Childhood is a critical period of growth and development, and it’s during this time that children form the foundations of their social, emotional, and intellectual abilities. One aspect of this development is socialization, the process by which children learn how to interact with others, form relationships, and become part of a community.

Teamwork is an important component of socialization, as it helps children develop essential skills that they will use throughout their lives.

Mindfulness has become a popular topic in the education world, especially in Singapore, where parents are seeking new ways to help their children succeed.

At Lorna Whiston Schools, we understand the importance of incorporating mindfulness into a child's education and the impact it can have on their overall well-being. But what exactly is mindfulness, and why is it so crucial for children?

The internet can be a dangerous place, especially for young children who may not fully understand the risks of sharing personal information or interacting with strangers. It is the responsibility of parents to educate their children about internet safety and to establish rules and boundaries to protect them online.

Children are our world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.—John F. Kennedy

It is no secret that children have an array of emotions that they are trying to deal with as they gain new knowledge and learn social skills. When they are trying to deal with the array of emotions, what do we do? Learning to deal with emotions such as frustration, anger, sadness, disappointment and hurt can be a big task for a little child but understanding how to navigate through those feelings is essential to growing up. Just like learning how to walk or talk, dealing with emotions is also a part of their developmental milestones. Mindful breathing exercises can help our little heroes to better understand how to deal with these big emotions.

Gryffindor, the Mysterious Benedict Society and Min Li from the Valley of the Fruitless Mountain are not just random proper nouns in Grace’s house, but household words used passionately in conversation whether it is about rating the newest middle-school fantasy book, a head-scratching riddle or cultivating a deeper appreciation for Chinese folktales. Grace has a shelf chock-full of novels from her favourite authors and the only issues she has ever had with reading has been getting her to quit when it’s time to do so or returning library books before they are due (as they blend in so well with the books in every part of the house!).

After encouraging Grace to follow her passion for reading her parents have witnessed the benefits not only in her language development but in the sheer joy she has riffling through pages at the end of a novel rather than clicking and tapping on a smartphone. Now out of the blue it seems, Grace’s teacher wants to know if she can read more non-fiction. Her parents want to know why. Does this situation sound familiar?

While fiction books are certainly a treasure in their own right, non-fiction books have a plethora of benefits and, as a lover of non-fiction books myself, I would say they have a special magic of their own.

Now more than ever children are growing up seeing all kinds of problems that we face in the world. Children are asking us, the grownups, what they need to do or how they can be part of the solution. It is very easy for us to just want to give our kids the answers and solve all the problems in the world for them. The goal of that is to ensure that they grow up in a safe environment and live a carefree life, but, the fact of the matter is that we need them to start solving their own problems and come up with solutions to the world’s problems themselves.

With so many distractions nowadays, from televisions, mobile phones, games to amazing gadgets it is not unexpected that some children can find it difficult to remain focused on activities and study.

Generally, most children will learn to cope with this as they develop, they learn to understand what to block out and which things to listen to.

Helping a child to negotiate and differentiate between these distractions, takes time and lots of reinforcement. Using positive reinforcement will make the journey generally smooth, negative reinforcement could lead to a bumpy journey.

Empathy is at the heart of what it means to be human and is a fundamental skill to have to succeed. Let us all model this for our children so that our future leaders lead with empathy.

Strong parent-child relationships are characterised by positive communication and interaction during the early years.

Forging friendships is a cornerstone of growing up — it teaches us valuable skills necessary to navigate life. As your child enters school-going age, their world broadens.