Back to School Guide 2019

2019

Back to School Checklist Make getting ready for School easier with our Back to School Checklist

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Helping your Children Adjust to School Now that the New Year has fallen upon us, so has the new school year. For many parents, the idea of sending their child to school for the first time can be pretty daunting. For their child, on the other hand, it can absolutely terrifying. As I’m sure most Mum’s and Dad’s would expect, anxiety is quite common for children when they first start school. Every child is different and will undoubtedly adapt to change in their own way, though it’s also important to know that it’s completely normal for children to feel nervous or upset when making the transition to school. If this is the case for your child (or if you just want to be extra prepared), try to keep a few of these helpful tips in mind.

DEVELOP A ROUTINE

Transitioning your child to school begins at home. If you spring your child’s first day of school on them with no preparation whatsoever, it’s unlikely that you’ll have a happy ending of any sort. A week before the school term starts, encourage your child to head to bed a little earlier to establish a bedtime routine that is similar to the one they’ll follow during their school weeks. This will not only minimise the meltdowns that might occur when you ask them to get into bed earlier than usual, but it will also help them to understand that they need a good night’s sleep in order to feel rested and focused for school. Try to make the bedtime routine as calm as possible and provide a little extra reassurance where needed. When the first morning of school rolls around, have a set routine for getting dressed and preparing for the day. This will not only help your child learn what to expect, but it will also help them to feel in control.

EASE YOUR CHILD’S MIND

Abandonment is a common fear for many children when they first start school. Some might worry that they’ll be dropped off at the front gates and never picked up again, while some might worry that they’ll lose Mum and Dad’s attention now that they’re a “big kid”. Work towards easing your child’s mind by trying to show up early (or at least on time) to pick them up from school. If your child catches the bus, try to ensure that you or another trusted adult is there to greet them when they get home. When you get home from work, ask your child about their day and show genuine interest and curiosity. This repeated reassurance will help your child to feel more comfortable to go to school each day, knowing that someone will be there for them when they’ve finished.

GIVE YOUR CHILD A SENTIMENTAL REMINDER

The biggest reason that most children struggle to go to school is that they miss their parents and don’t want to say goodbye to them. Chances are, they’ve been pretty attached to you for the past 4-5 years since they were born, so parting with you for just one day can be extremely nervewracking. Here is your chance to get creative and gift your child with something they can hold onto that will remind them of you if they feel sad or worried.

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Planetbox Shuttle PlanetBox Shuttle is perfect for packing small meals and snacks on the go. The Shuttle set includes a PlanetBox Shuttle lunchbox, a tall dipper for dips and sauces, a super fun magnet set, and a compact Shuttle carry bag.

RRP: $82.95 Available From: www.biome.com.au

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Smiggle League double decker lunchbox This classic double decker lunchbox from our League collection is perfect for your lunchtime delights! It sports a subtle football print with silver highlights & feature metal hardware.

2 tiers of great storage so you can separate all your snacks! RRP: $29.95 Available from: Smiggle stores & online: www.smiggle.com.au

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Make Back to School a Breeze with Home Organisation

As the summer holidays come to an end, this signals the time to start preparing for the new school year. This can be a stressful time, even for experienced parents as they adapt to family and lifestyle changes, which according to the 2018 AU Houzz & Home study, counted for 20% of the renovations in 2017.

Following the study, here are a few smart tips to apply to the home for a smooth transition back to school.

Be generous with storage:

When the children return to school, a collection of school books, uniforms, toys and other knick knacks can quickly accumulate in the home. Readily available storage compartments are a nifty solution to this problem and easily hide mess. Storage units, boxes, baskets and food storage containers are all great examples, which we’ve seen on Houzz in various designs and colours to suit the style of each home.

In fact, in a recent poll* conducted on Houzz found that, 34% of respondents find food storage containers the most useful organisation tool in the home, while 1 in 5 voted storage boxes.

Create a studying area:

A designated studying area is a great way to make sure your kids can focus. Younger children may prefer a more communal studying area, where they can easily access their parents for questions, and older kids may like an area that is closed off with no distractions. Images on Houzz show that homeowners are personalising the studying area with stationary, posters, and cushions so that kids feel more creative and comfortable in the space.

