ParentsWorld April 2018

Cover Story

Why Green Parenting is not optional

On the eve of Earth Day (April 22), ParentsWorld interviewed environment experts and parents who have taken the lead in teaching children to Go Green from infancy – K.P. Malini

When Rajesh Shah returned from the US to India in 2007 with his family comprising wife Vallari, a mediator, gardener and dancer, and two children Parthiv and Tarang to […]

School Profile

Fravashi International Academy, Nashik

Sprawled over a 39-acre scenic campus in the fast-industrialising city of Nashik (pop.1.7 million), three hours by road from Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, Fravashi International Academy (FIA, estb. 2006) has earned an excellent reputation for providing its 1,260 students contemporary 21st-century education rooted in progressive value-premises. FIA is one of three education institutions established by […]

Leisure & Travel

Fragrant hills of Tripura

This lonely outpost of India has much to offer free spirits in search of adventure and the exotic. Almost wholly surrounded by politically volatile Bangladesh, Tripura beckons with its unique tribal culture and nature’s bounty

The most low-profile of the much neglected ‘seven sister’ states of north-east India, Tripura (pop. 3.6 million) is unfamiliar territory for […]

Interview

“You must be your children’s greatest champions”

Dipta Joshi interviewed well-known educator Kiran Bir Sethi and former world billiards champion Geet Sethi on the importance of steadfast parental support for growing children

Kiran Bir Sethi (KBS) is founder of the top-ranked Riverside School (estb.2001), Ahmedabad and Design for Change (DFC), an extra-curricular experiential learning programme which encourages school children worldwide to design and […]

Ask your counselor

Should I buy my teen a Smartphone?

My 14-year-old daughter is furious because I have denied her a smartphone until she turns 16, even though most of her friends own one. She uses our home computer — placed in the dining room — to access the social media. I worry that buying her a phone will mean unlimited access to the Internet. […]

Ask the doctor

How can I protect my child from sports injuries?

My eight-year-old enjoys playing football, gymnastics and tennis with great passion and intensity. I worry he is overexerting and can injure himself during playtime. How do I protect him from sports injuries? — Manas K., Bangalore

It’s commonly accepted that sports are good for children’s physical health and well-being. But it’s impossible to protect them from suffering […]

Activity zone

Organic household cleaners

Most commercially produced home care and cleaning products contain carcinogens, which cause allergic reactions, asthma and other respiratory problems. Vallari Shah, a Bengaluru-based proponent of environment-friendly lifestyles, shares formulae to prepare two safe home cleaning products.

Soap Nut Cleaner
Soap nut (reetha) is a popularly used base ingredient for organic cleaning liquids in India. […]

Careers Watch

Rising demand for Physiotherapists

The general perception is that physiotherapists are concerned only with massage and exercise. But that’s not all there is to this profession

Did you always want to be a doctor but haven’t been able to clear the medical college entrance examination? Don’t despair, you can become a doctor of physiotherapy which is increasingly becoming an attractive […]

Health & nutrition

10 personal items its safer not to share

In the interests of health and hygiene, it’s important for parents to advise children not to share toys, water bottles, towels and other personal items – Aruna Raghuram

While sharing and caring is a virtue all parents must teach their children, it’s also important to teach them not to share some things. In the interests of health […]

Parents Corner

Making lasting memories

PW invited parents of N.L. Dalmia High School, Thane, Mumbai to share ways to create enjoyable memories with their children despite busy work schedules

“When they grow up our children won’t remember what we bought for them but the good times we spent with them. Therefore despite the pressure of running private tutorials business, I make […]

News Bytes

Music boosts childrens academic performance

Learning music can help children perform better in academics, say researchers of VU University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The study published in the Frontiers in Neuroscience (February) found that structured music lessons significantly boost children’s cognitive capabilities, including language-based reasoning and short-term memory.

The researchers, together with a centre for arts education, studied 147 children in […]

Early Childhood

Why getting dirty is good for children

Parents should allow children to play in the mud, splash in puddles and play with animals. Exposure to germs helps them build robust immune systems – Dr Chaitali Laddad, founder & director, The Paediatric Network, Mumbai

The tendency of 21st-century parents to over-protect their children from all types of dirt and dust is debilitating their immune […]

Adolescence

Understanding teen rebellion

Whether it is questioning rules, insolence towards elders or “acting out” to “fit in” with peers, there are deeper reasons for your adolescent’s rebellious behaviour, says Arundhati Nath

Does it anger you when your teen openly flouts rules at home/school or answers back rudely? Do you often wonder how your innocent child has transformed into an […]

Resources

Stephen Hawkings books for children

On March 14, one of the world’s most-loved and distinguished astrophysicists, Stephen Hawking died in Cambridge, UK at the age of 76. A globally-renowned theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author, he leaves behind a rich legacy of research on black holes and relativity.

Educated at Oxford and Cambridge universities, Hawking was diagnosed as being afflicted with amyotrophic […]

Letter from Managing Editor

Letter from Managing Editor

In the recently released Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2017 of the World Economic Forum, India is ranked a dismal #177 of 180 countries worldwide, just above Congo, Bangladesh and Burundi. The EPI report, produced bi-annually by researchers of the top-ranked Yale and Columbia universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, Davos, evaluated the environment […]

Mailbox

Inspiring role models

The cover story on gender equality was a wonderful read (PW March). The real-life success story of girl mountaineers Tashi and Nungshi Malik, who became the world’s first twins to scale Mt. Everest, was truly inspiring. My two girls went on to read more about them on the Internet, and were very motivated by their […]

Fun with Words

BACRONYMS: Acronyms in reverse

Bacronyms are regular words that can also double up as acronyms, says Roopa Banerjee

Acronyms, we all know, but, bacronyms? To understand this figure of speech, you need to know more about acronyms. An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of words and pronounced as a word — for example, NASA is an acronym […]