Category Archives: Education

“Sort it out for yourself” – sound advice, or too much to ask?

Posted on November 13, 2012 | 11 Comments

Bold Park studentsHow do schools and other settings help children to deal with arguments and disputes? And are some well-meaning approaches doing more harm than good?  A young Australian who I met on my recent visit there had some interesting answers to these questions.

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Posted in Child development, Education, Risk

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The low-cost, anytime bug hunt kit

Posted on November 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

specimen jar and magnifying glassWant to offer your kids – or the kids you work with – a simple, cheap way to get closer to nature? Just follow these three simple steps. 1: get yourself down to your nearest health clinic to buy/scrounge some specimen jars like the ones in this photo. 2: buy some magnifying glasses online (around 50p/a dollar each). 3: head for your nearest green space, and start hunting!

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Posted in Education, Learning, Nature, Outdoor play

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It’s health and safety gone sane!

Posted on September 3, 2012 | 48 Comments

Glamis Adventure Playground double swingI see what you did there. So I take it you are not about to share another crazy story about kids being wrapped in cotton wool.
Indeed not. Today is a good day for getting rid of the white fluffy stuff. You see, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a statement that promotes a balanced, thoughtful approach to safety in children’s play.

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Posted in Education, Learning, Outdoor play, play, Play spaces, playground, Public policy, Risk

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When anxious parents are the problem, what is the solution?

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 13 Comments

baby-girl-knee-padsHow should schools, nurseries, kindergartens and other education, childcare and play services respond to anxious parents? I was asked this question recently by an Australian early years educator who heard me speak a couple of months ago.

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Posted in Education, Learning, Outdoor play, Parenting, Risk

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“To be nowhere at home but in life itself”

Posted on July 19, 2012 | 8 Comments

dribble sculptureHere are some finely crafted lines on the role of adults in children’s education, from the German poet H H Dreiske:

One should teach children to dance
on a tightrope without a safety net,
to sleep at night alone under the sky,
to row a boat out on the open sea.

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Child reads own school report that says she cannot read

Posted on July 16, 2012 | 14 Comments

Poster with words "you cannot read this sentence"Last Friday I spoke with a parent from a local primary school about her 6-year-old daughter’s school report. The report stated that her daughter “has not met the expected standard for the Year 1 phonics screening check.” The parent told me how puzzled they both were by this, because her daughter could confidently read lots of written material by herself – including this very statement from her report.

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Posted in Child development, Education, Learning

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