Assemble a command centre:

Command centres are a great way to keep track of the family’s schedule during the term. Wall calendars, planners, pin boards and blackboards are common in the images on Houzz, and can be accessorised nicely with family photos, magnets and postcards.

Allocate a drop off zone:

A well laid out drop off zone will ensure that school bags, jackets, hats and shoes won’t get lost inside the home. Homeowners on Houzz have been quite inventive with their drop off zones, some installing cupboards or benches, others opting for hooks and baskets. Whichever way you choose to design your drop off zone, you can rest assured knowing items you need as you leave the house won’t go missing.

Article from Houzz. Houzz is a leading platform for home renovation and design. The results from this Houzz poll was fielded between December 2018 and January 2019, and percentages were calculated as of 09/01/2019.

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School Drink Bottles

Smash your summer hydration goals with Smash’s NEW drink bottle range!

With a wide range of bottles in different sizes, materials, caps and designs, Smash has designed a Drink Bottle for every member of your family. The new range is available in-store and online at Big W now! For more information and to shop online please visit www.bigw.com.au

See our School Drink Bottle Comparison Reviews

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ecococoon vacuum insulated drink bottles Our drink bottles are leak free, spill proof and keep beverages cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours.

A range of colours, sizes and illustrations are available. RRP: from $34.95 View our complete range at www.ecococoon.com.au

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Beat the Back to School Blues; How to Help your Child Nail 2019 Let’s face it, not all kids are maths or English geniuses. That’s ok. But for those who struggle with these subjects and other subjects, the looming start of a new school year is triggering waves of anxiety and stress across the country.

If 2018 was a less than stellar year for your child academically, chances are the problem with the subject is not the problem. It is the negative emotional attachment to the subject that is the problem.

As parents, we can head off the spiral of negative emotions even before our kids step foot into the school grounds.

If you have a child who freaks out when it comes to maths or English; like totally loses the plot and you’re left scratching your head not knowing what is going on, there are ways you can help your child.

Behind every learning difficulty, there is a negative emotional experience.

It could be someone has told the child they are stupid or hurried them up or they’ve missed one crucial aspect and can’t keep up.

To ensure they can move on, you must get to the root of the problem.

This means asking more questions – as parents. It is not good enough to say we are too busy, because we’ll end up with a generation of young people who cannot do the basics.

As parents, we have to be detectives; to not take ‘fine’ or ‘I’m ok’ as answers. If your child is struggling with a subject at school, it takes a little bit of digging to get to the real reason why.

The start of a new school year is a stressful one for many kids especially if they are moving from primary to high school and if they struggle with learning. As the school term approaches, you may start to see signs of anxiety and stress or illness or belligerence and defiance. After all, the last place a kid with learning challenges wants to be is at the place that makes them feel deficient or a failure.

What you are seeing is the fight or flight in action. But it’s not enough to fight the enemy or run from the enemy, we need to teach our kids how to deal with their emotions. Most kids want help, they want to feel their pain is acknowledge and they want help to feel better.

This is where Parent PI comes

It’s not just about asking any old question; it’s about how you frame the question. There is little point in asking your child how they are. We are conditioned to respond we’re ok. As Parent PI, frame the questions positively and open ended.

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Questions like: What can I help you with today? What is happening with you today? How did you sleep? I can see you are feeling stressed, what can I do to help you?

It is fine balancing act asking the right questions and not plying them with questions. If they are not sure of what they need, suggest they go away for a little while and come back when they know.

It is important as the parent to not go down the rabbit hole with them because you don’t want them dwelling on how they are feeling, and you do not want to add to their anxiety.

A technique to help

When it comes to helping an anxious child return to school, it’s vital to help them recognise what they’re feeling and to acknowledge their pain. It is easy to dismiss their pain – after all, we all have things going on – but teaching our kids how to manage their emotions and to ask for helps them to learn responsibility, resilience and persistence.

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Acknowledge the pain - when you notice your child is starting to ramp up the stress as the school year approached, ask questions to get find out how they are feeling. This helps the child name the pain; so, they recognise it for what it is.

