Improve Your Communication Skills
Is Black Really White?
Science will tell you that black is not a colour, rather it is the absence of colour or the fact that there is no colour there. I expect that makes you think of white, rather than black!
And that’s the interesting thing about the word black: it was nearly white. And in fact in several other languages, the same root did develop to mean white.
Being a Guinea Pig… Twin Research
No, Tina didn’t turn into the cute little furry rodent (although that would be awesome) but became a ‘subject of scientific research’. Find out what that means, and what she had to do!
Good Relationships – Healthy Relationships – Tips for Kids
Relationships are hard at any age. Remember that we don’t just talk about relationships when we mean a boyfriend or a girlfriend – it’s about how you get on with your parents, your friends and other people important to you.
There are certain basic ideas that are important to developing good relationships; you master these and life suddenly becomes a lot less stressful! Alice Hoyle has some ideas that may help you have better relationships with the people in your life.
Communication
Image by Robert Collins on Unsplash
Communication is the most important aspect of any relationship. Sharing things with people in your life is important. We do this mostly by speaking and listening. It is important to share how you feel about things and to listen and try to understand how others feel about things (this is called empathy).
How good are you at both talking AND listening? If you favour doing only one of them in a relationship then this isn’t as balanced as it could be- you probably need to work on doing both and so should the other person.
Also sometimes people might say something but their body language (how someone uses their body or their facial expression) maybe saying something different. Take some time to consider what is your body language saying when you talk? What is their body language saying? Do you make eye contact when you talk?
A key to successful communication is to use “I” statements instead of “you” statements- eg. “I feel sad when you call me silly” is better than “You calling me silly makes me sad” because the second one can put the person on the defensive straight away and the conversation can go badly after that.
Cool Bedroom Ideas for Kids
We’ve scoured the internet to find some fab rooms – not boys’ rooms and girls’ rooms, just really cool bedrooms ideas for kids.
Maybe you’ve grown out of your princess bedroom, or have gotten tired of your pirate room. Perhaps you didn’t have a real theme to begin with. We’ve gone for bedrooms that can be done without spending a ton of money – focusing quick fixes of a lick of paint and some new bed covers.
Stripes Galore!
We love this stripy bedroom – you can learn how they did the stripes here
Room Makeover by Melissa Mondragon
Stories from the Stables – Part 4 – Summer Camp
Summer Camp at the Stables, from Carolyn Ward
Once a year, in August, Stourton Stables had a summer camp. Fifteen lucky kids were invited to spend a whole week with their pony, grooming, tacking up, and riding every day. There would be a jumping competition and picnic hacks, a visit to the three counties showground, and a swim at the leisure centre.
I was allocated Heidi, a grey mare with a snotty attitude. Literally. One of her tricks was to toss her head about whilst being ridden and flick massive globs of snot and foam backwards into the rider’s face.
Aside from the snot, she was zippy and responsive, pleasant enough to ride; but her main problem was she was evil to groom and tack up. She was a biter and a kicker. Hence I gave an audible groan when they announced we would have to wash our pony’s tail. Drat!