Evidence-based parenting

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Task Navigation 

1 - Introduce yourself

Say a little about yourself, about what you’re hoping for from this course, and describe one children’s book that you love.

Use the "post comment" button at the top to add your introduction. These comments will be public, so say as little (or as much) as you feel happy with.

Task Discussion


  • Michael Nelson   Sept. 30, 2011, 2:58 p.m.

    Hi! My name is Michael. I'm a dad of 3 kids - currently 7, 6 and 4, and all very different personality-wise. I'm hoping to glean ideas from other people along the way and participate in some way :) (special interests in bilingual families and life-based learning). One of my favourite childrens books is Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox.

  • micklweiss   Sept. 30, 2011, 3:36 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Michael Nelson   Sept. 30, 2011, 2:58 p.m.

    Hi Michael,

    My wife and I are raising our son trilingual and I have a lot of people in my family who speak a number of languages. I've learned a few things from watching them, and I hope that what I've learned from them might be benefitial to you.

    My aunt gave me a tip a while ago (her kids speak multiple languages) - whatever language you speak with your kids - stick with one. That way they won't be confused and they will know what language to speak with you. If your kids reply in another language, have them say it again - but in your language. A simple, "I don't understand, can you say that again?" should work.

    Another thing- don't quit. Another person in my family only speaks English because he quit speaking German at about 6 or 7 years old and his parents didn't care too much about teaching him the different languages spoken in their household (he would also be trilingual). Don't allow your kids to "get lazy" and just speak English.

    Giving your children the gift of another language is great, but it requires a lot of work on your part. My son hears a lot of German through music, kids shows, podcasts, news, and I only read to him in German. I've gone out of my way to make sure that he gets as much exposure as possible. He therefore watches a lot of TV for his age (I'll have to see what ramifications this will have later on). I personally learned to speak English by watching Sesame Street at the age of 4. I picked it up rather quickly. I think I'll let my son learn English by talking and playing with other kids.

    Another tip: don't forget to teach your kids how to read. This may sound trivial, but I learned how to read and write German in highschool in America (as a second language). I wish that my parents took the time to teach me. Now, I'm currently learning to read German while I'm teaching my son. Not an easy task.

    I'd love to hear your experiences so far. What challenges have you come across? Any tips that you can give me?

    Thanks,

    - Mick

  • Michael Nelson   Sept. 30, 2011, 3:54 p.m.
    In Reply To:   micklweiss   Sept. 30, 2011, 3:36 p.m.

    Hi there Mick. Thanks for all the tips - I'd be keen to chat more sometime about your experiences. Just briefly (I'm packing to go away for a week), we adopted the "minority" language in the home approach (rather than one-parent-one-language), which has worked well so far for us. That is, when we were in Australia, we all spoke German in our house with the kids (I learned with the kids), but now we're in Germany so all speak English at home as a family. The transition of languages was hard for a month or so (when we moved), but somewhat necessary for us, as we find the majority language of the country takes over so quickly that it's hard to keep going with the minority language without it being the home language.

    And yes - +1 for the reading tip... reading and movies are the one exception language-wise in the house - obviously being important for both languages. And for me, reading kids books (with the kids) is a great way to learn the language anyway! Even my youngest son (4) corrects my German grammar or pronunciation these days :)

  • micklweiss   Sept. 30, 2011, 4:15 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Michael Nelson   Sept. 30, 2011, 3:54 p.m.

    I look forward to talking with you when you get back. :)

  • Nonkululeko Mlangeni   Sept. 29, 2011, 6:20 a.m.

    My name is Nkuli and I have a two year old daughter and her name is Imitha. Im based in Cape Town, South Africa and what I am interested learning about ways that i can give my child extra support and not really entirely on the education system.

    And my favourite childrens book is The Children's Mandela, and its a bunch of questions that South African children asked Mandela, some drawings and others advicing him about life. Its a very very funny book.

  • Suzi Wells   Sept. 30, 2011, 4:34 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Nonkululeko Mlangeni   Sept. 29, 2011, 6:20 a.m.

    What a lovely book :) I hadn't seen it before.

    All parents of toddlers so far! It's a lovely age.

  • micklweiss   Sept. 27, 2011, 6:22 p.m.

    Hi my name is Mick and I have a 2 yr old son. I've been really interested in early learning and what other parents/educators are doing (besides the classic Montessori and Waldorf education theories).

  • Suzi Wells   Sept. 27, 2011, 5:02 p.m.

    Hi - I'm Suzi. I live in Bristol, UK and I work in IT. I proposed this course because I have a (nearly) 2-year-old daughter and I liked the idea of talking to other parents about some of the science / evidence behind things you get told about raising children.  Not expecting to find right answers, just interesting ideas.

    A children's book I love is Moonthief by Roger McGough - full of love and homour, and the language is just wonderful. I also love the fact that it's accessible to even quite young kids but isn't about a childish subject.