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Where do they feel it - ask the child where, in their body, do they feel the pain. It may be a tummy ache or a stiff neck or clenched fists. This helps them become aware of the physicality of what they are feeling so when it happens again, they can act.

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Name the reason for emotion - Talk to them about why these emotions happen – why are they’re feeling this way. It could be because they don’t want to fail English again or be seen as the kid who can’t do maths. This helps devalue the emotion and changes how they think about the situation. This means you can start to set your child up for success. Knowing what emotional roadblocks are in place around certain subjects means you can work with the teacher or a tutor from the get-go.

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Blow it away – the Balloon exercise is a good one to help the child get the emotion out into space. Get them to imagine a deflated balloon in their favourite colour, then take a few big breaths in and blow into the balloon the emotion they are feeling as it expands. Then ask them to get a big needle and pop that balloon so the emotion is blown away from them.

This is a great exercise they can do by themselves when they start to feel anxious. No one wants their child to hate going to school. A few well-placed questions can help you get to the reasons why and may be the key to helping them nail their subjects this year.

Article by Zoe Buckly. Zoe is a teacher, musician, and artist. I completed my Bachelor of Education as a mature aged student in 2006 and have taught in schools from primary through to university.

For the past 10 years, I started working as a tutor one on one with children and adults who have learning difficulties. I work with organisations such as Life Without Barriers, Ronald McDonald Learning Program and numerous schools, colleges, and universities. During my tutoring sessions, I noticed that students who struggled with a subject also had a negative emotion attached to the subject. This led me to pursue further studies on how the brain works. http://zoebuckley.com.au/learning-boosters/

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Stationery & School Gear Crayon Rocks, Bag of 16 Crayon Rocks teach the correct pencil grip!

Designed by a school teacher to automatically place your child's fingers in the the tripod grip,

Smiggle League hardtop pencil case Wow! Check out everyone's favourite hardtop pencil case in fun football print with metallic zip! This reversible sequin pencil case isn't just eye-catching, it has plenty of storage space with inner mesh compartments and pen slots.

RRP: $29.95 Available from: All Smiggle stores and online at www.smiggle.com.au

teaching pencil grip as they colour.

RRP: $14.95 Available from www.crayonrocks.com.au Bostik Glu Stiks The Bostik Glu Stik is a smooth, solvent free, non-toxic general purpose adhesive. Perfect for scrap books, cutting and pasting, projects and paper craft, the Glu Stik is ideal for school use. Bostik Blu-Stiks are perfect if kids need to see where they are gluing, as it still dries clear.

RRP: From $3.00 each 35g). Stockists: Leading retailers including Officeworks, Woolworths, Coles, Big W and Spotlight

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Frixion Light Pens Frixion Light A fantastic erasable highlighter in a choice of ten colours – perfect for studying. Pilot Pen’s Frixion range comes in a variety of colours and styles, making it a great choice for home and work. Made with thermosensitive ink and each pen features a built-in eraser so you can rub out date changes or mistakes and start again without a trace. RRP: from $2.49 ea Visit www.pilotpen.com.au

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Pintor by Pilot Pen, is a multipurpose paint marker in a choice of 13 vibrant colours that makes the perfect Christmas gift for kids of all ages. Use it on a multitude of surfaces, including metal, glass, wood, fabric and ceramic, making it perfect for art, craft and DIY. The only limit is your imagination!

RRP: Broad Tip (RRP $5.95);extra fine, fine, or medium (RRP $4.95) Available from: BIG W and selected independents.

Bostik Blu-Tack Ideal for a thousand and one uses, Blu-Tack is the original reusable adhesive.

It has excellent moulding qualities as it resists slump, will not shrink, dry out or harden and can be used over and over again. Try Blu-tack Colour for fun modelling projects.

RRP: Bostik Blu-Tack from $2.49 Stockists: Leading retailers including Officeworks, Woolworths, Coles, Big W and Spotlight

Children's Art Smocks We have a great range of quality art smocks that your kids will love to wear.

Great protection for school uniforms and a great designs to choose from.

Available in sizes from 2 to 12/14 Australian Made.

