Girls and Maths
I chatted with Cape Talk’s Terence Mentor last week about how girls perceive their Maths abilities. Research has found that Girls generally tend to rate their abilities lower than than of boys, even if they are equally good. Where does this skewed perception come from and what can we do about it? Listen to […]
Learning Difficulties: What to ask teachers and therapists
In the new term meeting with professionals working with your child is a priority. It can be very daunting, especially for parents whose children may have learning difficulties. Frequently, the professionals end up talking and the parents try desperately to follow the conversation and very often only pick up on the negative information. A small […]
The problem with the current schooling system in South Africa.
I have always been a big advocate of the benefits of education, but I have to admit that lately I find myself more and more disillusioned with the current schooling system in South Africa. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to defend a system which I feel has lost sight of its primary objective – giving […]
What is school readiness?
In a nutshell, school readiness means that a child is ready to learn. As confusing as it may sound, keep in mind that a child who is eager to learn is not necessarily ready to learn. Curiosity and an eagerness to learn is an important first step, but school readiness requires that a child is […]
Why cursive writing should be scrapped from the curriculum
Most adults educated in the South African schooling system will remember having to learn how to write in cursive early on in their school careers (this usually happens in Grade 3- or what used to be called Standard 1). But I feel very strongly that cursive writing is entirely outdated and that it has to […]
Homework tips for parents
The topic of homework often comes up in my office and in general parents and children are equal in expressing their dislike for this after-school activity. Teachers argue that the purpose of homework is to reinforce what has already been taught in class and that it gives the child an opportunity to consolidate the information […]
Help prepare your child for new school year
The long, lazy summer holidays are slowly drawing to a close and families all across the country are preparing to send their children back to school next week. The December holidays are by far the longest holidays in the academic calendar and this often causes the transition back to school to be more difficult than […]
Kids learning: the interplay between memory and concentration
Does your child often forget things? Does he forget to bring his shoes or jersey back from school; forget to follow the instructions you give him or get halfway through a sentence and then forgets what he had wanted to say? It might surprised you to learn that his memory might be well developed and […]
Kids learning: Different types of memory
From time to time my assessments indicate that a child may have a memory problem and when I point this out to the parents I am usually met with a response such as: “It doesn’t make sense – she can remember things that happened years ago when she was still a little girl. She can’t […]
The most common barriers to learning
The term “Barrier to learning” is often used interchangeably with the term “Learning Difficulty” – and even though barriers to learning may include learning difficulties, they cover so much more than just that. Barriers to learning refer to any difficulty or situation that may prevent a children from learning and can be loosely divided into […]
