me realise that it's time our kids stepped up and learnt how to do more of the small household tasks and chores to help out, so making things easier for me - in general, but also when I'm sick, or things are busy!

The girls do currently help out by setting the table for dinner, keeping their room tidy and clean - and also they do have a chore chart of jobs they can do for some extra pocket money.

But at the ages of 6 and 8 how much should we be expecting them to do?

We started the chore chart of jobs for cash as a way to try and start to teach them about money - and its value. This works a little bit in spurts. When there is something particular the girls are saving for - they may go a few days looking for jobs to do to earn money to buy their new toy. But there is very little they really want or that excites them enough to want to work towards saving for. - Unless you count a big trampoline for the garden, but it would take several years of chores at the rates we pay for them to save up for that!!

In the last couple of weeks, the girls have started emptying the dishwasher each morning together, and they now have a 'shared' money box for money they earn together. This is becoming routine for them now - and they can see how the money is adding up for doing a task that takes very little time and effort.

My dilemma now is that I want to get them more involved in household chores, but have I made it difficult to ask them to do more chores without them expecting to be paid for them?

This morning I sat down with them to explain that I wanted to show them how to help out with more jobs about the house. I tried to use the example of setting the table as something they do every night which helps out but they don't get paid for it. I explained that last week very little housework got done because I was sick - but if that happens again in future, I would like for them to be able to help me out a little more. I really think they understood this and took it on board.

So I showed them how to do a few more chores they've never done before. For example empty the inside bins into the larger bin outside and how to sort and put on a load of washing.

I'm also working on making things more accessible for them. I just moved things around in our laundry - so now they can reach their own sets of pink rubber gloves, rags for cleaning and the white vinegar spray I use for cleaning.

Each day - particularly in the last two weeks of our school summer holidays here, I want to show the girls how they can help with various household jobs. I'm not expecting them to take over and do all the housework for me (although that would be lovely!!) I just want them to understand how things are done, and to help out now and then, so that if the need arises, they could do things for me!

I found an interesting article on how to help you child build self-confidence. In the latter part of this article it mentions what jobs and tasks kids can and should be doing by particular ages! For example:

"By three years of age, a child can be taught to clean sinks and tubs "

And then there's:

"By seven, a child can be cooking at least one meal a week from start to finish."

This last one about cooking is one I've been having a chat to our 8 year old about and she's keen to try. Both girls have helped lots making meals, but have never made one all by themselves from start to finish! So this is going to be an interesting thing to try this week! I will let you know how that goes!!

I also found another interesting list of 'Age appropriate chores for kids'.

How about you? What jobs do your kids do? Do you pay them? How do you distinguish between chores they are expected to do, and those that you will pay them a little extra cash for? Do you think there are particular ages that kids should be doing particular jobs by - or should you just go by your own children and lifestyle?

Jill

Losing my voice

2012-01-09T20:00:00.006+10:00

Last week I lost my voice - totally, for 4 days. It wasn't just croaky, it was completely gone. Our two daughters are currently home on school holidays, and the day my voice went, was the day Euan returned to work after his Christmas break.

The first day wasn't too bad. I felt very unwell, but our girls are pretty self sufficient and managed without much input from Mummy for the day. They played together, helped make lunch and watched a movie while I rested. When I needed to communicate with them, I wrote notes (thankfully both of them can read) and used signs.

By day two I began to get frustrated. I couldn't catch their attention without going to them, the usual stern tone of voice saying their name if they began to push boundaries with each other or me couldn't happen. Facial expressions only work when they're looking at you. Trying to help them do things was difficult trying to write explanations isn't as effective as spoken ones. Most frustrating was the fact the the girls weren't speaking to me. I was trying to use sign language, and so they were doing the same back to me. When I mouthed words to them, they mouthed replies back!

