We are all told that there are things our children should know and the Internet is awash with articles on the dire consequences of poor grammar, with quiz after quiz to help you determine whether your grammar is good or bad. Here are three good reasons to teach kids grammar.
Does your family use more than one language? Or does your child speak a different language at school from the one spoken at home? This is the first in a series of three posts by Millie Slavidou – today looking at 7 good reasons to raise your kids bilingual.
In the past, bilingualism was often discouraged, and parents were advised to use only one language with their children. Non-native speaker parents would be encouraged to use what was for them a foreign language to communicate with their children. An awkward and false situation, especially for parents without a strong grasp on the dominant community language.
These days, things have changed. Studies have proved that bilingualism is not only possible, but beneficial. Children can easily cope with more than one native language and soon learn to sort out which vocabulary and grammar structures belong to which language.
“Put this on YouTube and it will go viral”, isn’t just heard from teens. Even little kids are telling their parents to share their funny videos online, and from a young age, they know the value of ‘likes’ and shares. The currency of social media likes, and the way it affects children’s self-esteem is a problem that worries parents and teachers around the world.
In times of limited health care budgets, it can be frustrating for parents and children, when therapy sessions are few and far between. Emily has some great tips on getting the most out of therapy for children.
‘I’m so cross. I had a speech & language session with our local community speech & language therapist and she said she couldn’t see us more than every six weeks! How on earth is my son going to be able to progress at that rate?? I mean, seriously. He’s three and can’t talk yet. Surely they can see he needs some serious intervention? Bloody funding issues but I think they actually just don’t care. I’m furious about it.’
I’ve heard this all too often – about Speech & Language, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy…any kind of therapy for children. Yes there may be funding issues, and the frequency of appointments might well be less than the therapist would ideally be recommending, but every six weeks can be enough to make the difference.
After publishing the article on creating a First Period Kit, a couple of readers asked if menstrual cups are suitable for teens, and whether I would recommend them. My instinctive response was, “I don’t see why not”, but I started doing some research, and contacted leading manufacturers of menstrual cups, to find out what their young customers had to say.
