How are you preparing your children

IIRC you still haven't held down a job in Oz .

 

Don't know your lifestyle, but yep!!(For the 2nd one)

 

I've never had a job in Australia. Let's hope it stays that way too - having too much fun playing by my own rules lol

 

Yep

 

I don't get to see too much flesh where we go, it's too bl**dy cold for a bikini.

 

By absolutely not having any until I have enough recurring income to be able to comfortably support myself and a family without ever needing to earn active income again

 

I teach my kids by talking things through. We talk about teachers, school and 'playing the game'. If they have an issue we talk about possible solutions, outcomes and devise a plan. For example, my 12 year old came home after writing amazing poem stating that her English teacher wanted her to make a change to it. My 12yo didn't think it made the poem better, neither did I - but after a discussion my daughter concluded that even though she didn't agree, she'd make the changes because 1. Her teacher wanted her to. 2. It didn't matter long term 3. It's probably best to have your Year 7 English teacher on-side for the next 5 years

As far as teaching them about financial matters, I talk to them. I get a letter from an agent interstate asking if we wanted to sell our investment property - 'we have buyers waiting!'. I ask my kids to read it and ask them what do you think this means? (supply and demand discussion ensues) We discuss mortgages, interest rates, rents. Nothing is a secret I think I'm doing an okay job - my 9 year old wants to be a buyers agent and is going to buy lots of houses and people will pay her rent to live in them (while she still lives with me!).

In a nutshell, I talk to my kids and encourage critical thinking. I teach them to disagree respectfully but always maintain positive relationships in the process.

 

My daughters go to a lovely local private primary school. Up until recently there was a very strong focus on academics - a culture influenced mainly by the principal at the time. The new principal is much more early childhood focused and as such has tried to change the vibe of our school - less pressure on the children, less focus on academics.

Regardless I try to teach my children that humour, resilience, creativity and persistence are just as important as traditional learning. Both are intelligent little people but not necessarily academic - I suspect one of my daughters may be dislexic too. Playing to their strengths rather than what they learn in books is probably more empowering and will serve them better in the long run in my mind anyway.

 

Personally Naplan exams and the way we treat our children prepping for them is a great way to see how the kids will react when they need to face important serious exams in their future and allows you as a family to plan and deal with each child as an individual.

If you are concerned about the teachers comments then say something direct to them.

Children also learn by following the behaviour of those around them.

I have told this before but my daughter inputted some figures on a property we were looking at buying and saw that it would cost approximately $30pw to hold after all expenses but before tax.

She stated that she has friends whose families rent because they can never afford to buy anything and noted that if they stopped eating just one meal out each week or the parents stopped buying one coffee each per day then they could afford something.

 

No kids, but I've given each of my nephews and nieces 1k in shares for their first birthdays with the instructions that they can sell and spend on a business venture at any age - any age. If they have a business idea at 10 then fine. Regardless of what they choose to do with their lives I'd like them to know there's something more out there than the 9-5 that The System will guide them towards. No permission will be needed from me and I don't want to be consulted on the idea - after all I only *just* get Twitter so clearly I've lost touch. The money might be blown, it might not, but it's the mindset that's important to me. There's nothing I hate more than the question "what do you want to be when you grow up", as if A) any kid should know at such a young age and B) that there is this tacit expectation in society that you have a very specific role that you should fit into. No no no.

 

One of his teachers made a comment " I really wish your parents allowed you to do the naplan exams because employers look for these results and your parents have made it really difficult for you now to get a job"


I am not sure any employer in their right frame of mind would look at the primary school results of a job applicant. OMG!!!

I dont place much value on the NAPLAN results either, because as a parent, I know exactly where my children are in the scheme of things. However, I have no issue in them sitting these type of tests as I tell them that its about having a go and to not give a baboons back side about the results. So far, thats worked for me and my kids dont seem to stress about them at all. In life, be it at school or even in the work force, there will be testing and evaluating all the time, so they may as well come to terms with that process.

 

Haha teachers know it all! Just ask them

 

My wife has started prepping our year 3 for his naplan, which I think is in 1-2 months. She bought some practice books to give him a feel for the exams.

I personally think it's not needed. She reckons it'll prepare him to sit his entrance tests next year. The entrance tests are for a top private school, which only 30% of the kids get accepted, for the privilege of paying $30k a year to attend. Crazy.

 

For young kids minimise "screen time".

I find not more than 15-20 minutes per day of TV is more than enough for very young kids, and not everyday.

Likewise don't own any Ipads for them to consume.

There is enough fun to be had when you're young with lego, art and outdoor fun.

To many parents, dump there kids in front of electronic gadgets to extreme levels.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Once your kid can't entertain themselves without an internet gadget you have problems.

 

I concur totally with this sentiment. If we revert to a minimum period of 5 year conscription for those with a basic educmuckation and haven't passed their NAPLAN, where will we get the cannon fodder?

 

This is probably a contributing factor to why the gub is making kids start so early now!

WA starts to early and I think qld is starting to bring something in too

 

Naplan testing was designed to detect gaps in a child's knowledge. If a problem shows up, the child can be allocated funding for extra help to catch up. Used correctly, it is a diagnostic tool.

It was never intended to be (mis)used to compare schools or for employment (?) and was only recently extended to Year 9.
Marg

 

damn, I think I need therapy, I saw the title and thought it was on recipes on how to eat the kids!!!!!

 

I'm preparing my boy by making sure he's not a disrespectful little ****, the rest he can decide.

 

Woah, not many PC threads make my blood boil.... found one! Where do I start?

As a primary school principal, NAPLAN is detested much more by teachers and principals than it is by parents, and I refuse to pay too much significance on how a child performs on a particular day, although it does provide a good snap shot of where children are at a particular point in time.

Mind you, guessing your daughter goes to a private school, and typically they value the data and 'teach to the test' more than many public schools. Is your son going to 'opt out' of the HSC, too? Driver's licence exam? Mortgage applications? job interviews? Maybe he, too, will become a self righteous entrepreneur, or maybe he will choose to become a lowly public servant, like me who obviously has no idea about how to grow a dollar or collect houses in his spare time. How will mum cope then? Or maybe there are others in my profession, in nursing, in policing, who aren't as superficial as us lot on here, who gain great satisfaction from their jobs and don't value themselves based on the size of their business or bank account.

Your comments about school teachers are offensive and degrading and make you come across as an elitist who is above everyone else because you choose to work for yourself rather than support any other profession. Kudos to you. I'm preparing my daughter for the world by being tolerant, accepting, understanding, intelligent, good at school (yes), financially savvy, and by learning the rules of the game, and letting her know that sometimes she has to suck it up and play by the rules... And yes, it is all a game. She might be a successful property investor or business woman, but right now she's 6 years old, and she will do her home reading and learn her sight words, just like she'll participate in that goddam NAPLAN test when the time comes. Not because she will excel at it, but because, if nothing else when the HSC rolls around, she'll have some experience in sitting tests and mum or dad wont be able to do it for her... While she might be off sailing the world and not need the HSC, she also might need it as a pathway to get to where she wants to go (heaven forbid, teaching?) and its her choice, not mine and I would hate to limit her opportunities for the sake of personally getting one back on the Gubbment.

Please don't assume yours is the only path worth walking on. What a terrible endorsement for your business.