RRP $34.95 www.smartstuff.com.au

Frixion is made with thermo-sensitive ink and each pen features a builtin eraser so you can rub out date changes or mistakes and start again Frixion Colors Erasable felt tip markers in a choice of ten fun colours. Colour, draw, craft and create and if you make a mistake, rub it out and start again.

RRP $2.49 Frixion Ball An erasable gel ink pen in ten colours – great for notes, handwriting, studying and general use, available in medium, fine and extra fine tip. RRP $3.25 Visit www.pilotpen.com.au for stockists

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Starting High School (secondary) now or in the future

Whether you have a student starting Year 7 or a student who is currently in Year 6 or soon will be then this article is for you.

This time in a student’s life can be both exciting and daunting at the same time. It is not only a big change for the student but also the whole family, particularly if it is the eldest child and the first to go through such an experience. Entering high school sees them entering into a new environment with different expectations and experiences.

Students Starting Year 7 Transition provides an opportunity for a fresh start; if well managed. Usually transition is the smoothest when parents and schools (primary and secondary) work closely together to support a child’s learning and development.

It is important to remember that, as parents, it is best not to make assumptions about your child’s expectations. We have a plethora of our own memories, which can sometimes complicate what we expect our children to experience. We must remember that they have never been in this situation before. For some children, it really might feel like walking into an abyss and for others they may be full of confidence.

Factors that contribute to a successful transition Transition works best when the following are present: 1. A supportive family environment with a focus on positive attitudes - emotional stability is really important. Students are more likely to adjust happily to the new environment, and be able to handle challenges when parents are interested in and involvement with the transition.

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2. The ability to adjust socially – resilience and having the skills to form new friendships are crucial to the adjustment to secondary school.

3. Being able to adapt and adjust to the new institutional environment – again it is important for students to have a strong sense of resilience. Flexibility assists in adjusting quickly to new routines and school life. The more that students and parents understand of what to expect from the specific school, the easier this adjustment.

4. Having an ongoing interest in the curriculum and learning - the more prepared students are to adapt to more advanced work and new subjects, the more easily students will settle in at secondary school. Students need to be challenged (and usually want to be) so they can build upon their primary school learning.

Key tips for a successful transition and how you can support your child: • Encourage them to get involved – the more activities they get involved in they start to develop a real feel and understanding of the school as well as have an opportunity to get to know their fellow peers. New experiences and opportunities also allow them to expand their own interests and talents.

• Encourage independence – encourage them to take responsibility for their own learning which will assist your child to develop their own decision making and self-management skills. It is really important for teens to develop self-advocacy – learning to speak up for themselves and knowing how to ask for what they need.

• Let students take responsibility for their time – assist your child to manage their time and cope with multiple new subjects and priorities, as well as their extracurricular activities. I strongly encourage all Year 7 students to use a diary/planner (paper or electronic) to assist them with their organisation, time management and tasks they need to complete. In order to manage time, children need to be able to see time and this will assist with that aspect.

• Continue to communicate – always try to keep the lines of communication open. Start talking to them if you haven’t already about what going to secondary school will mean for them and continue to support them as they grow and meet the new challenges and experiences socially and academically. Once they start, it is also important to discuss how they are feeling and regularly check in with them to see how they are coping with the increased level of work and homework.

• Homework environment/s – ensure your child has at least one designated place where they can study, with good lighting, desk space and a good chair. I usually encourage students to have one place where they keep their school work and belongings at home. This is usually on their desk and I recommend using a magazine holder for this.

• Stay informed and involved – whilst the level of involvement at secondary school can be very different to that of primary school, I strongly recommend that parents be involved where possible. There are various ways to do this like: o attend parent information evenings, o volunteer, o get involved in parent groups, o attend parent teacher nights.

Amanda Lecaude is an Academic Life coach and Organising Expert who works closely with schools and students to ensure they are equipped with simple and effective organisational, time management and study skills, which are key to their success and enjoyment at school and in life.