The first day I lost my voice, I didn't expect it to last, so didn't consider how to cope with silent parenting. Euan came up with an idea after work the second day. When he returned home he downloaded an app onto this new tablet that would translate my typing into spoken words! Ironically when I was finishing cooking dinner and trying to catch everyone's attention by banging on the kitchen bench, then banging a glass with a spoon - everyone ignored the noise - and me, because they were too busy playing with this new app that was supposed to help me communicate! Doubly frustrating - and I'm afraid tears ensued after a very long day!

The app on the tablet did at least make a little light of the situation. Typing wasn't really any faster than me writing what I wanted to say - and the pronuciation wasn't always understandable. Plus it was new and exciting to the girls so they would watch me type and read out what I was typing before the tablet had a chance to say it for me! Still, it did provide some light relief of the difficult situation for me, as we played around with the speed and pitch of the tablet's pronunciation, and made it say silly things!

Not being able to speak for four days, made me realise quite how much I do normally speak. Not just conversations, telling and asking things, but also just little comments and words, voicing my thoughts, and also singing along to songs on the radio. I love to sing with the girls and I've been missing that!

I also found that people do tend to speak to you in the way you speak to them. Aside from the girls themselves mouthing and whispering words to me, when I ventured out to the shops while unable to speak I found shop assistants doing the same - then shaking their heads and speaking properly. I don't think anyone did it consciously, but it was another thing I did find frustrating!

After two days of not being able to speak to my kids, I started to wonder how long this was going to last, and how could I cope with it better.
It made me think of 'baby sign language'.. I remember reading about it when our daughters were both speaking, so really it was bit late for them, but it seems like a good idea. I wonder if babies who are taught this type of sign language, then find non verbal communication any easier when they get older?

It also made me think of the game of charades. We've never played it with our girls, but this experience has made me feel that we should! Perhaps last week would have been easier - and maybe a little more fun, had I been able to use principles from charades to communicate more? Maybe not, but if nothing else it would be a fun game to play with the kids.

Losing my voice and having to parent silently for 4 days did make me look at how I do things, and what I would like to do differently. One thing I want to do is to get the girls more actively involved in the house - doing more chores, and helping out more. This is one area I'll definitely explore this week - and figure out what is possible! Watch this space!

Have you ever lost your voice? How do you think you would cope if you couldn't speak to your kids for a few days?

Jill

Scouts for boys and girls

2012-01-06T20:00:00.000+10:00

Were you a scout or guide?Do you have happy memories of spending time outdoors or does the thought of a couple of days away from home and modern technology and comforts make you scared? Surely you can survive without a computer for a couple of days- or would you sneak an ipad or tablet into the essentials pile of things to take?

Scouts was formed in the early 1900s in England by Baden Powell as a way of passing on useful skills to youngsters in an outdoor setting. Within a few years girls and boys were enjoying ‘scouting’ in their free time– living in tents, cooking their own food and learning through games.

Scouts has since grown to have over 41 million members worldwide by 2011 and aims to be voluntary and open to all young people with no regard to race, religious belief or origin. Scouts have uniforms and the famous ‘woggle.’

Through participating in activities,scouts earn badges showing their successes and competency in a variety of areas from cooking to sports, knot tying to orienteering. It is a great way to get kids outdoors and in some cases outside their comfort zones in a safe environment.

The kids are broken into different age groups and has sections in each country which are used to keep similar ages together. The Australian movement is for both boys and girls and is split as follows:

Our family friends are involved in scouts and as we look at the options for the girls this year, scouts will definitely be one of the options on the table. Fostering identity and team spirit is a great alternative provided through scouts rather than the simple desire to win (individually or as a team) that regular sporting or extra curricular school activities provide.

I’d love to hear your memories of scouts or how your children are currently enjoying scouts.

Euan

WWE Don't try this at home

2012-01-05T20:00:00.001+10:00

I love wrestling, I remember as a kid not believing that it could be rehearsed or staged. Back in the UK, as a kid, I watched Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks before I even knew about the WWE and glitzy American wrestling.

