Children often find it difficult to solve problems in the classroom, which can lead to silly errors being made. But are these mistakes made because of carelessness? Or is there another reason to explain why this occurs? A theory of learning known as “cognitive load theory” can help shed light on why children make mistakes. […]
Feature Stories
As a young child, I loved to imagine myself as a pioneer girl in Little House in the Big Woods, eating fresh snow drizzled with maple syrup. I even pestered my mother to make this treat with the dirty snow that fell on our Manhattan sidewalk. Not a chance. Years later, I honored my young […]
Often when students are placed in a composite or multi-age class, parents of the younger children worry they won’t be able to keep up. Parents of the older children worry their advanced needs won’t be met. However, before deciding whether mixed-grade classes are “good” or “bad” for your child, first we have to establish what […]
Starting a family later than our parents or grandparents did is a natural by-product of living longer and embracing opportunities unknown to previous generations. And in the era of celebrities miraculously falling pregnant at increasingly later stages in life, it would be easy to believe that health – and science – can override almost any age-related demise.
Each time I walk into a classroom, I can find at least 3 children who are on the floor in the W-Sitting position…and they kind of remind me of melting snowman. Their legs are wide around their bottoms, their trunk posture is often droopy and they aren’t able to move their arms outside of their base of support to play. I am constantly saying “fix your legs” or “NO “W” SITTING!”. What’s so wrong with W-sitting? Let’s explore.
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Children’s entertainment is in a mess. This is in no small part due to recent revelations about just what was happening when the stars of earlier generations were producing content.
The high-profile cases of Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile have troubled the childhood memories of a generation brought up with Jim’ll Fix It and Rolf’s Cartoon Club. Great swathes of content has been disrupted in our collective memory catalogue.
This is our last week of class and it’s all about what we should be doing when we first arrive back at home with a new-born baby. I’m willing to listen to suggestions, but to be honest I already made plans – to drink heavily and cry myself to sleep. Incidentally, I soon learn that the baby has made the same plans. Touché.
So, my man loves his food. Well, we all do, and it appears my five-month old will be a foodie too, judging by the way he dives for the pumpkin puree. But his dad goes to town on loaves of bread, bowls of pasta, biscuits, pancakes and beer. He will often do the late-night scout of the kitchen to find a sugary snack(s) before bed, and if there is no bread in the house at breakfast and lunch time, he looks hopelessly lost.
We had our second baby in January, and as we enter the sixth month of the year I still have not slept more than a few hours at one time, and nowhere near a full night’s sleep, due unfortunately to the fact that…