Ask Sherrin Blog

A recent report suggests making home economics compulsory for years 6-10. Sherrin gives her thoughts. Also, with truancy rates on the rise, who is to blame and what can be done? What do you think?

As an ex school principal and drug and alcohol councilor, Sherrin discusses the differences of alcohol culture in Australia and Europe. Also Greg and Sherrin discuss OP scores. What do you think?

Greg and Sherrin chat about retirement and the difficulty of jobs in education,

Sherrin on homework over the holidays and more.

Year 7 as part of highschool? Middle School? Homework over the holidays? Sherrin and Greg discuss these things on the 4BC morning show.

Go with an open attitide, be prepared and have some questions in mind.

With the recent media focus on bullying, Sherrin discusses some ways to deal with the problem.

Sherrin and Greg discuss the trouble many recent education graduates are having finding teaching jobs in Queensland, and offer some advice.

On 4BC this week, Sherrin discusses how to attract better teachers to the profession and shift the focus of education in this two part podcast.

Part 1

Part 2

On 4BC this week, Sherrin and Greg discuss a recent fourum on ADHD in Brisbabe. Sherrin explains the similarities between kinisthetic learners and kids diagnosed with ADHD.

On 4BC this week, Sherrin and Greg discuss learning a second language and answer a listener's question about determining if things are working well for your child.

On 4BC this week, Sherrin gives handy tips for helping children form routines, and learn to organise themselves. Also hear a tutoring success story and the importance of consistent practice in this two part podcast.

Part 1

Part 2

Sherrin discusses with Greg Cary on the 4BC Grey Cary Morning Show the need for routine activities for flood affected children and alsoprovides data from a recent survey about classroom sizes.

Sherrin discusses three important issues on 4BC:

1. Obesity and the affects of being overweight on classroom performance, social interaction and brain functioning
2. Repeating – the things to consider when repeating your child
3. 10 hrs FREE holiday bonus – at participating Fruition Learning Centres when you join Fruition tuition now …

Download the show here: Sherrin on 4BC 23-11-10.mp3

25 % are having difficulties at Year 2. And nearly 40% of indigenous children are falling behind by Year 2 according to a recent study.

Sherrin talks about Jamie Oliver's visit and eating healthy. Also Greg and Sherrin discuss same sex classes.

Boys and girls learn differently and develop physically and cognitively at different times and at different rates. Little boys frequently have more developed gross motor skills (skills for outside play – kicking a ball, catching, climbing, swinging a bat etc) while little girls generally develop fine motor skills (skills great for writing, colouring, holding pencils etc).

Adolescents too learn differently, so teachers can focus different strategies and discipline for the different genders – to suit their general learning styles and behaviour.

Proverb 23:7 saying: as you think

For as he thinks (in his heart) so is he. As one who reckons, says to you 'eat and drink' (but in his heart he grudgingly thinks about the cost.) ... then the morsel of food will make you sick and the complimentary words will be wasted.

Sherrin discusses an article on the Brisbane Times about the line between dicipline and abbuse.

Banning students from being served in shopping centres does not seem to address the issue of WHY students are truanting from school in the first instance.

Listen to Part 1:

Listen to Part 1:

Naplan & other exams – how can you prepare students for an exam without cheating? Are we measuring student performance against benchmarks? Are we looking for the problems only? Should we also be identifying the strengths for enrichment?  Is NAPLAN and its administration and preparation of students different to other in school exams and the QCS TEST, for example, for our year 12 students too.

Parents have enormous influence over their families, as we all would agree. How we behave imprints messages and teachings upon our children; our behaviour is so much more powerful than our words. Our words are important too. If violence is demonstrated by a father on a deputy principal over his son being reprimanded for a smoking at school infringement, where is society headed. Single incidents don’t paint the entire picture, but there is much evidence that violence is escalating. If we want to change society, we need to begin with our own circle of influence – at home, in the car, at work, on the playing fields and in our lounge rooms.

Sherrin responds to a listener question: 'How do I choose the best school for my children?'

Parents have a responsibility to help children learn right from wrong and how to handle the consequences of their choices without blaming others, making excuses or avoiding the truth.

Education and Training Minister Geoff Wilson has welcomed the release of a progress review which has reported good to excellent progress being made in implementing actions to improve the literacy, numeracy and science performance of the State's primary school students + pre-test for teachers…

Should Financial Literacy be the responsibility of schools or should the principles of good money management be learned from parents to avoid young people creating debt with mobile phone bills and later credit cards?

Sherrin discusses a range of issues regarding teachers in our schools: an 8 week course to qualify; teachers need feedback and regular performance reviews in the context of developing appropriate career pathways within education; underperforming teachers need to leave.

Sherrin talks with Greg Carey “If a teacher receives a bonus for doing a good job, then for what are they receiving their salary?”

Parents are urged to become familiar with the increase in sexual assaults in schools (in the toilets and playgrounds) including assaults on very young school children in Years 1 and 2 by older students. Parents need to know the advice that has been given to teachers in relation to providing children with “opportunities to engage in developmentally appropriate sex” and exactly what is being taught in classrooms. Given the increased computer accessibility to pornography and given children are becoming ‘sexualised’ at much early ages, parents need to think through their own strategies and the values they want for their families, to be sure their children are safe and well informed, within moral parameters.

