Child’s Play

Why it’s important for children to have enough free play at a young age? During my 20 years of international school administration, one of the changes I have noticed is the move by both schools and parents to reduce free play time for children and replace it with more academic activities. This is best demonstrated by the … Read more

Brain Overload

Are ‘digital natives’ really effective multitaskers? I thought the topic of multitasking might be useful to parents because at some stage in your child’s development you are going to hear the phrase, “You don’t understand, I am doing my homework. We (digital natives) can listen to music, chat, Facebook, watch Youtube, text and do homework … Read more

Girls Will Be Girls

The pressures on girls in society and in school. “It’s pretty hard being a girl nowadays. You can’t be too smart, too dumb, too ugly, too friendly, too coy, too aggressive, too defenseless, too individual, or too programmed. If you are too much of anything, then others envy you, or despise you because you intimidate … Read more

Boys Will Be Boys

“The ‘differentness’ of boys is not inherently bad but it does present a challenge to teachers, to the school culture and to boys themselves.” Excerpt from Raising Cain by Dan Kindlom and Michael Thompson. Since the 90s, evidence has been mounting showing that boys are struggling in school far more than their fathers ever did. … Read more