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Becoming an Adult Starts in Primary School

January 28, 2020

adulting

A good Primary school invests in more than just the academic progress of the child. It also fosters an ability for each student to gain thinking skills, coping strategies and proficiency in life skills.

That’s why I’m stunned that a college would have to open a course on basic life skills. Seems 12 years late:

 

U.C. Berkeley is offering a class in “adulting,” basic life skills young people may have missed until college provided a wake-up call.

The class is so popular it’s turning students away.

“I want to feel prepared like I know what I’m doing and I know how to be an adult,” said Allegra Estrada, 21, who is a pre-med junior at Cal.

“You can know as much as you want about physics or biology or English but that doesn’t help you when you need to do taxes or figure out what to eat.”
Monday night, a new eight-week session in “adulting” began.

“We’re going to have guest speakers,” said instructor Belle Lau, laying out the topics: managing time and money, and improving relationships

“That can be a relationship with yourself or others, like family, friends,” said Lau.

Other areas include fitness, nutrition and mental health.

“Self-care, self-love and sleep,” Lau continued.

Many students admit they struggle making the transition to self-reliance in college.

 

Special Announcement:

I am donating 100% of the royalties of my hilarious new children’s book, My Favourite Comedian, during the month of January to those affected by the devastating bushfires in my country, Australia. This book is perfect for children aged 9 to 14 and the ideal class novel for Upper Primary students. Please leave a comment to indicate your purchase. You can buy a copy by clicking on this link.

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Tags:adult course, adulting course, Children, Education, kids, Parenting, School, Teacher, Teaching, uc berkeley, uc berkeley adult course, uc berkeley adulting
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

Teaching Children to Think for Themselves

January 7, 2020

 

When you look at the parochial student groups and lobbies it’s easy to assume that forming opinions comes naturally to young people.

This isn’t the case.

I would argue that for many, the positions they reach stems less from personal insight and knowledge and is more of a result of what conviction is fashionable for the time and place.

This is not ideal.

Today’s primary aged children tend not to have fixed viewpoints on most issues. They can parrot what close friends express, but it is clear they haven’t given it much thought. They can be asked for example to give their view on whether schools should have uniforms. They usually respond that they shouldn’t but then get stuck when asked to elaborate and provide reasons.

It is absolutely essential that teachers address this and show the students how to think for themselves and why introspection and knowledge really matters.

My advice for children and adults is to indulge in both sides of every viewpoint.

For example, read a book from a leading atheist and then from a leading religious thinker to determine whether you believe in a creator. Read the best book on socialism and compare that to a book advocating capitalism.

These examples are more apt for High School kids than Primary, but the idea extends to them too. That’s why debating is such a brilliant discipline. It forces one to see things from a different perspective.

And it’s not just politics. If you can see things from different perspectives you can connect better with others, forging stronger and more meaningful relationships.

 

Michael Grossman is the author of the hilarious new children’s book, My Favourite Comedian. You can buy a copy by clicking on this link.

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Tags:Child Development, children and debating, critical thinking, Education, forming ideas, religion in schools, socialism vs capitalism, Teaching, thinking skills
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

We Have Already Found the Grandfather of the Year

January 1, 2020

It’s the first day of the year and we have already found our winner:

 

An Oregon grandfather of 10 came up with a brilliant way to spend more time with his grandchildren — he surprised them with a school bus that he had decorated and named the “Grandfather Express,” which he will use to drive them to school each day.

Doug Hayes was out to dinner with his wife Amy celebrating his 59th birthday this past June when Amy, just for fun, asked, “Well, you’re officially going to be old next year, anything you need to check off your bucket list? Anything you need to do in your last year before 60?“

In a Facebook post recounting how the Grandfather Express came to be, Amy explained that Doug was “totally bamfoozled” by the request because he’s always looking out for everyone else and is very outwardly focused. 

“What did HE want? What was on HIS bucket list?” Amy wrote. “He was floored. Actually a little disturbed. He couldn’t even comprehend the question.”

Amy went on to explain that Doug didn’t give her an answer that night, but one day he finally came up with the perfect answer.

“I want a bus,” he told Amy. 

When she asked him to clarify, he said that he wanted the bus to be able to pick up all his grandchildren each morning and drive them to school before he went to work. 

 

Michael Grossman is the author of the hilarious new children’s book, My Favourite Comedian. You can buy a copy by clicking on this link.