It is only human for boys, as testosterone and society demand that play fights occur and where better to gain moves from than TV and even wrestling. WWE wrestling with current starts such as John Cena, Randy Orton, the Undertaker and the rest of the superstars lead the way and provide styalised violence on family times slot TV. It is interesting how the watching demographic for wrestling has dipped to younger and younger kids. Just look at all the plastic toys and figurines that are available for youngsters.

The ringside leaps, flying and twisting routines to pulverise an opponent and signature moves that are unique to particular wrestlers make the franchise of WWE strong and resilient.

In more recent years the need for the 'Don't try this at home' message has been pushed by both theWWE itself and concerned parents. This segment is mixed between the fights that make up the show. 'Don't try this at home' shouts at the youngsters watching to not try to emulate their heros and advocates that the wrestlers are trained athletes and should not be copied. It graphically shows some of the injuries such as ripped muscles or broken bones that have happened outside the planned story lines of the show. I believe this is a definite and strong message sent by the producers to assist parents. I also understand that in some instances these messages also include pictures of the wrestling heros as kids holding up belts and obviously mimicking their heros of the time. Commercialism certainly slips into everything!

It is difficult not to be a bit cynical when you think of the money that is involved in the WWE worldwide.

With this discussion in mind, I still love wrestling. Despite the fact that the vast majority of the show is more acting than sport, the undoubted athleticism and hours of hard work exercising and building superhuman physiques to do superhuman moves is still awesome.

I also enjoy watching it with our girls to show them the boyish aspect of childhood. Whilst some of their friends are banned from watching the show, the girls do not copy the moves or actually fight between themselves. We always stop for the 'Don't try this at home's' message and I can see the girls breaking up future play ground fights and being one step ahead of the boys with their knowledge of wrestlers and the latest moves.

So, although not sending a peaceful or 'good' message, I understand this and still enjoy the show. With a little guidance, the girls can enjoy the show and even question what they are seeing on TV (he didn't really hit him there, I saw him slap his hand not head!!) and they are seeing fit people moving athletically (can we join gymnastics again this term??).

Life is not just sugar coated idealism and girls need an understanding of what young boys are up to and after all, it is all good American fun isn't it?

Euan

Routines for kids- the good and bad

2012-01-04T20:00:00.002+10:00

After reading this article today on the BBC news website about how kids with a routine of set bedtimes and mealtimes do better at school, it got me thinking about routines. What routines do our kids have and what did I have as a child?

I certainly did have structure, and our kids do have set routine times for the basics of getting up, mealtimes and going to bed - these are more flexible in the school holidays of course!

One of the comments on this article surprised me - someone stated that changing TV schedules haven't helped parents keep routines!

I think that parents need to be aware of their children's needs and able to be in control rather than affected so much by outside influences like TV schedules, or opinions of others. I believe that we as parents need to demonstrate control of our lives to enable our children to develop a responsible control over their own lives.

I'm not saying that we aren't influenced by outside factors, but our lives are not controlled by them.

Thinkng about routines in the middle of a 2 month summer break from school is interesting. Our girls are very rarely at a loss for something to do. They play very well together and have endless imaginary games to keep them amused - or immerse themselves in books, craft or play outside in the swimming pool or just the garden. But after 4 weeks of holidays I had decided that I wanted to introduce a bit more routine into theirs - and my day. Some time spent exploring their new laptops - a little time playing some games that will keep their brains working while away from school, and also time to get active. However, starting the new year with these great plans - but losing my voice and being sick hasn't helped us get stuck into the new routine!

The aforementioned article from the BBC states that children with more structured days grow up more confident and with more direction in their lives. I think routine is just a part of this - but an important part. Kids need structure and order - but there also has to be a balance.

