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  I have fond memories of writing many letters to many people in my youth. In fact, cherished relationships were built and strengthened through letters. In Year 10, a friend wrote a one-page Arthurian story with characters that mirrored our circle of friends and passed it to me to read. I continued the story by adding a page or two and returned it a week later, and thus began our year-long correspondence of continuing each other’s stories, filled with parallels, metaphors, allusions and even illustrations. Around the same time, I learned of a local Vancouver artist who had just published a series known as Griffin and Sabine. Nick Bantock created intricately illustrated postcards and letters, sent to and from mystical fictional places, to tell the story of the two main characters. The series is packaged in a wooden box, with removable postcards enclosed in an envelope affixed to each page of the books. That wooden box has been at the centre of my bookshelf for more than two decades, and I have yet to come across a more enthralling epistolary novel. Composed entirely of letters or diary entries, the style of wri

耐心是一切聰明才智的基礎。閱讀，打開智慧之門… … This article appeared on Tuesday 4 November in the South China Morning Post print edition as “Patience works best for kids who are slow to start reading”. When parents lament that their children are not yet reading and consider hiring tutors and pricey evaluations to find out what’s wrong with their six-year-olds, I tell them to be patient and keep reading to their young ones. In most cases, when a child’s ability catches up with his or her interest in the narrative, the lifelong reader is launched. Reframing the situation not as a problem, but as a sign that their child might just have high standards for what makes a good story, helps to alleviate some of the underlying anxiety. As a mother of three children – two adolescent avid readers and one developing reader – I have some insight, butressed by a growing body of research in the area of brain development and functional readiness to read. Dr Martha Denckla, director of the Developmental Cognitive Neurology Clinic at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and neuroscience researcher at Johns Hopkins

Most families in Hong Kong live in apartments and have very limited access to outdoor space.   Add to that crowds and an air pollution index (API) that is currently at the maximum measurable level, and taking children outside to connect with nature and to move has its own challenges and dangers.  In urban areas like Hong Kong, the appeal of technology is partially situational.  How does a parent weigh potential dangers and determine what is truly harmful for their children? 閱讀完整文章，請按這裡

    My daughter and her kindergarten buddies are adjusting well to Grade One and life in a “big kids’ school”. They are learning new skills to develop their independence and self-reliance. The most conspicuous changes from kindergarten are that these children no longer have teachers to remind them to wash their hands before lunch, or to make sure they bring the right exercise books home for homework. This transition to a new school is daunting for my daughter. I imagine that she misses her kindergarten teachers’ warm embrace and sitting on their laps to share stories of recent adventures. Yet, with new teachers to get to know, new friendships to establish and new routines to master, it’s unlikely that she reflects much on the past. My daughter is fortunate enough to attend a local school where the daily schedule includes three recess breaks, and sustained silent reading. Also known as free voluntary reading, sustained silent reading at this primary school involves all students reading silently for 20 minutes every day. The only restriction is that students must read English-l

This article appeared on Tuesday 9 September 2014 in the South China Morning Post print edition as “Screen time for youngsters: how much is too much?”. 3歲的女兒在餐廳裏哭，給她玩手機教育軟件來安撫她的情緒可以嗎？ I am noticing more and more children as young as two years of age with their own iPhones or iPads. It is common to see parents engaged in social gatherings give their children electronic devices as babysitters, and this trend is disturbing. I remember taking my daughter to gatherings at friends’ homes, and I normally packed a bag with things to keep her busy, such as paper, pencils, crayons, toys and books. I am so glad electronic devices were not as popular when she was a toddler because we could share stories together. I believe electronic products rob children of opportunities to be creative. It all comes down to how parents make use of hi-tech gadgets. If we use them as a dummy that pacifies the children but doesn’t address what they want, the gadget becomes a tool of an instant gratification style of parenting that might cause children to have shorter attention spans and make them angry more easily. A famo