Family Matters

“Your child is an angel in my class” is something some parents find strange to hear. Kids behave differently at home and parents wonder many times about the difference between them and the teachers.

I remember my mom coming home from a parent-teacher meeting in my sister’s class and saying, “It was as if we were talking about a different girl” (she did not say this about me, because I was trouble in both places).

Here is how the reading marathon works: Kids go home with a form asking Mom and Dad to give them permission to participate in the marathon. The kids need to go to grownup friends and relative (grandparents are the best victims for this) and ask them to commit to paying a certain amount of money for every book they read. The kids then read as many books as they can. At the end of the marathon, they bring the signed sheet with the payment and the money goes to the school.

Over the years, many people have said to me, “Just wait until you have teens, then you will really have a hard time”. I usually smile and say, “Thank you for the compliment”, because they think I look young, but I already have 2 teenagers - 19 and (nearly) 13 years old - and there was nothing horrible to wait for. Their teen years are just as pleasant and fulfilling for me as a parent as their early childhood, if not more.

One of the hardest things to measure is change. Whenever we are not happy with something in our life, we want to change it. But then, sometimes for years, we look in the mirror and we can’t notice the changes we go through. Only while looking at photos from last year do we notice the changes. We are different, but we feel the same.

Since launching this course, I have had many questions about the definition of self-esteem. It is amazing to discover how diverse and deep the meanings can be (well, any discovery is amazing). So I have decided to take Ms Self Esteem (some will say it is a Mr) to the experts to discuss this crisis.

I find my little girl a source of enormous inspiration when she does this. She is a treasure for me as an adult, having lost that skill of pure focus and unwavering determination.

Contrary to what most people think, memory is something you can improve with practice. It is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.

Last week, on our way back home from a weekend at friends’ house, our 12-year-old son Tsoof asked if we thought he was a “super kid”.

In the past year, we talked to him a lot about three kids in his music department that everyone, including us, think of as “super kids”. They are older that Tsoof and are very very very smart and talented. All three of them are wonderful role models for him.

Well, this made us wonder about Tsoof too.

This question usually comes up after parents are informed by their child’s teacher that the child is not keeping up with their schoolwork. However, although the indication given is academic, the problem is most often emotional.

Single-sex schools originated during the 18th century, when rich families sent their sons to “special” schools. Only later, in the 19th century, when the awareness of the value of education increased, were girls also sent to study. Single-sex schools were very popular in England and now also in Australia.

Today, the single-sex schools are popular among religious populations and even more during high school.