Several years ago I worked as a teaching assistant in a school in Japan. I learnt how structured children's lives are in Japan - for example I remember reading a school trip schedule in which every minute was accounted for, down to the times to clean their teeth, get dressed and brush their hair! There was no freetime on that schedule.
I also remember reading an article about what Japanese teenagers worry about most. Very high up on the list was 'having free time'!! Simply because they did not know what to do with it!
Now I'm sure this is not the blanket case across the whole of Japan, but it demonstrates the effect that too much structure can have on children. They need to learn to think for themselves - but you have to give them the tools to be able to do this sensibly and morally. That is a parent's job - to provide routines, structure and boundaries within which a child can grow and develop. These children will then eventually learn to push and shape those boundaries and structures to suit their own lives and characters.

Meal and bedtime routines are important basic foundations that all children need and should have. Routines beyond that I think depend on the time, (school or holiday) and personal choice of how you want to bring up your own children.

Personally I feel like I would like to have a little more structure and routine in my life - and if I can manage this - and include our kids in that, I would achieve a lot more than I do now. But once again - balance is key! I certainly don't want to schedule activies into every minute of their holidays - but a little direction and a little more shared time would be a good thing! Now I just have to get my voice back and we can get started!

How about you? How much routine do you put into your child's day? Are you happy with it? How does it compare to your own childhood routines? and is routine a good or bad thing?

Jill

Shooting hoops

2012-01-03T20:00:00.001+10:00

We have a new addiction in the family!

With the arrival of a full size basketball hoop and basketball, we are ready to welcome a new age of ball skills, throwing and catching activities and the introduction to future team sport (be it netball or basketball).

The construction of a flatpack basketball stand and hoop is stuff for another post, but needless to say it was hot, heavy and challenging in 30 degree heat!

Once standing, we soon realised that at the top of the driveway on a hill is not the most conducive to 6 and 8 year olds trying to shoot their first baskets up hill! It also highlights the need to teach how to throw a basketball for a youngster, a push throw/set shot is the most likely to make the distance. Once we lowered the hoop, the thrill of actually getting a basket could be shared more readily. The look on our youngest's face when she shot her first hoop was priceless.

Understanding that there are clear methods of throwing also helps, having a strong model makes things easier too.

Other than the banner advert, this link is really useful when looking at how kids can learn to throw and play basketball.

So, whenever possible at the moment, we are out in the garden shooting hoops. When the kids go back to school we will look at basketball and netball and see which takes their fancy.

It will also be good when they get beyond the 'throw the ball and run' as they are no taware where it may come down. I guess in all sports, self preservation is also an important skill but will probably not lead to a future world champion in the making!!

This clip shows the basic shots in basketball and whilst missing the glory of the slamdunk, is pretty informative.

What do you think? Have you seen a better single video showing all of the different shots?

Euan

Can you roll your "r"s?

2012-01-02T20:00:00.002+10:00

We recently discovered that one of our daughters could not roll her "r"s! Having a Scottish father, should she not be an expert at this? Apparently not.

Initially I wondered if this was one of those things that you either can or can't do genetically - like curling your tongue as in the picture. I remember being taught about that in Biology at high school - this was the example used to demonstrate genetic traits! (although I see that there is some dispute over whether or not genetics is solely responsible for this useful?? ability!)

But back to being able to roll your "r"s. Have you ever tried to tell someone how to do this? Not so easy to describe! So I turned to Google! Wikihow has a great article with 5 different 'methods' to learn how to roll your "r"s! Who would have thought?? From the 'tiger' method, to the 'Rasberry' method.

We had some fun as as family - trying to follow the various instructions - and all being very 'helpful' to our older daughter who couldn't roll her "r"s naturally.

I think it's a matter of finding which instructions make sense to you and working with that. The method that worked in the end, was the 'dR' method, which is apparently the one Lenin used!! Our daughter found straight away that she could, in fact, roll her "r"s when saying the word "dracula"!! So now she has a word to start from to practice using those muscles so necessary when trying to imitate Dad's Scottish accent!

So - go on, have a try! Can you roll your "r"s??

Jill