For more detailed information, please check out my eBooks on Taking the Leap to Secondary School – there is one for parents on how to support your child and another for children on what they need to know in order to prepare themselves for the transition journey. For further information or to get in touch visit www.organisingstudents.com.au

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School Lunch Recipes

Savoury bacon style pumpkin and almond muffins Makes 6 Ingredients 1 pack Vegie Delights Bacon Style Rashers, sliced into 1 cm pieces 2 tablespoons chia seeds 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 Spanish onion, peeled and finely chopped 1 cup pumpkin, peeled and grated 1 1/2 cups almond meal 3 tablespoons arrowroot flour 2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder 2 teaspoons rosemary, leaves finely chopped Method 1.Preheat oven to 180°C and line an 8 cup muffin tray with greaseproof liners. In a small bowl mix chia seeds with 6 tablespoons water and set aside for 10 minutes to gel. In a large mixing bowl Combine olive oil, Spanish onion, VEGIE DELIGHTS BACON STYLE RASHERS pieces, grated pumpkin, almond meal, arrowroot, baking powder and rosemary and mix gently.

2.Add chia gel and mix until even in consistency.

3.Spoon into 8 muffin wrappers and cook for 45 minutes.

4.Cool in tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely - if you can wait!

Recipe from the Vegie Delights Company

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Cheese & Vegemite Scrolls Ingredients Puff Pastry Cheese, grated Vegemite 1 egg, whisked with 1 tsp water Method 1. Separate a Puff Pastry Sheet and cut in half (we used the full sheet, however the scrolls were very big and took a long time to bake) cheese-vegemite-scrolls-recipe2. Spread Vegemite all over the puff pastry leaving 2-3 cms at the beginning and end so that you can secure the scroll together.

3. Sprinkle a thin layer of cheese over the top 4. Add egg mixture to the end strip of the scroll 5. Roll the puff pastry up into a sausage pushing the part with the egg mixture firmly to the other puff pastry 6. Turn onto its side and roll in like a snail’s shell, securing the end to the scroll with another dab of egg mixture between the puff pastry.

7. Repeat with the other puff pastry sheets to create your scrolls.

8. Put in a greased pan and bake in the oven at 180 degrees, cooking for around 20 minutes or until pastry is golden and crispy.

Fried Rice Ingredients: 2 Rashers Bacon, diced I onion chopped 1 stick celery diced I red capsicum diced I cup frozen peas 3 eggs 2 cups of cooked brown rice Splash of soy sauce Method: Add a splash of oil to a wok, heat and remaining ingredients.

Cook together for 6-7 minutes. Break up the egg as you stir the ingredients each minute they are cooking.

Recipe provided by Joanne C

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Technology

Audiofly AF33W MK2 Wireless Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones

FZ ONE powered by Alcatel The FZ ONE powered by Alcatel is a smartphone designed to give parents peace-of-mind, by granting you with unprecedented control over access to social media, apps and games.

RRP: $199 Available from: www.familyzone.com.au

V-Fitness Kids Activity Monitor The V-Fitness Kids Activity Monitor is an easy way to make fit fun for kids by tracking steps, distance travelled and calories burnt. Stats can be viewed via the free i-gotU Life app.

RRP: $29.95 Available from: Big W

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Audiofly’s AF33W MK2 Wireless In-Ear Headphones are ideal for hassle-free listening without compromise. These lightweight, durable, and sweat resistant headphones are perfect for anyone that likes to work out while listening to their favourite content.

RRP: $59.99 Available from: JB Hi-Fi

Belkin Pocket Power 5,000mAh Don’t let low battery slow you down with Belkin’s slim and lightweight power bank.

It fits easily in your pocket or bag while offering 5,000mAh of power, meaning you can recharge your smartphone up to 1.5 times.

RRP: $39.95 Available from: Belkin.com/au

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3 Misconceptions About Sport Safety for Children

As a physiotherapist, I am often asked questions by parents about things they have heard in the media or from other parents around certain risks of sport. These are some of the common misconceptions I get asked about on a regular basis.

1) Contact sports are too dangerous for kids

In contact sport there is a high risk of injury, however, there is also the need to encourage children to be active to not only prevent obesity, but for social and mental benefits of team sport. Injuries are a part of life, in fact the profession of physiotherapy revolves around managing and preventing injuries.

Getting an injury is not necessarily the issue, it is IMPROPER MANAGEMENT of injuries that can prove detrimental not just to kids, but everyone. So making sure you seek the advice of an appropriately qualified person, such as a physiotherapist, if you sustain an injury will be the key to returning to sport with no ongoing issues.

