Resolving Parent-Teacher Conflicts

It's happened to all parents at one point or another, whether it be a negative written comment on an assignment, or a phone call or a conversation during PTA time. She'll say something that will hurt your feelings and that protective instinct kicks in and all you want to do is set the teacher straight. To me a complaint from the teacher is very stressful, and to complain about a teacher very difficult. It took me years to get a grip on how to handle the situation in a way that would actually help the child.

Tips on Motivating your child in Public Speaking

When I look at my kids I see the vastness of their individuality, which sometimes baffles me actually, given that they have the same genetic mish mash, more or less same environment and same physical and mental support systems. And yet they all have their strong and weak points.

In some families, talking itself starts late. I read somewhere that is a family trait thing, and I see this to be true in 4 of my 6 kids. What I also notice is that the two who spoke early are more verbal and appear to have a more confident outlook. That's not to say the quieter ones don't have their own virtues, some that greatly outshine the other siblings. The four kids started speaking well after the age of three and continue to struggle with complicated and long sentences.

In the beginning, I was worried that this may be some form of learning disability, but time proved that some kids just naturally pick up later than others and have their own developmental pace. But the fact that they hit all other major milestones on schedule further calmed my frayed nerves. It becomes distressful if other milestones are also greatly lacking, in which case it is best to get it checked out.

How to Keep your Cool when Teaching Kids (Your Kids)

I recently read a couple of comments where mothers were disturbed about the fact that they easily lose their composure whilst getting their young children to do their homework, prepare for a test or do an assignment. It is actually one of those times where our patience and composure is seriously put to the test. I started thinking about how I also feel that way sometimes. But over the course of many years and through a hot and trial method, I have learned some ways to make it better.

Social Media and our Kids

What is social media? Today I felt I should raise a concern that is manifest in all our minds, especially those of us with tweens and teenagers. There is no doubt that it is now the 'normal' we live in. Back in our day, we were lucky if we had a desktop to play pacman on, let alone our own mobiles with data packages. Whereas providing and enabling your child to access varying degrees of internet is a very personal decision, there are certain facts that we should all be aware of. There is no doubt that every tool of modern science can be beneficial to us but the sad truth is that it is also blatantly misused and abused and may cause damage that can lead to serious ramifications. I'll try to briefly sum these up keeping it to the point...

Insider Tips on doing English Exercises

As most of you know that I have a little bit of teaching experience for the primary level, and along the way, have picked up some tips and tricks that teachers employ in their classrooms to improve the kids' performance. In this little post I want to share some of those with you so that you can also guide your kids if you think that they are applicable to you. I have already done numerous posts on related topics to education, just search the labels for 'education' and you'll get more tips on improving reading, IQ, motivation etc. Now these may be familiar to a lot of you moms out there, but it never hurts to brush up and hone in on those skills. So here we go:

Did Your Child Land a Good Teacher

It's no secret that we all want out kids to land good teachers, we all know the heart ache that goes with dealing with a teacher who is unprofessional and does not get along with our child. I'm sure we have all at some point dealt with such teachers and it is no easy task. Things begin to become apparent as soon as kids start school, especially in the primary section. And young kids need more nurturing than older children (even though a 'bad' teacher can really effect children of any age). I haven't met the teachers of my kids but you get a general idea by the attitude of the children and the work they bring home. Here is what I've come to learn about exemplary teachers:

Back to School Prep

Well time flew by pretty quickly, the kids had fun and now the time is fast approaching for normalcy to return to our mad mad lives. Let's face it though, the transition is a bit tough. Here are a few tips I have picked up along the way to make things easier and a learning experience:

Your Child Can be a Better Student- Here's How

Some kids just excel at their school work, they seemingly breeze by the tests getting great grades and don't even break a sweat. But some kids seem to be struggling along, and not getting the desired results, this leads to frustration and lack of motivation.

There are little bits and pieces you can do to help you child through this. I myself have implemented these things, and they do help in most cases.

Boosting Your Child's IQ

We all know that a lot of the IQ (Intelligence Quotient) of a child is predetermined by things like genes, pregnancy, breast feeding, exposure to toxins, complications in pregnancy etc. The good news is you can actually do something right now to enhance your child's intellectual capacity, and can continue to do so till they are well into their teens. Even then the human brain is like a big muscle that can be trained into better shape and working. Here are some simple tips you can implement right now this very moment that can improve your child's IQ.

