It is a seminar for both parents and educators.

Professional development or general interest workshops. Date: Monday, September 12, 2011 At 18:00 Duration: 3 Hours Contact Info: Email: info@brightideasoutfit.co.zaURL: http://www.brightideasoutfit.co.za

Match Report

Uplands U10A vs Bergland

Last Tuesday 16^th August Uplands U10A played Bergland at home.  Uplands won the toss and elected to field.  Katie Prior took 1 wicket for 7 runs after 4 overs and Ndumiso Nopote took 2 wickets for 19 runs after 5 overs.  Berglands made 90 runs for 7 wickets after 30 overs.  Uplands then went into bat and Mark Botha made 30 runs not out and Nick Brotherton made 29 runs not out.  Uplands won the match by 8 wickets.  Man of the match was Mark Botha

For your perusal, please see the scorecard below.

It seems that groups of young adults  are creating their own parallel antisocial communities with different rules. The individual is responsible for their own survival because the established community is perceived to provide nothing. A dog eat dog world!

Who are the young people who are upset? The poor, the middle class, the rich?  

The country has given them “rights” but they are not able to show any responsibility – they can’t handle it.

Would something like this be possible here at home? Could it be on its way?

Nurturing Critical Thinking at Home

Parents should also foster critical thinking at home. Ask questions that lack a single correct answer, and ask them casually, rather than quizzing your child. For example, if your child is a chess aficionado and likes to play it on a chessboard or a computer, you may want to make the following inquiries:

• Why do you think you are more successful in face-to-face chess matches than in electronic chess games? (Analysis)
• If you could develop a new format for chess that would appeal to those who haven’t yet discovered its allure, what would it look like? Why would you pick those design features? How would they intrigue novices? (Synthesis)

If your child is interested in social issues, then engage him or her in thoughtful discussions about them. The personality and interests of children are the keys in interacting with them and addressing critical thinking at home. If interacting aloud is not appealing, take a less direct route by observing your child at play, with others or alone, and determine the level of complexity he or she shows during these activities. Using Bloom’s guide, note if the child is comparing or evaluating the functions of toys (toddlers and young children), computer programs (young children to teens), or social events (through phone calls or discussions with siblings or friends). Listening to your child and gauging how he or she makes sense of the world will enable you to understand what critical-thinking skills your child uses and whether your intervention is needed at home to extend his or her level of thinking.

Parents can demonstrate critical thinking by pondering aloud the most efficient way to do household chores, considering the most economical purchase to make at the grocery store, monitoring your progress toward your personal goals, or approaching social issues in your community. Describing how you think and solve problems is the best way for you to instill similar thinking patterns in your children.

The process of thinking, as well as its uniqueness to each individual, should be emphasized through these interactions.

The ultimate goal is for youth to employ critical-thinking strategies in everyday life without prompting from parents and teachers. Reasoning at high levels is one of the most valuable skills parents can foster in their children, one that will prepare them for success.

—Elizabeth Shaunessy, PhD

Elizabeth Shaunessy is assistant professor in the Department of Special Education and coordinator of the Gifted Education Program at the University of South Florida. Prior to teaching in higher education, she taught Advanced Placement language and composition and other courses in secondary language arts at the high school level.

Uplands College is proud to announce the winners of its annual scholarship awards for pupils with exceptional talent.

This year a competitive field of 67 entrants from 21 different primary schools wrote the Scholarship examinations. The hopeful pupils came from various primary schools in the Lowveld region as well as Johannesburg, Limpopo, Botswana and Swaziland, for entry in 2012.

Outstanding results were achieved, which resulted in Uplands College making twelve awards.

The Uplands College Open Academic Scholarship Award was won by a very deserving candidate, Cameron Barry, from Riverview Prep School in Malelane.  

Seven College Awards were awarded this year, they went to Esna Vermeulen from Riverview Prep School, Robyn Forte from Usutu Forest Primary in Swaziland, Lisa Thomson from Clifton Primary in Francistown, Botswana, Graham Wiggill from Southern Cross in Hoedspruit, Hye-Yoon Shin from St Peters in Nelspruit and Ozayr Karodia and Darren Jackson from Uplands Preparatory School.  

Andreas Kuhn from Uplands Preparatory School was awarded the College All Rounder Award.

The three College Sports Awards went to Hilton Thomson from Pridwin Preparatory School in Johannesburg, Yusuf Patel from Nelspruit Primary and Bevan Carlse from Uplands Preparatory School.

Have an awesome weekend!!

In a New York Timesreport, Warren Buckleitner wrote about the rapid evolution and proliferation of technology, and how the current generation of Moms and Dads are at a parenting loss, unable to benefit from the same wisdom the previous generation employed.

How parents handle the integration of technology into the home varies greatly. Some eagerly provide access to technology while others chain it down behind closed doors offering little access beyond school related activities. So what is the right approach?

“Studies of child development offer some middle ground. Long before the invention of the first microprocessor, the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development by watching his own children. His theories bring some logic to the debate about how to support your child’s growth with the latest technology.”

The roles technology can play in different stages of a child’s development:

AGES 0-2 Babies and toddlers cannot use a mouse so in order to work at this age, technology products must act like a busy-box, with lights or sounds that respond to a child’s actions.

AGES 3-5 Preschoolers today are growing up in a digital world. They like to play with pretend gadgets as if it were the real thing. This pretend-play is when children first understand that they can control the events on a flat screen. This is an age when they can take real pictures with cameras, can explore interactive versions of their favorite TV shows, and manipulate age-appropriate gaming systems and software.

AGES 6-11 At the age a child can ride a bicycle comes the ability to search the Web, and the whole digital world starts to open up. Parents are reminded that electronic devices should be used to “supplement rather than replace real experiences,”. By age 10, many children can start editing videos, program with software, and can handle being introduced to the notion of chatting and the online stand-ins known as avatars.

AGES 12 AND UP Middle and high-school students are reaching the cognitive functioning of an adult. They are able to juggle synchronous streams of information from phones, MP3 players and laptops.

Perhaps the best advice for parents of a young child, is that everything — whether it has batteries or not — is a discovery waiting to happen – and that toys work best when they are matched to a child’s level of development