There are also things you can do to minimise the risk of injuries associated with contact sports. These include wearing protective gear relevant to the particular sport, such as a helmet or garments with impact padding, I recommend the G-Form protection range for children and of course ensuring proper techniques are taught, especially when it comes to tackling.

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2) Heading the soccer ball can cause concussion

Research has found that while the soccer has one of the highest incidences of concussions in children’s sport, it is not due to the impact of the soccer ball hitting the head, but rather children running into each other in an attempt to ‘head’ the ball and knocking heads or another body area. While there is no proven way to prevent concussions, there has been some excellent developments in the sports medicine sphere for decreasing the risk of concussion through protective wear. I’m especially fond of the 2nd Skull headband, which helps prevent the level of impact to the head and is available in kids sizes.

Recognising the signs of a concussion is also very important as a parent. They include headache, nausea or vomiting, neck pain, not feeling right or feeling ‘in a fog’, difficulty concentrating or remembering, dizziness and balance problems.

If a child is experiencing even just 1 symptom following an incident, SIT THEM OUT. Do not let them return to play that day and be sure to see a doctor or physiotherapist who has experience managing concussions prior to returning to sport. IF IN DOUBT, SIT THEM OUT!

3) An ankle sprain is not a big deal An ankle sprain is often brushed off as a minor injury, in particular in children, given they are common and often still allow you to be able to walk.

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Helping your child improve their memory and critical thinking Memory and Critical Thinking Tips for the Classroom by Daniel Kilov a Memory Athlete. and Champion.

Teaching students to think critically is a primary goal of schooling. By critical thinking, I mean the ability to reasoning dispassionately, solve novel problems, generate new ideas, reason dispassionately and so on. But decades of educational and cognitive science have shown that critical thinking skills can only be learnt when students are equipped with a rich store of facts to draw from. As the cognitive scientist, Daniel T Willingham puts it, “The processes of thinking are intertwined with the content of thought (that is, domain knowledge)”.

The accumulation of facts requires memorization. You cannot know some fact that you do not remember.

Unfortunately, your children are likely to consider this bad news. Internalising quotes, dates, the elements of the periodic table and anything else by rote repetition is painful even for the most dedicated of students. There is, however, a more effective and enjoyable way.

Enter the world of competitive learning and the World Memory Championships. Founded in 1991, the World Memory Championships gathers the world’s fastest learners to compete across 10 disciplines for brainy dominance. Katie Kermode, a high-level competitor, can memorize 97 names and faces in just five minutes. Another, Johannes Mallow, can memorize 132 historic dates just as quickly. To give that some context, they could probably memorize all 29 Australian Prime Ministers in the order in which they were elected in about the time it takes me to tie my shoes. But these athletes aren’t superheroes or savants. Rather, they use a small set of mnemonic techniques that anyone can learn and apply. In fact, these techniques, which originated in ancient Greece, where central to education until as late as the 17th Century. I’m a memory athlete myself – I’m a three times silver medallist and national record holder – but my main interest is in the application of these techniques in the modern classroom.

Learning even a few simple memory techniques can transform learning into an activity that is imaginative, fun and effective. All the techniques used by memory athletes involve generating creative and unusual associations between visual images. Below are two examples of memory techniques and how they might be used to memorize material encountered in school. I encourage you to read these examples to your kids. Have them close their eyes. Invite them to create colourful ‘mental movies’. Afterwards, see how much they can recall.

Example 1: First 5 elements of the periodic table

To remember the first element, hydrogen, visualize a fire hydrant. ‘Hydrant’ sounds like hydrogen, so is our first mnemonic. Now picture that hydrant being carried into the air by a helium balloon

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- helium is the second element. Unfortunately, the balloon is popped by a spark from a lithium battery, as lithium is our third element.

Beryllium is the forth element, so we will imagine our lithium battery bursting into a shower of berries, which are really yum! Here, we are taking advantage of the fact that ‘Beryllium’ sounds like ‘berries really yum’. We are going to use the same strategy to remember that the fifth element is boron. To do so, imagine the berries being turned into a jam which we pour on someone named Ron. Poor Ron! Both ‘pour on’ and ‘poor Ron’ rhyme with ‘boron’ and so allow us to easily recall the name of the element.

