Daniel the “emotional support duck” is a pretty big deal, both in the animal and human world. His 15 minutes of fame began after he was spotted on a flight in the US – from Charlotte to Asheville, North Carolina – waddling around the plane in a nappy and some stylish red shoes. He is said […]
Category Archives: Parenting
How can educators help support children through parental separation?
According the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016), in 2015 there were 48 517 divorces granted in Australia and 47.5 per cent of these cases involved children. This is without considering the number of parents who were never married and separated. It is then an unfortunate fact that many children who will come into our care […]
Grandchildren and grandparents: Nurturing relationships
In my family I’m Grandma Kathryn. Oh, and also Mum, Kath, Aunty Kath and Kathryn. Grandma Kathryn is my most recent title and initially the most perplexing. I was confident about becoming a sister-in-law, an aunty, a daughter-in-law, a wife and then a mother. Why was becoming a grandmother different? My beautiful little grandson was […]
Building confidence in your child prior to early school
“Wouldn’t we all love our children to have positive self-esteem and healthy self-confidence? How can parents help to build confidence in their child before they make that first big move into an early school environment?” The first thing to know is that there are many things that parents can do to build confidence in their […]
A boy keeps trying to kiss my daughter. It’s not cute
My eight-year-old daughter recently complained to me about a boy in her grade. “Dad, he keeps on trying to kiss me. Today at recess he kissed me twice on the face. I keep telling him to ‘Stop!’ and he doesn’t.” In the past this incident may have been called cute. Parents or staff members may […]
From signing to ‘sensory’: can trendy baby classes really boost a child’s development?
Parent and baby classes are increasingly popular, and the choice greater than ever. These days you can even take newborns on courses ranging from massage, yoga, music and swimming, to “signing” (teaching babies simple gestures to communicate needs), and “sensory” (letting babies explore different textures, sights, sounds and so on). Many of these courses promise […]
When parents and self-regulation meet early childhood settings
In this blog post, QUT School of Early childhood researcher, Kate Williams talks about parenting and its influence on children’s self-regulation, and ways in which early childhood professionals can best engage parents around this topic. Self-regulation is the ways in which we all regulate our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviour so that we can be […]
Putting ‘Gentle Parenting’ into Practice: the Possibilities of Reasoning with the Very Young
When I hear people say “you can’t reason with a very young child”, or “the only way to make a young child change their behaviour is to reward or punish”, I feel deeply saddened. My experience as a parent, and parent educator, is otherwise. I wonder if our expectations of small children are inhibited by […]
5 career kickstarters for mum
If you have been out of the workforce on maternity leave or taking some time out to nurture your little ones then maybe it’s time for a career kickstarter for mum? Sometimes two weeks in an organisation can mean they have rearranged the seating or reclassified your role and if you have been out of […]
What everyone ought to know about trauma
This blog was originally posted in 2015 and updated in August 2020. Anyone can experience trauma at any time in life Some effects of trauma can be immediate and obvious … others can take time to appear. Trauma describes the impact of an event, or a series of events, that leaves someone feeling helpless and pushed […]