Between The Lines: Hong Kong kids can benefit from reading quality books
Numerous studies point to the same finding that children who love to read grow up to be more astute, aware, compassionate, resourceful and resilient than those who don’t read for pleasure. Parents and teachers should pause and give thought to what they want to accomplish in getting children to read. Finding joy and comfort in […]
Between The Lines: Religion in Hong Kong schools: teach it, don’t preach it
Schools should not promote religion, but they should teach it. Understanding history is impossible without an understanding of the religious traditions that helped shape the world. From a purely secular standpoint, even atheists should know and understand what they choose not to believe in. Schools have very different approaches to the question of religious […]
Hit children’s author Jon Klassen tells Hongkongers how to write for kids
South China Morning Post – Tuesday, 17 November, 2015 By Kavita Daswani (life@scmp.com) Jon Klassen was chugging along comfortably as an illustrator for other people’s books – including Caroline Stutson’s award-winning 2010 title Cats’ Night Out – and working as an animator on films such as Coraline. But when he elected to write and illustrate his […]
Between The Lines: Let children play musical instruments, their way
If your evening routine includes arguments, incentives and timers in order to cajole your children to practise an instrument, you might want to rethink your approach. While creating music should be a joyful lifelong experience, the path towards mastery of an instrument can be tempestuous if the motivation is wrong. Music, like competitive sports, Advanced […]
Between The Lines: How high-quality picture books can encourage kids to read more
High-quality children’s picture books are the building blocks to a lifelong love of reading. When I disparage commercial products in book form that are based on cartoon characters, my friends protest, insisting their children love storybook versions of their favourite animated TV series. I counter that recognising and enjoying stories about familiar television characters is […]
Between The Lines: Reading from the same page
Many will be surprised to learn that Hong Kong has the world’s lowest rate of family literacy – a term used to describe parents (or extended family members and other adults) and children learning together. Just 12 per cent of children in Hong Kong have that experience compared to an international average of 37 per […]
Between The Lines: How to teach difference between words and thoughts (Inside Out helps)
Animated feature films have come a long way since Walt Disney’s 1937Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. For films in the past two decades, the technical advances of animation are rivalled only by the increasing depth of storytelling. Like many children and parents in Hong Kong and abroad, our family recently watched and loved the […]
Between The Lines: How habit takes the drudgery out of a parent’s decision making
Most people celebrate the New Year on January 1 or the Lunar New Year in January or February. It is a perfect time to set intentions, try new things and to make new commitments to be our best selves. But for me the real New Year begins in late August when the children go […]
Between The Lines: The best books for children under 12 who’ve outgrown kids’ books
There’s plenty of time for children to read Harper Lee’s books, so why not let them tackle more age-appropriate fare, says Annie Ho. Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman has been flying off the shelves of bookshops and libraries around the world, and I wonder whether the copies being sold in Hong Kong should include a label […]
Between The Lines: Why we find it hard to be straight with our kids about money
Financial literacy is as important to teach our children as any other kind of literacy, and yet many of us shy away from candid conversations about money with our children. In so doing, we miss an opportunity to instil family values and to cultivate positive traits such as generosity, patience and perseverance. When I lived […]