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Tags:Doug Hayes, Education, Grandfather Express, Grandfather school bus, Oregon grandfather of 10, School, school bus grandfather
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

The Importance of Humour in the Classroom

December 2, 2019

 

It is possible to enforce standards and command respect without losing the joy and excitement that should be the cornerstone of every successful classroom.

The challenges that our students feel are immense and creating an old-style, humourless and regimented classroom environment is not going to effectively develop trust or encourage your students to reach out.

A healthy sense of fun is a major priority for me. Everything from my classroom novel choices to the Maths and Literacy activities we engage in is designed to show children that fun and a good belly laugh is the right approach to tackling adversity.

 

 

Michael Grossman is the author of the hilarious new children’s book, My Favourite Comedian. You can download a free ebook copy by clicking here or buy a copy by clicking on this link.

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Tags:Education, Engaging Students, fun in the classroom, ideas for making the classroom fun, Laughing in the classroom', Making children laugh, Teaching
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The Importance of Showing Kids What a Great World is All About

July 12, 2018

smile-at-life

 

From early on, kids witness some of the worst things this world has to offer. Suffering, death, divorce, bullying, climate change and poverty. Preparing kids for these inevitabilities and guiding them through managing these issues is part of the learning and maturing process.

But there also needs to be a fair and real representation of all the good things about experiencing the world. Children must be directed to acts of goodness, courage and devotion as examples of the inherent potential in people, and by extension in themselves.

Acts such as this one:

 

Imagine you’ve just lost one of your most prized possessions at the busiest place around town – the airport. That’s what happened to 8-year-old August Bridges – or Gussie, as her family calls her – last week.

Gussie was sitting at a table inside the Norfolk International Airport with her mom and dad, Kelly and Jonathan Bridges, and her favorite stuffed animal, a small, furry dog named Cookie Dough.

After the family members they were waiting for made their way through the terminal, the group headed for the exit.

Not until the drive home to Virginia Beach did Gussie realize she’d left her toy pup behind.

“I thought she was going to cry,” Kelly said. “She had just got it a few weeks ago out of one of those claw machines at Chicho’s Pizza with her dad, and she was really attached to it.”

Kelly reached for her phone to call the airport’s lost and found desk. They said an airport police officer was on the case of the missing stuffed dog.

Before long, the airport police called Kelly back and told her Cookie Dough had been spotted.

When Jonathan and Gussie went back to retrieve the toy a couple of days later, they found out that Cookie Dough had been pretty busy.

Airport officers had made the dog an honorary policeman for a day and taken pictures to prove it. To show Gussie what her toy had been up to, the officers compiled the photographic evidence in a book.

There were photos of Cookie Dough dressed up as an airport firefighter, driving luggage-carrying carts and even sliding down the escalator rail.

“I’m having fun,” Cookie Dough said, “but don’t try this at home!”

The dog visited some new stuffed animal friends in the gift shop and stopped by the United Service Organizations center.

The officers fed him apples and taught him how to say the Pledge of Allegiance, too.

Beneath a picture of the toy dog staring out over the landing strip, the book read, “Watching the planes just come and go … until you come back to me.”

“They told us he had been on lots of adventures, but we didn’t think it would be anything like this,” Kelly said.

Steve Sterling, deputy executive director of administration and operations for the Norfolk Airport Authority, said the officers saw the opportunity to do something special.

“We knew that the girl’s parents had communicated that she was upset about the lost toy,” Sterling said. “So the dispatcher and police officers just wanted to put a special touch on returning the toy.”

Gussie was thrilled to have her stuffed dog back, Kelly said, but she and her husband were just as impressed by their creativity and kindness.

“It meant a lot to all of us,” Kelly said. “It was just awesome what they did for Gussie.”

 

Michael Grossman is the author of the hilarious new children’s book, My Favourite Comedian. You can download a free ebook copy by clicking here or buy a copy by clicking on this link.

 

Click on the link to read The Effect of Online Pornography on Kids

Click on the link to read School Rewards Good Grades With an Earlier Lunch

Click on the link to read What Kids are Thankful For (Video)

Click on the link to read Our Students Show us Up All the Time!

Click on the link to read Hilarious Video of Children Eating Candy

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Tags:cookie dough, Education, norfolk airport, stuffed animal
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

The Effect of Online Pornography on Kids

March 22, 2016

children-acces

 

The effect of pornography on kids cannot be understated. Although, we’d like to think that children under the age of 18 are not exposed to such material, we know better.

