Pupil Free Day

Friday 8th March is a pupil free day and Monday 11th March is a public holiday. 

We are now six weeks into our school year, and I feel like so much has happened already. As I stood up the front at Assembly on Monday morning, I carefully watched our new Foundation students. They are amazing. When you think about the whirlwind of the last six weeks for them, it is quite staggering, really. Going from the freedom of the Christmas-New Year break into the hustle, bustle and demands of school life is huge. I am so very proud of them for taking on this challenge and smashing it.

I shouldn’t be surprised, though. Kids are very resilient, and when they are put in a climate of trust, they seem to be able to cope with so much. The Foundation students are learning and consolidating the phonics sounds at the moment. This week, the sounds are c, e and h. They pick up the sounds and the blending and then sentences very quickly. Before we know it, they are reading signs as we drive down the road and trying to read the covers of things around the house. It is so very exciting to watch.

As I look back on the time my kids were at home, some of our best times were reading books at bedtime. I would love for you to experience some of that joy, too. What practical steps can we take to help our kids on their literacy journey? Below is a valuable read that may help.

The Science Behind Raising Readers

Literacy is one of the main pillars of early education. There’s a big focus on learning the ABCs, strengthening comprehension skills, and understanding literary devices. Being able to read and understand text is a foundational skill that enables learning in all other subject areas. Additionally, when children are exposed to book reading from an early age, it begins a ‘causal spiral’ – they more they are exposed to books, the greater their reading skills, which in turn encourages them to read more, culminating in greater academic outcomes.

But to focus on only the academic angle is a pretty narrow view of the benefits of reading. Adult book lovers innately know that there’s a lot more to the benefits of reading than just academic achievement.

Here are just a few of the benefits:

· Reading is an antidote to stress. For example, a study of children hospitalized in the ICU found that listening to a story for just 30 minutes reduced their levels of cortisol (stress hormone) and increased their levels of oxytocin (the love hormone). Similarly, over a whole academic year, a study of college students found that recreational reading was associated with reduced psychological distress. In other words, reading can help people cope with mental and physical health challenges by boosting resilience to stress.

· Reading allows us to connect meaningfully with our fellow humans. Neuroscientists have determined that reading fiction provides readers with the opportunity to strengthen a certain neural network, which in turn makes them better at being able to use theory of mind capabilities (being able to consider the mental state of others).

· Reading makes us happier. A study of older adults found that frequent fiction readers report greater life satisfaction and greater positive affective well-being.

· Reading helps us live longer! A longitudinal study of 3675 participants found that book readers experience a survival advantage. This line from the study sums it up best: “The benefits of reading books include a longer life in which to read them.”

Clearly, a love for reading leads to a much more fulfilling life and that’s something we definitely want to pass on to our children!

So how can we implement a reading culture in our home?

Read together

This is the easiest and most effective way to encourage reading in kids of any age. Reading aloud has a strong and long-lasting effect on reading and cognitive skills. The best way to go about this, per cognitive psychologist David Willingham, is to (1) choose books that are rhyme-heavy; (2) engage them by asking questions as you go, (3) having books available in places and at times when they are likely to be bored (like in the car).

Have physical books

Make them available and accessible throughout your home. Literally, show kids how important books are by giving them valuable space in your home. Having lots of books in your home has a greater relationship with your child’s reading ability than even being a good reader yourself. If you’re not sure how to get started, the first stop is a visit to your local library! There are thousands of books waiting to be discovered: picture books, graphic novels, folk tales, poetry. Borrow as many as you can carry!

Be a model

Show kids that you enjoy using your free time to read. Kids imitate us, so we can inspire them to read simply by picking up a book and reading in their presence.

No pressure

There’s a lot of pressure towards reading at earlier and earlier ages. However, the evidence doesn’t support pushing our kids to read early.

A focus on early reading (that is, teaching reading before age six or seven) shows only short-term effects that even out with time, such that by the time the child is 12 (or even earlier), their reading skills are not any better than those who learned to read later. Additionally, children who learn to read later acquire reading skills more readily (requiring about half as much formal instruction). Moreover, a large study looking at the natural variability in school starting age between countries found no evidence for an association between when formal reading instruction starts and reading achievement at age 15.

What does this mean? There is no need to push kids to read early! Any initial gains are lost later on. Additionally, the risk of pushing teaching to read too early or too hard is that it can backfire and can rob the fun and joy out of reading, leading to it being perceived as another pesky task or chore to complete.

Reading is life-changing. A child’s curiosity is insatiable, and reading is the buffet that never ends. It is both a passport and time machine - taking readers to new countries, imaginary worlds, across the galaxy, to the distant past or forward to strange futures. Learning to read is good. Learning to love reading is magical.” (Coulson, 2024)

Have a great week, and spend some time reading a book with our kids.

