Since my son started school I have been so curious to find out what he's up to every day. Of course I ask him, “What did you do today?” but there are no prizes for guessing his answer. I have tried the trick of arriving early and casually hanging around outside while I innocently glance inside the classroom. Murphy's Law: I could say every child in the class except mine. Asking the teachers doesn't provide much insight either. Yes they answer me but it is vague. I want details, I want the…

I recently read an article in the ‘Pathways to Family Wellness’ where Joseph Chilton Pearce, best selling author on child development, discusses how imagination can save our children from becoming violent.  He explains, “The child without imagination is subject to the immediate sensory environment bombarding them, without any alternatives. If his sensory environment is unpleasant, demeaning, insulting or threatening, his survival drive gives him no choice but to…

A few years ago when my son was four years old I managed 'Forest Friends Kindergarten'.  I was an ECD teacher there, in fact I was also the principal, the domestic, the nurse, the driver, the secretary.... you get the picture.

Situated on the edge of the Tsitsikamma forest the venue for this nursery school was a dome, and what an inspirational classroom…

How well does your child listen to you?  Like most kids, my son, 8 years, listens sometimes and other times not.  Last year I had a particularly difficult time getting him to listen.  I was so frustrated and thought he was probably trying to be the "ruler" as he was going through a phase of "the man knows more", "men are rulers of the house" and "you are just a girl".

Then one day I passed by a sign with the well known phrase: “Listen like a sponge”.  I got…