Education

Jj is for Jottings 161.  What is Phubbing? Question: “What is Phubbing?”  Answer: “Telephone snubbing.”  The word comes from ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’.  It is the act of ignoring people in favour of a telephone.  Look around you in almost any public place and you will see numerous acts of phubbing occurring.  Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 91.  Parents’ Screen Time. This follows on from the effects of screen time on children.  Before we go into the topic of how to limit our children’s screen time, we need to look to parents’ screen time. No parents’ screen time here. This “parent” has his full attention on the “child”, […]

Jj is for Jottings 159.  Creativity in Children, Part 1. Walk into any preschool/kindergarten and you see that they provide many opportunities for creativity in children.  Why is that?  Because arts and crafts are one of the most important ways to help children develop and grow between ages 3-8.  Here is a chart of communication […]

Jj is for Jottings 157.  Word Confusions: Affect/Effect; Lie/Lay. This article covers the topic of word confusions: affect/effect; lie/lay.  Posts on word confusions will pop up from time to time.  The two previous posts are: word confusions:ton/tonne;home/hone and word confusions:bought/brought;in a moment/momentarily. Continue reading

Jj is for Jottings 95.  Oral Storytelling. Oral storytelling is wonderful for developing listening skills (no pictures – so there is no visual ‘cheating’) and language.  It also encourages memory and can stimulate imagination.  You can read about the importance of listening here and here.  You can tell the story, or you can encourage your […]

Jj is for Jottings 159.  Creativity in Children, Part 1. Walk into any preschool/kindergarten and you see that they provide many opportunities for creativity in children.  Why is that?  Because arts and crafts are one of the most important ways to help children develop and grow between ages 3-8.  Here is a chart of communication […]

Jj is for Jottings 158.  Smartphones in Schools. A few days ago (July 2023) in Australia, smartphones in schools were banned.  Some states had already banned or restricted their use, but the ban is now nationwide.  The ban also includes smartwatches.  There are quite a few reasons to ban smartphones in schools given below, but […]

Jj is for Jottings 160.  Creativity in Children, Part 2. Following on from Part 1, we will now go into more activities in greater detail in Creativity in Children, Part 2.  In order for creativity to flourish, it is important for us to slow down and create the time and headspace to allow room for […]

Jj is for Jottings 160.  Creativity in Children, Part 2. Following on from Part 1, we will now go into more activities in greater detail in Creativity in Children, Part 2.  In order for creativity to flourish, it is important for us to slow down and create the time and headspace to allow room for […]

Jj is for Jottings 160.  Creativity in Children, Part 2. Following on from Part 1, we will now go into more activities in greater detail in Creativity in Children, Part 2.  In order for creativity to flourish, it is important for us to slow down and create the time and headspace to allow room for […]

Jj is for Jottings 158.  Smartphones in Schools. A few days ago (July 2023) in Australia, smartphones in schools were banned.  Some states had already banned or restricted their use, but the ban is now nationwide.  The ban also includes smartwatches.  There are quite a few reasons to ban smartphones in schools given below, but […]

Jj is for Jottings 121.  A Noun is a Name. A noun is a name.  But there’s a bit more to it than that.  A noun is one of several parts of speech, which also includes verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions and even interjections.  Although they are called parts of speech, they are […]

Jj is for Jottings 73.  Prince William on Punctuation and Social Media. Prince William addressed a group of female students at a London school on the issue of cyberbullying.  He talked about the stress of trying to live up to all the faked “perfection” seen online, and he urged students to put down their devices, […]

Jj is for Jottings 111.  Word Confusions: Ton/Tonne; Home/Hone. For all the reasons given in the article on punctuation, clear communication is important, since that is the whole point: to get your message across to the listener/reader.  Many people confuse similar words, which undermines their message.  There will be articles from time to time on […]