My mother-in-law died recently. She was a beloved grandmother to our children. At the time, I did not know how the handle her death and how to help them through it.
Dr. Helen Poon answers: The death of a loved one is one of life’s most devastating events. The impact of a death can ripple throughout the whole family, even children. Children have a different experience of time from that of adults, thus may go through the stages of mourning quite rapidly. Grief can be presented differently across different ages, thus it may be best to represent this through different developmental stages. more…
Do banks have savings schemes for children? My son keeps saying “can I have my own bank account?”
Sheila Dickinson replies: Yes indeed banks do offer children’s savings accounts. Some of them even package the account with attractive incentives, such as issuing passbooks with famous cartoon characters and sometimes even privileged interest rates. more…
My son’s teacher says that my son has trouble concentrating in class and as a result, he can be quite disruptive. As a teacher, what is your experience with disruptive children in class, and what advice can you give me?
Amy Stewart replies: The term ‘disruptive’ is quite wide ranging and can mean many things in a classroom situation. Firstly, it is good that you have a line of communication open with your son’s teacher about this issue so you can work together to resolve it and do the best thing by your son. more…
Daily7/Daily10 is proud to announce that the Daily10 Online website has won a 2011 Parents’ Choice Approved Award.
To be considered for a Parents’ Choice Award™, products must include excellent production values, universal human values, appeal to children, and age appropriateness. Above all, the Parents’ Choice Awards committees look for products that entertain and teach with flair, stimulate imagination and inspire creativity. Judges are interested in how a product helps a child grow in many ways: socially, intellectually, emotionally, ethically, and physically. Products must be free of racial or gender bias and must not extol violence.
I keep telling my children that money doesn’t grow on trees, but they just don’t get it! They just want the latest gadget that their friends have. What should I do?
Sheila Dickinson replies: As children go through different stages of development, so their concepts of money and values change. Once children reach the age of about 7, they should start to understand where money comes from, but they may not understand the relationship between cost and how much they have to spend. more…
I’m 34 and I have a 1 ½-year-old daughter. I am expecting my second child soon. It was a planned pregnancy, but now I am starting to worry that it’s too soon and I’m not ready for a second child. (And I feel like I haven’t slept in years!). In general, what would you say is a good gap to have between two children?
Dr. Helen Poon answers: A mother’s age is one of the main factors that influence the choice of having children or another child. Women who approach, during or past their mid-thirties would tend to worry about decreasing fertility. This pressure often motivates them to pursue further family planning. more…
We’ve just moved to Hong Kong, and I notice that some schools don’t have exams. As a teacher here, what are your thoughts? Do you think we need exams?
Amy Stewart replies: There are many ways of assessing a child’s knowledge acquisition and skills, and an exam is only one example. Students should be experiencing sound classroom assessment practises which include a range of assessment methods and styles which cover Diagnostic (what the students already know), Formative (ongoing assessment to check progress throughout the learning process) and Summative (checking to see if the child has met the learning objectives at the end of a period of time).
Good assessment should take place in the classroom in many forms to get the best picture about students’ progress. Reliance on exams, (a form of summative assessment), is not going to give students, teachers and parents an accurate and informative idea of progress. Exams are not the only form of summative assessment, and some schools will choose other methods to obtain data about the students upon completion of the learning objective/s.