Example 2: Foreign language vocabulary

To remember that the Spanish word for rice is ‘arroz’, imagine arrows landing in a bowl of rice.

To remember that the Spanish word for donkey is ‘burro’, imagine a donkey writing at a bureau desk To remember that the Spanish word for shrimp is ‘gumba’, imagine a giant shrimp dancing around in 10 pairs of shiny black gumboots.

Memory athletes have techniques that allow them to memorize almost anything, but they all come down to creating associations and visual mental images. During one talk, I had the entire audience learn the order of the planets in the solar system using these principles. Mastering memory techniques allows students to take control of their own learning, to conquer difficult material and to develop the skills of critical thinking, all while having fun. Not a bad deal.

Daniel Kilov is a speaker, memory athlete and coach. Articles, interviews, talks and more can be found at www.DanielKilov.com

How to Choose the Right School Shoes for your Child Choosing the right school shoes for your child is not something that most parents actively look forward to. You spend what seems like hours traipsing from shoe store to shoe store with a child (or children!) in tow trying on multiple shoes looking for that perfect fit.

It can feel like a whole expedition – you may feel the need to pack snacks and things to distract them from the boredom they will no doubt be sharing with you at every opportunity! But with a few simple tips, you can find the right school shoes for your child without the unwelcome hassle that often accompanies your annual school shoe shopping trip.

Here are 5 simple tips from a Sydney podiatrist on choosing the right school shoes for your child.

Get Your Child’s Feet Measured

Knowing what size your child’s feet are is crucial but often overlooked. Parents sometimes feel that they can simply pop shoes on their children and see if the look OK once on.

But knowing what your child’s foot size is, and how it’s been growing since they were last fitted is very helpful. Not only will you know exactly what size and style of shoe will be best for your child, but it will help cut down your shopping time immensely.

Another key thing to check when being measured is your child’s foot width – it’s not all about the length. If your child needs a wide fit shoe and you aren’t aware of this, you could end up hurting their feet instead of helping them grow.

Timing Is Everything

There can be confusion about when to go shoe shopping as well. Some parents like to get all their back to school shopping done as early as possible – sometimes even getting their school shopping done before the end of term 4 of the current year! But while this may seem super organised and means you avoid the back to school chaos the week before school starts, it can mean that your child’s school shoes don’t get as much wear as you think. Or worse, they may have completely outgrown them before day 1 of the new school year!

Shopping closer to the start of term allows you to get the best fit possible and the most life out of the shoes. Just don’t leave it until the last minute unless you love the crowds and the stress!

Avoid Shoes That Are Too Flexible

Having a good midfoot stabiliser is crucial for school shoes and indeed all children’s shoes. You can do a basic test to see what sort of stabiliser your shoes have by attempting to fold the shoe in half.

If the tip of the shoe is almost reaching the opening of the shoe, it means there is a distinct lack of midfoot stabilisation in that shoe. What you want to see is just the tip of the shoe able to bend backwards, no more than the first few centimetres.

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Check The Heel Support

The heel counter of your child’s school shoe needs to be firm and supportive. To check this, push on the back of the shoe and see how much it moves. You want it to move very little – if the heel counter folds all the way into the shoe itself, it means it provides minimal ankle and heel support for the wearer. Having a firm heel counter gives your child more stability and also reduces the chance of sprained ankles.

Listen To Your Child

If your child is complaining that a shoe doesn’t fit, feels too loose or too tight, listen to them. Most school aged children will be able to tell you what feels right and what feels wrong in their shoes.

Even if they aren’t sure what it is about the shoe, if they don’t like it, it’s highly probable that they won’t wear them anyway – and the last thing you want to do is spend good money on shoes that your child refuses to wear.

Most good children’s shoe shops will be able to help you choose the right school shoes for your child so don’t be afraid to ask questions to help them help you. If you have any concerns about your children’s foot growth or general foot health, don’t hesitate to contact your local podiatrist and get a professional opinion on the matter.

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