Hippocrates said circa 400BC that “food should be our medicine and medicine should be our food”. He would probably turn in his grave if he saw the amount of highly processed, sugary food and drinks marketed…
Telling the time, using a knife and fork, manners: what should be taught in the home and what in the school?
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Who taught you to tell the time, to tie your shoelaces or to write your name? I have memories of my parents and teachers taking a hand in helping me to learn these skills as a small child. But what about…
Tablets can be a novel reading experience for parent and child.
Goodluz/Shutterstock
A recent US survey commissioned by the children’s books publisher Scholastic found that 65% of 6-11 year olds prefer to read print books even when e-books are available on tablets. In the UK, a National…
We keep hearing that parents these days give in to their kids, or are overprotective, creating a generation of brats and failures, but has parenting actually changed?
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I need to start with a confession: I’m not a parent. I am someone who investigates how science can help parents deal with the sleepless nights, the fussy eaters, the sibling rivalry, the intrusive in-laws…
Conduct problems in childhood are the most common precursor to a variety of disorders affecting mental and physical health in adulthood.
Sergio Vassio Photography/Flickr
Aggression and oppositional behaviour in childhood doesn’t just make short-term problems for children, their friends and families. It also places kids at risk of long-term issues with mental and physical…
A mother’s healthy and varied diet during pregnancy might give her child a head start to healthy eating.
Bettina Neuefeind/Flickr
Our parents teach us what is to eat. But this process begins well before the fight to get toddlers to eat their veggies. Not only do our parents give us the genes that define our taste receptors, research…
Higher education got the most attention it’s had in decades, thanks to the proposed shake up by this man.
AAP
While 2013 was all about schools and their funding (remember Gonski, anyone?), 2014 was the year of higher education reform. Or, at least, proposed higher education “reform”. With cuts to higher education…
Sharing stories around the dinner table fosters greater self-esteem and resilience in young people.
Howard Chalkley
Families and friends share memories all the time; “You’ll never guess…”, “How was your day?”, and “Do you remember when…” are rich daily fodder. Sharing memories is not only a good way to debrief and reminisce…
Parents can support young people to develop healthy, respectful and consensual sexual relationships.
Ed Yourdon/Flickr
Talking about sex, intimacy and risk-taking with adolescents is not as easy as busting out a Salt-N-Pepa classic. Catchy lyrics aside, parents may be grappling with a number of questions: Is my adolescent…
Babies can learn to self settle through controlled crying.
Yoshihide Nomura/Flickr
Every evening, parents across Australia hope their babies will sleep through the night. Many won’t. That’s where controlled comforting, or controlled crying might help. Contrary to some claims, this is…
In lots of simple ways parents can help their kids understand and enjoy maths.
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Teaching maths concepts has long been considered the domain of the classroom teacher, with many parents often feeling unable to help their kids develop this skill. However, parents already do many things…
Supporting parents to interact more responsively seems to benefit children with autism, just as supporting parents can help children with other conditions.
The Q Speaks/Flickr
Since the condition was first recognised in the 1940s, parents have been and felt blamed for their children’s autism. Today, most people no longer believe this, but a lingering doubt continues to niggle…
There are ‘his’ and ‘hers’ apps for raising a baby.
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Almost every day, a smartphone app emerges offering some new and exciting functionality. But it’s come to my attention that many of these apps are continuing an old trend: they are purveyors of gender-based…
People who have been in care are more likely to have children at an early age and are at greater risk of having their own child taken into care.
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Most people reasonably assume there is evidence of good long-term outcomes for children who come into contact with child protection systems. Why else would we intervene in the lives of children and their…
Happy parenting won’t necessarily get you into Oxbridge.
Parenting via Goodluz/Shutterstock
Britain is quickly turning into a nation characterised by an obscene and unsustainable wealth gap, according to a new report on social mobility. Yet behind the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s…
Four-year-old Chloe Valentine sustained injuries and died after being made to ride and repeatedly crash her 50-kilogram motorbike.
AAP Image/South Australian Supreme Court
The tragic death of four-year old Chloe Valentine in South Australia has raised concerns that the state’s child protection system is in crisis. Following a history of abuse and neglect, Chloe’s mother…
Decisions are difficult and prone to error when risk and protective factors appear to be fairly equal.
atikinka/Shutterstock
Imagine you’re a child protection worker who has received a notification from a teacher voicing concerns about a child in her class. The case involves a five-year-old boy named Toby. Toby’s mum has had…
Most parents we interviewed described having “unrealistic” expectations about baby behaviour.
Robyn Lee/Flickr
Becoming a parent is commonly imagined to be a joyful and “natural” life event. The reality is often very different. In the early weeks and months of life with a first baby, parents must master new skills…
Gentle parenting means no punishments and no rewards: just a partnership with your kids where they want to do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing.
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In a piece in The Conversation, Bernadette Saunders described positive discipline. Parents who practise positive discipline or gentle parenting use neither rewards nor punishments to encourage their children…
Leader of the pack: Djalu Gurruwiwi of the Galpu clan leads younger performers at the 2013 Garma Festival in Arnhem Land.
AAP Image/Youthu Yindi Foundation
Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary
Assistant professor, School of Psychology, Scientist, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa