Between The Lines: Schools worldwide consider homework ban, partly to ease burden on pupils and teachers
Homework is stressful for children and leaves them little time to do more constructive things, experts say – but parents like to see their children doing some. Photo: Sherry Lee Homework is so inextricably linked to school it’s hard to think of one without the other. But increasingly, educators and child development specialists are examining the practice of assigning homework to children and considering whether it is beneficial or potentially harmful. The Guardian reported recently that one of Britain’s most prestigious schools, 162-year-old Cheltenham Ladies College, is considering banning homework to “tackle an epidemic of teenage depression and anxiety”. Public School 116 in New York recently banned homework for students up to grade five, having found no link between assigning elementary school homework and success in school. The Kino School in Arizona has a no-homework policy for all grades even in high school. Many books on the subject are cropping up on bestseller lists. The most prominent of these include The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, The End
Between The Lines: Parents need to agree about how to raise children. Here’s a book that helps
Children and their feelings were neglected well into the 1960s. Betty Francis (played by January Jones) in the television series Mad Men was probably typical of her era. My husband and I never argued until our children came along. At first, we blamed the kids. Then we blamed the stress of parenting, both external and self-imposed. And finally, we began to see that our differences stemmed from the way we were brought up. It hadn’t occurred to us we had any cultural differences because we are both ethnic Chinese. However, he was raised in Hong Kong and I grew up in Canada. The big picture is the same for all parents: to raise their children to become happy, loving and responsible adults. Where many of us differ from our co-parent is the means to that end. I was enlightened by Drs Henry Cloud and John Townsend’sBoundaries with Kids, and immediately shared my heavily highlighted copy with my husband. An important lesson that is best taught early on is self-discipline. Rather than labelling children as naughty or nice, we need only consider whether they have self-discipline or not. Today’s child
Between The Lines: Why audiobooks are good for multitaskers, travellers and young readers
Karen White at work in her home studio. What book lover among us has not wished that they could get paid to read? For professional audiobook narrator Karen White, the dream came true when she was expecting her first child 16 years ago. Now, with more than 200 books recorded, she says her theatre training, experience working with directors in studios, and her voice training have been key to her success. “Changes in technology have made it possible for me to work entirely from home. When I started out, I had to go to a studio and work with an engineer and director. Now, I have a studio in my house and I can edit as I go. I can upload the files directly to the production companies. It’s not easy work, but I love it, and it allows me to have a career as a performer and still be there when my kids get home from school,” White says. The audiobook business is gaining a foothold in the traditional book industry. I like to listen to audiobooks while my son is doing sports. Listening to a story enables me to keep an eye on the ball and appear riveted, while I occupy my mind in a more active way at th
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第四屆豐子愷兒童圖畫書獎入圍書名單於今天，4月29日公佈了！經過評委的認真審閱及專業交流後，共選出34本圖畫書進入決審！ 入圍書資料瀏覽
Between The Lines: Five children’s books about Paris that inspire Hong Kong family to visit
Last month, my husband and I started brainstorming our next holiday while we were, funnily enough, on holiday. We considered Amsterdam, Prague and cities in Spain or Italy. And then our eyes lit up at the idea of going back to Paris, the destination of our first trip together. I admit that, while he was envisioning this romantic getaway for the two of us, I fantasised about bringing our daughters along to discover the famous landmarks and many attractions for families. My fantasy is undoubtedly fuelled by our well-read copies of Madeline andAdele & Simon. The story of a red-headed seven-year-old girl living in a boarding school in Paris, Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline has been read aloud in our home dozens of times. We love the rhyme and rhythm of the text, and have spent so much time poring over interesting details of pre-second world war life. There is a doctor who makes house calls, and then proceeds to call for an ambulance by instructing a telephone operator to connect him to “Danton-Ten-Six”. At the hospital, Madeline convalesces in a bed that is adjustable using a manual bed crank. Barbara
Between The Lines: How To Ease The Pain Of Parting
By Early April, word usually begins to spread quickly among the expatriate community who will be leaving Hong Kong in summer.
閱讀活動家庭和諧 : 共享閱讀，親愛永續！（2015年4月25日）
閱讀活動家庭和諧 : 共享閱讀，親愛永續！（2015年4月25日） 閱讀活動家庭和諧 ： 誠 邀 大 家 參 由 J C I 主 辦 ， 在 2 0 1 5 年 4 月 2 5日 油 塘 舉 行 的< 家 庭 和 諧 20 1 5 開 幕 典 禮 暨 記 者 招 待 會 > ， 屆 時菜 姨 姨 將 會 即 場 講 故 事 ， 詳 情 及報 名 請 按此。 其他文章 合作機構 1. Void
Between The Lines: Why Unsupervised Play Benefits Children
“Play is the most efficient driver of learning for children. This is as true of their cognitive development as their physical and emotional development.” These statements introduce a chapter on remembering to play in Teach Your Children Well, by child psychologist Dr Madeline Levine. She outlines the concept through a “time wheel”: a pie-chart of a child’s 24-hour day. There are fixed wedges of time each day for school, homework, meals and sleep. Whatever is left over is that “sliver of time” which is at the discretion of parents. We should fill up that sliver with fun activities, right? Wrong. She argues that any activity that corrects, criticises or judges a child’s behaviour is stressful and not fun. Splashing around in the pool is not the same as going to swim class where a coach is telling the child to swim faster or learn new skills. When a child is expected to be on their best behaviour for most activities on the time wheel, that sliver of free time had better truly be free. Dr Levine writes: “We all know that some of our best work is done when no
2012-2014 雙周年報告書
為響應環保，我們並未提供雙年報的印刷本。取而代之，我們提供網上版本以供閱覽：請按此。 我們非常高興300間學校及社區中心已獲捐贈書伴我行的書架或書包圖書館，地點遍及全港各地區，讓100,000名基層兒童受惠。再次感謝各界慷慨支持書伴我行，為推動香港的親子共讀而努力。
南華早報專欄：Don’t sell short the power of the pen
This article appeared on Tuesday 24 March 2015 in the South China Morning Post print edition as “Don’t sell short the pen’s power”. In advocating literacy, we have mostly discussed the importance of reading aloud with children. But there’s a second part we haven’t addressed as deeply: writing. Writing is powerful. Consider this: history happens, but the one who writes it down becomes the arbiter of its future understanding. The writer shapes public opinion, provides context, persuades and inspires. We would know virtually nothing of the past were it not for writers. Time changes everything, but in books, it will always look as the writer wishes. Writing has to be nurtured. Like reading, writing instruction in Hong Kong sometimes unintentionally prioritises performance over pleasure and the need to develop a deeper insight into the world. Learning to write is so much more than cultivating beautiful handwriting and perfect spelling. In fact, those skills are somewhat beside the point. The process can be therapeutic for teenagers who are trying to figure out who they are and what th