Take this disturbing piece of news:

 

CHILDREN as young as four are performing sex acts on each other in remote Aboriginal communities, according to a WA parenting expert who says online pornography is warping young people’s minds.

Safe4Kids founder Holly-ann Martin told a federal inquiry that children in remote WA were “at far greater risk” of being sexually abused because of easy access to pornography.

“I have walked into a classroom where I have witnessed children as young as four simulating sex on each other,” her submission said.

“I was also called into a community because four-year-olds were performing oral sex and digitally penetrating each other.

“Young Aboriginal men openly admit to watching pornography, telling me they want to learn ‘technique’ or ‘style’.

“Because these young men are not receiving good sex education and respectful relationships education, they are turning to online pornography for information.”

 

Click on the link to read School Rewards Good Grades With an Earlier Lunch

Click on the link to read What Kids are Thankful For (Video)

Click on the link to read Our Students Show us Up All the Time!

Click on the link to read Hilarious Video of Children Eating Candy

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Tags:access to kids, child's access to online content, effect of pornography, Parenting
Posted in Child Development | 1 Comment »

School Rewards Good Grades With an Earlier Lunch

December 16, 2015

woodrow-wilson-middle

Some schools think that their students are stupid. A struggling kid has a lot more on their mind than how far back they are in the lunch line:

 

A middle school is coming under fire for its incentive program, which rewards high-achieving students with a better spot in the lunch line, and forces less successful kids to eat last.

At Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Tampa, Fla., students who excel are rewarded with incentive cards, which give perks including a spot at the head of the line at lunch, according to Fox 13.  Students without the cards, who have to wait at the end of the lunch line, are referred to at school as “no card kids,” and some parents are concerned that these kids are being unfairly treated. “The no-card kids either have a ‘C’ or a conduct issue,” Woodrow Wilson parent Sonya Brown told Fox 13. “They eat last.”

While Brown says she believes in incentivizing kids for academic achievement, she says rewards should be for things like free admission to sporting events or homework passes. And some of the school incentive cards do include those rewards, as well as computer game time, free admission to a school dance, and a free cookie from the school café. But giving better students preferred spots in the lunch line, she says, is going too far.

Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Tampa, Fla., rewards high-achieving kids with better spots in the lunch line. (Photo: Facebook/Woodrow Wilson Middle School)

Alyssa Croker, an eighth grader at the school, says everyone knows why the “no-card kids” are at the back of the back of the line, and that those kids often only get 10 minutes to eat. “Everyone knows that they’re in line because they got a C,” she told Fox 13. “It’s not private at all. And it’s really embarrassing for them, I think.”

Click on the link to read What Kids are Thankful For (Video)

Click on the link to read Our Students Show us Up All the Time!

Click on the link to read Hilarious Video of Children Eating Candy

Click on the link to read Helping Kids Learn from Failure

Click on the link to read How Babies Learn (Video)

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Tags:grades for lunch line, lunch line insentive, lunch line reward, spot at the head of the line at lunch, students who excel are rewarded with incentive cards, Woodrow Wilson Middle School
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

What Kids are Thankful For (Video)

November 23, 2015

 

 

I love how honest kids are!

 

Click on the link to read Our Students Show us Up All the Time!

Click on the link to read Hilarious Video of Children Eating Candy

Click on the link to read Helping Kids Learn from Failure

Click on the link to read How Babies Learn (Video)

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Tags:Global Motherhood, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Kimmel Live, kids share what they're thankful for, kids thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, thanksgiving 2015, voices
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

Our Students Show us Up All the Time!

November 7, 2015

bobby

 

You just know when there’s a badly worded question that our students will pick up on it. Take the worksheet above for example.

 

 

Click on the link to read Hilarious Video of Children Eating Candy

Click on the link to read Helping Kids Learn from Failure

Click on the link to read How Babies Learn (Video)

Click on the link to read Celebrating Our Mistakes

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Tags:Funny, funny kids, math, Parenting, Parents
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

Hilarious Video of Children Eating Candy

November 3, 2015

 

 

Trick rather than treat for these kids.

 

Click on the link to read Helping Kids Learn from Failure

Click on the link to read How Babies Learn (Video)

Click on the link to read Celebrating Our Mistakes

Click on the link to read Is Guilt a Motivator of Children?

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Tags:Halloween, halloween candy, kids try candy from around the world, the cut video
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

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