Fun Summer Vacation Activities for 3 to 8 Year Olds- Category Wise

The summer holidays are in full throttle, and so many of us face young energetic kids active from the second they wake up till the second they settle into bed with nothing much going on. This is the time to really bond and have fun whilst simultaneously making the entire duration an educational experience for your precious little one. Here are a few random activities that require not much in terms of resources but can really capture their imagination and keep them preoccupied for some time.

How to Motivate You Child into Becoming an Avid Learner

How many times have I had to remind my kids that they had tests and assignments and that they should not squander their time away on pointless things like sports, cartoons and games? Too many to recall I'm afraid and with little success I might add. And let's be real, to a child those are not pointless activities at all. In fact what kids learn in play hold no parallel to rote learning. This got me to thinking how I could bring about a revolution of sorts and have them pester me about helping them with their school work instead of it being the other way around.

It's a bumpy ride, but with enough persistence, I just about pulled it off and here's how:

9 Great Teaching Tips- From the Classroom into your Home

Those of us who have taught in schools, especially to young children who are in their formative and curious years, will probably have picked up little nifty tricks of the trade that no doubt help out when it comes to teaching their own. In this post, I will outline nine tips that I have picked up and that can easily be incorporated into your study time routine with your kids. These can be molded into your own personal styles.

These will be particularly handy when you have new concepts to teach your child, granted they are taught at school, but in my experience, parents still play an important role in reinforcing or further clearing up concepts taught at school.

The Importance of Space and Surroundings (at home) for Learning

When you go into a classroom, every corner is dedicated to some form of aspect that aides in teaching children. Be it the soft boards on the walls, to corners for reading and play, even the furniture- it is all designed to make make learning as efficient as possible.

There is no reason why your home can not cater to this same concept. By making slight adjustments in our homes, we can optimize our children's skills sets and cognitive abilities. Since I myself have set up classrooms for very young children, I've adapted some little nifty tricks, some that effect the mind subconsciously and some that have a more direct impact.

The Problem with Education Today

Being a mother to six children, five of whom are currently attending various schools across the Emirates, and some that they attended back home, I have piled on rather a few grievances based on my experiences. Perhaps grievances is too soft a word, I would say I'm truly troubled at how things have changed since when I was a young student. It's no secret that the world has progressed in all fields of life- medicine, technology and 'education'. But here's why I say I'm upset and believe the entire system is borderline failing:

Bullying- Is Your Child A Victim?

It's a harsh reality of the world that each and every child will, at some time in their life, be bullied in some capacity- be it emotionally, socially or even physically. Though it is observed everywhere, it is shamelessly rampant in schools and our children, being inexperienced and impressionable, are most affected by its consequences.

I've been bullied in school, I remember the pain it caused and the lack of desire in going to school was the only thing that seemed to make sense. I think back as to why this was, I was a plump child in mid school, and that's when girls start to become mean. It takes very little for the 'popular kids' to band up against the shy awkward types. And now that I have school going children, I am dealing with this nightmare all over again except that it is much worse because as a mother you don't want your kids to be hurt in any fashion by anybody.

Improving Writing Skills for Pre-teens- What You Can Do

I have always been interested in writing. This stems from good teachers, an inspirational mother and a keen interest. These factors may not always prevail in everyday life, but because of this one skill, I have always had the good fortune of acing exams, writing posts for blogs and earlier on life I also dabbled in a little poetry. No doubt good writing skills can aide you throughout life. But it helps if this skill is fostered when children are very young. If you want to help your child improve his/her writing skills, you'll need two things: persistence and half an hour to forty minutes of your day- and a note book and pencil of course.

Make PTMs Work For You

Ah PTMs- I've been at both ends of the table, and while parents may feel nervous speaking to their child's teacher, it's equally tense for the teacher as well. Parents feel anxious not only about the report card that would be handed to them but also about the other possible complaints the teacher might make. Similarly, the teacher is not sure what to expect from the parents, as some of them become pretty aggressive when it comes to their child whilst others just listen with no comprehension of what the teacher is saying.

I guess what I'm saying is that a parent teacher meeting is a wonderful opportunity for the chief caregivers in your child's life to come together and team up for a mutual goal that is the child's progress and success, but it has to be done right. No matter how many I attend, till this day I have this little knot in my stomach even when I know my child has fared well. The reality is that we parents will always have a bias in favor of our kids, it's just nature. So how can you maximize the little time you have to best discuss the issues that are in your mind during parent teacher meetings?