Mark Borresen

Psalm 119:105 “Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me and keep me from stumbling.” TLB

Hey PPN Family,

I recently read a book entitled Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley, and in it he discusses the importance of making sure that our children are being formed by us and not by what they are watching on their screens. Earley writes, “The fight is not about ‘Are screens okay?’ or ‘How much screentime is too much?’ The fight is about whether you are forming your children or you are defaulting to letting screens form them.”

A survey in 2021 found that on an average day, Australians spend 1 hour and 48 minutes on social media, 2 hours watching streaming services like Netflix, and about an hour and a half on video games. That adds up to over 5 hours of screentime a day if we are doing all three of these things. It goes without saying that this would have a significant impact on the formation of a child if they were to spend that much time on a screen.

In Philippians 4:8 (NLT), Paul encourages us to, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Again, the issue is not about doing away with screens, but it is about ensuring that our children (as well as us) have plenty of time to think about the positive and amazing truths of God. The truth that God loves us deeply and that nothing will ever separate us from that love. The truth that God is always with us and that He will give us the love, power and strength that we need to overcome whatever challenges may come our way. The truth that God has called us to love and forgive others as He loves and forgives us.

In an age where we are surrounded by screens, it is essential that we make time for our children and ourselves to meditate and ponder on these things.

God bless,

Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai

Not school… again!

It can happen at any time of the year, but particularly during mid-term when the excitement has worn off…

“I don’t want to go to school today.”

“My tummy hurts.”

“School is boring!”

“I have a headache.”

“They tease me about how I look.”

“I don’t need to know this stuff, I’m going to be a YouTuber/Twitch Streamer.”

“I already know everything.”

A small percentage of children really, really like school. The rest experience it with everything ranging from mild indifference to deep disdain. And some kids are, frankly, terrified of it.

Below is a summary of a few powerful ideas to help build resilience in children who may be reluctant to go to school. You can read the full article published on HappyFamilies.com.au by clicking here.

Help build solid relationships

Relationships are at the heart of education. In fact they’re at the heart of life. When our children complain that “I don’t have any friends”, or “I hate my teacher”, the stage is set for school to be difficult.

Dr Gordon Neufeld and Dr Gabor Maté write extensively about the pitfalls of peer orientation in their book, Hold On to Your Kids. When children look to peers for validation of self-worth, they will never be satisfied. Our kids benefit much more from being embedded in a vertical social network with strong attachments to older caregivers.

Since schools aren’t structured for optimal identity development and psychological growth, the next best thing we can do is build school belonging. Dr Kelly Allen, a researcher at several prominent Victorian universities, has shown that children who feel they belong to the school (through friendships, strong relationships with teachers, involvement with organisations and extra-curricular activities, and a sense of being a part of something) thrive!

Help them see their progress

As humans, we are designed to improve. We’re collectively driven to make things smaller, build things higher, run faster, go further. We have an innate curiosity that leads us to try new things, to progress, to grow. We want to master things. Not every thing. But some thing.

School is supposed to push children to explore learning, to make progress on understanding, and to simulate development and curiosity. Anyone who has spent time at school (including teachers) knows, however, that for some children it feels to them like it was designed to stymie their progress.

These kids are interested in things. Just not the things they’re supposed to be learning at school. Or not in the way they’re being told to learn it. Or not with the people who are trying to help them learn it. Etc. You get the picture?

If your child feels like they’re not progressing; if they feel like it’s all too hard; if your child feels incompetent, a dummy, a loser, an idiot… school can be really difficult.

As a parent, however, the best thing we can do, other than helping our children feel that they belong, is to help our children feel that they can learn, progress, and make tiny wins. Feeling connected at school is critical. Feeling competent at school is just as vital.

Help them see the purpose in learning

While many children are content with learning for learning’s sake, there will be some who complain that school is pointless because they just want to be a tennis player, actress, hairdresser, or tractor driver.

For these kids, it can be beneficial to work with them to identify their purpose in going to school. Maybe they do want to be a tennis player and travel the international circuit, so focusing on their chosen language of French would be useful. Maybe they do want to be an actress, so they need to go to school daily to be involved in rehearsals for the school production. Their purpose doesn’t have to align with what you think the ideal purpose is for going to school, but if they have a reason for getting to school, they’re more likely to find other things they also enjoy once they’re there.

Attitude is everything

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or the frequency illusion, explains how if you notice something once, and ascribe meaning to it, suddenly that thing appears to pop up everywhere (like a song that suddenly seems to be playing on every radio). The actual frequency of the event hasn’t changed but our brain is primed to notice it now. Consequently, if your child has noticed something negative about school, their attention is now subconsciously biased to keep noticing similar negative things.

On the flip side, having a positive outlook or optimistic attitude has been linked with better health outcomes and improved quality of life.

(Source: Justin Coulson, How to Help when School Sucks, 18 Jan 2023, happyfamilies.com.au)

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