A week or so back, I received a parenting tips email. The author proposed that I start the school year by getting in touch with my children’s teacher. He said I ought to get to know their teaching style, educational strategies, and understand what is expected of my children this year. I paused to reflect on this time last year and the amazing year that my girls and I formed. It ...

An ex-con has set up a fantastic initiative called Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club, aiming to prevent fatherlessness from harming the next generation. By getting dads involved with their children’s education, Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club improves the lives of both father and child. The tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, along with the continuing body count from shootings in Chicago, Illinois, shines a spotlight on the urgency to answer the absent dad ...

Is television dumbing down our children, or improving their knowledge and manners? It depends on how you utilise the medium. (I know I’ll sound like my Nana when I use this opening line) When I was a little girl (see, told you!), I was only allowed to watch TV on weekends and during school holidays. This was excruciating for me, because every morning before school, all my friends would be talking ...

While homeschooling, a timetable is necessary, but so is the ability to pivot and make space for unexpected events. A balance of routine and flexibility will create a healthy learning environment. Make this an axiom: routine is life, yet without flexibility, a routine life is dull. Without elasticity, routine devolves into a rigid, joyless obsession over ledger ticks and timestamps. Flexibility saves routine from its inevitable dreary end. In the context ...

Homeschoolers need holidays too. Breaks are opportunities to grow and flourish as a family — a valuable time for exploration and rejuvenation. While the home education timetable doesn’t have to follow allotted times for school term breaks set by the government, it is generally a good idea to keep in step with them. We are a homeschooling family on the go. School holidays are a chance to change pace. A chance ...

Developing a close friendship with your spouse and children through mutual shared interests helps to cement the bond as a family, creating lasting lifelong relationships. Many people ask us how we have raised five well-balanced, successful children.  They are amazed at the close friendship we have as a family. Often, we are equally amazed because we know all the mistakes we have made as parents. We feel at times like it ...

A convert to homeschooling explains why he eventually chose this educational path for his children, musing on the variety of resources and the dedication required of homeschooling parents. 2022 marks my 9th year as a home-school dad, as well as my family’s 12th year as homeschoolers. Not bad for a dad who was against the idea of us ever home-schooling. A Fresh Concept In the beginning, I was never anti-home-school. I ...

Working together with your spouse in parenting and disciplining your children makes it all the more effective. Now to introduce our second pup. His name was Chance and he was a very handsome Black Labrador. Chance was a “by the rule book” pup and loved people’s company on his terms. Chance also had a stubborn streak that had him withdrawn from the program, so he became our pet. Lesson 3: Two ...

Field trips bring lasting benefits for fathers and their children, providing life lessons and character-building opportunities. If like me, you were a kid in the 1980s, chances are you remember watching The Waltons. The two-story white house, Mary-Ellen, John-Boy, the sawmill, Ike and the general store; the yellow rumble-seat car, the ‘recipe,’ the Baldwin ladies, and John Walton Snr calling out “Good night, everybody” at the close of every episode. There ...

Consider the benefits of homeschooling your children. The challenges are worth the effort to raise independent thinkers of solid faith and good character, with a firm foundation. I know a lot of people baulk at the prospect of homeschooling their kids. Visualising the idea is hampered by what looks like a monumental mountain of details. I won’t lie. Having homeschooled for 12 years, the sheer size of the task is daunting. ...

Dr. Seuss said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This famous children’s book author was certainly across his subject. Here are 10 good reasons why you should read to your children. Hopefully you are inspired. 1. Dads Bring Something Special to the Reading Equation. Harvard-trained Dr Elisabeth Duursma said, “In most families, mothers are the ones ...

Albert Einstein said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Albert Einstein is 100% correct. And that is the exact challenge I felt when I was trying to create our new Dads4Kids TV Community Service Announcement. Although we have done it every year and have done it successfully since 2002, imagining new things is often hard. When you take that into account (we are now ...

Rod Lampard, father of five, says in a recent article in the Daily Dad, “Technology is a tool, not a toy. It’s a horrible baby-sitter. A terrible master. Tech is no substitute for hands-on, old-school dad and mum counsel, comfort and conviction.” That sums up my feelings exactly. For many years of my younger life, we did not have a TV in the house. Looking back, it was a good thing. ...

There is a truckload of parenting advice on how to fathers can make more time for their families. This is especially the case for new fathers and fathers-to-be. Dragging ourselves through chapter after chapter of self-help drudgery, only to be told how much we’re not doing, and how much more we need to be doing, can be a soul-sucking experience. What’s offered as help to maximise time — nearly always with ...

I am asked repeatedly if I miss homeschooling my children. My answer is consistently a resounding, “no.” The only part of homeschooling I miss is the flexibility it afforded. We were able to travel the world and homeschool on the road. When we read a book, we could visit the city where the book took place. Since the coronavirus has pushed me back into the homeschool teacher seat, I thought I should share how I’m ...

There I was, staggering down the dark hallway at 5.30 a.m., trying not to wake the children. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. What is that, I thought? Maybe a mouse? No, it looks bigger than a mouse. Maybe it’s a rat? Peering down in the darkness, I realised it was a frog. But how did such a large frog get into the house? All of these ...

Parents are under immense pressure in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. They have to be teachers as well as mothers and fathers. This is a huge burden to bear for parents who already feel overwhelmed with the pandemic fallout. In a recent YouGov poll, 59% of people said that caring for kids is causing tension in the home. In another question in the same poll, 41% of people described homeschooling ...

Our children need to know how fortunate they are to live in Australia. As an adult, I have visited 22 countries, mostly in mission/aid capacities and mostly with our musical family. In most cases we were working with the poor. Not the rich. To put it bluntly, we got to know what was happening and wasn’t happening in each nation. It is possible to visit a nation as a tourist and ...

It is always a great thing when respected leaders take a stand for the male of the species, especially for our young boys. Sadly, the vendetta against men and boys seems to be gathering momentum. ‘Toxic masculinity’ seems to be the buzzword of the moment. In 2000, Christina Hoff Sommers published The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men. In the book, Sommers challenged what she called ...

The single hardest thing for any Dad is trying to get the balance right between love and discipline for his children. I often use the expression ‘grace and truth’. Grace is really another name for love. The challenge becomes more difficult the more children you have, and I think especially the more boys you have. Boys seem to find your limit and then take you past it. Boys, for wont of ...