Once again it is report card season, a time that can bring a smile to one student’s face while striking another down in fear. Regardless of how they are received, report cards are an unavoidable part of school life and are a valuable tool in assessing and planning for student success. Find out how to make the most of your child’s report card to sustain good results or to make improvements for next time.

For some children getting started to begin to write an assignment or a book review is really difficult. The emptiness of a blank page can feel overwhelming. Where to start? Use a THUMBALL. It is a fun way to help children begin to discuss and write about the “Parts of a Story”.  Reviewed by Sherrin from Fruition Tuition.

Sherrin speaks frankly and passionately about teaching and learning and testing. She outlines clearly how NAPLAN can be used productively to identify and support learning needs of students and schools. She expresses her interest in feedback as a foundational condition for learning and improvement and improved resourcing and funding.

Testing provides feedback in order to identify areas for growth; it can be used productively. She goes on to question why some teachers are feeling so  threatened by NAPLAN and questions what career position exists that is not judged on the results they produce. Teachers are feeling the ‘pressure’ but what job doesn’t have inbuilt pressures she questions?

Sherrin, one of the Founding Directors of Fruition Tuition, chats with Greg Cary from the Greg Cary Morning Show on Talk-Back Radio 4BC – AM 1116 about a former Queensland teacher who is suing for more than $400 000.00 in damages due to damage of her larynx.

Parents, instead of you doing all the thinking, planning and organising these holidays, why not have your children prepare for a family outing?

Developing emotional intelligence is very important and it can start with us understanding our feelings.

Sherrin and Gary Hardgrave from the Greg Cary Morning Show on 4BC discuss: 

• Children with home computers getting lower school results according to a study from Duke University, Sanford, of more than 150 000 individual students;
• School holidays: Create a holiday day-trip project for your children to organise

Sherrin talks with Gary Hargrave on 4BC about

• the effects of routine bed times on the brain development for toddlers,
• reading to your children at bedtime, why reading earlier than normal may not produce greater success later in life, and
• respond to your child’s unique learning needs.

Some teenagers are so addicted to technology that they are having to receive therapy to free them from their obsessive behaviour. Yes – technology can be habit forming and can even lead to anti-social behaviour. Does your teenager sleep with their mobile under their pillow or beside their bed? Sherrin and Greg discuss the roles of parents and how to set limits and boundaries for the use of technology for our children.

Sherrin talks with Greg Cary about

• Year 12 boys out-performing Year 12 girls in Queensland OP Scores;
• home-schooling; and
• school of distant education.

Sherrin says, “traditionally girls have out-performed boys in the classroom. Boys seem to develop more maturity at later ages and often have equal or superior academic performance at universities. Educators have devoted much time understanding how boys and girls learn differently and have adjusted learning strategies to embrace these differences; this may have contributed to the new findings that boys are not performing better than girls in the OP Scores.”

Sherrin and Greg Cary discuss: Homework; Adolescents & untidy rooms – saving your voice for the important issues;  Teaching the Test – NAPLAN; Setting goals after the OP and Uni to avoid the void.  Listen to the show here:

Author, psychiatrist and psychotherapist Ben Furman, shows us ‘how to convert a child’s problem into a skill to be learned and used, without blaming others or fault finding’. Sound interesting? It is! This is a really helpful and easy to read book. I wanted to just skim read it but I found myself underlining and taking notes!

There are many questions that parents ask about homework for their children: What is the purpose of homework? How long should my child spend each night on homework? How will I know if homework is stressing my child? How much should I help my child with their homework?  Will the Fruition Homework Tips help homework be drama free? Shouldn’t children come home to play? Fruition will shed light on the homework debate and we will capture some leading Australian educators’ views and insights.

Here is an informative email about homework and single families from a 4BC listener. Chris is a grandparent who, along with her husband, supports her daughter and her grand-daughters manage homework and family life now that her daughter is a single mum and works almost full time.

Sherrin talks with Greg Cary about proposed laws to giving Queensland state school principals more power to expel students. What power should prinicipals have and what is the best way to deal with problem students? Listen to an excerpt of the program here: Sherrin on 4BC 18-05-10

More about the Queensland legislation:

Brisbane Times: Teachers' union backs planned expulsion powers

Sydney Morning Herald: Laws help Qld principals expel students

Gold Coast Bulletin: Principals need their power back

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Antony and Sherrin deliver Literacy and Numeracy Training in remote Indigenous communities in NT.

Sherrin talks to Greg Cary on 4BC about a recent suicide and bullying. Listen to the full show here.

Available from our Fruition Shop – just enter in the title in the search box at the top of the SHOP page.

No one should underestimate the damage that traditional and cyber bullying can do. Bullying can be described as aggressive behaviour that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength.

Video of the first part of the broadcast, 9 July 09 on Mornings with Greg Cary.

Fruition Tuition is excited to announce that they will donate $4.95 to BRAVEHEARTS from the sale of every Action Book for Parents (Book 1) "You are not raising children ... you are raising adults." sold through Fruition Tuition Learning Centres.

Hetty Johnston (Founder and Executive Director) of Bravehearts Inc "protecting children against sexual assult" says, "there is great passion and synergy between Fruition Tuition and Bravehearts; we are working to make Australia the best place to raise happy, safe and healthy children to become well-balanced adults!"

Fruition Tuition is seeking to be aligned with a charity organisation - perhaps one that supports children and families. We are looking for a charity organisation that will officially launch our new action book for parents. $4.95 from the sale of each book through a Fruition Tuition Learning Centre will go to this charity ...