A new year brings with it an exciting new home for my family. This excitement, however, comes with its share of concerns, particularly from my ayi, who exclaimed that moving into a new house in China is dangerous due to all the toxic materials used during construction. Now, living in ... Read More
February 14 is coming, which means its time break out the pink and red, and get to making some fun Valentine's-themed crafts with your children. Here are our top three picks, courtesy of Parenting Magazine and Kaboose.
Heart Crayons
Pick up some heart-shaped silicone baking molds from Pantry Magic ... Read More
Protecting and maintaining our children’s health & well-being is the number one priority on every parent’s list. Dr Lyn Wren from Beijing International SOS Clinic has given us the basics of vaccination: what's essential and what's sensible for those living and traveling in Asia.
Immunization Questions
Childhood ... Read More
Over the years, school lunches have gotten a bad rap. In many cases, it’s well deserved. After all, sloppy Joes, French fries and spaghetti hardly qualify as healthy dining, particularly when they are served five days a week. However, despite numerous complaints lodged by students, parents and even teachers ... Read More
We sent the Thompson family and their son (age 5) to Beijing's Magic Bean House to see just how popular it is among the small set. Here is the report.
My son (aged 5) and I recently stopped by The Magic Bean House Museum near Chaoyang Park for the ... Read More
One of the things that I feel most guilty about is…well, me. More specifically, all of the wonderful things that my parents had to give up in order to have and raise me: extravagant trips around the world, an ocean-front villa in Thailand, fancy date nights, etc.
For those ... Read More
The world, it seems, is turning against children. Supermarkets, theaters, restaurants and resorts all over the globe are adopting child-free policies prohibiting kids from entering their premises at certain—and, in some cases, all—hours of day. There has even been a call for child-free flights and designated family sections ... Read More
Health can be a tricky subject to teach. Regardless of the topic, any health discussion is likely to elicit the inevitable snicker or giggle. Even so, that doesn’t stop Beijing’s international school teachers from tackling important subjects like drug and sex education head on.
“The way I see ... Read More
A few months ago, Canadian native Rod Sabourin welcomed his very first child into the world. It was a proud moment, no doubt, but one that also sparked a cleaning rampage that would last for weeks. Concerned about microbes compromising the health of his infant daughter, Sabourin took to dousing ... Read More
Today’s tech-savvy kids spend most of their time tapping away on keyboards, either e-mailing, chatting or doing homework. When they're not doing that, they're texting—incessantly. You can forget handwritten letters. Today, notes passed during class are the only real mode of written correspondence. Seems like old-fashioned ... Read More
When I was a child, part of the fun of Christmas Day was wearing all the new clothes that Santa Claus had brought us. While most families reserve the requisite Christmas sweater for amusement purposes—usually at the expense of dads everywhere—holiday wear was a tradition in my family ... Read More
We asked students at Beijing's international schools to draw us a scene out of their very own secret garden and pen us a piece about all the awesome stuff inside. Then we selected the top 50 entries and put them online. The results are fabulous! As always, we are ... Read More
I never really knew my grandparents. To me they were simply these wonderful people who stopped by the house from time to time to take me on long walks and teach me important life lessons. One of my grandfather’s gifts to me was a collection of short stories by ... Read More
As a parent living in China, I have been exposed to many cultural differences and the occasional piece of bizarre advice. Our family first began to expand with the purchase of our adorable beagle, Kipper. When I fell pregnant with our first child soon afterwards, I was astounded by the ... Read More
Another kidnapping attempt in Shunyi. We reported about an incident outside Yosemite Villa Estate, this time the attempt happened by the the East Gate of Dulwich College Legend Garden Campus.
A boy in the ninth year at DCB was approached by an adult stranger who claimed he'd been sent ... Read More
We kind of already know that toys made in China aren't totally safe. (America seems to have a recurring problem with lead-tainted batches of toys from China). And those are the ones sold in America. What about buying toys here in China?
Greenpeace and IPEN reckon they have done ... Read More
According to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA), an estimated one million children under the age of 15 experience accidents around the home—and that’s in the UK alone. Sadly, most of these are preventable.
Every parent knows that baby proofing the home is tricky business ... Read More
On collecting my son from school with my 3-day-old daughter in hand, I was warmly greeted with a chorus of “what a beautiful baby!” Sadly—and inexplicably—the congratulations were followed by comments about how large I still was! This prompted me to think about how I was going to ... Read More
Cooking is a valuable life skill which few people ever pick up before they absolutely have to. But at The British School of Beijing (BSB), kids as young as 8 years old are becoming mini master chefs.
[Check out great recipes that your kids can make at home from Real ... Read More
Nearly 60 years after her death, the revolutionary teaching philosophy of Maria Montessori is alive and well, particularly in Beijing where schools like Etonkids, The International Montessori School of Beijing (MSB) and the Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB) are devoted to her educational approach. But while Montessori education may ... Read More
The Lazy Guide to Finding Love
By DRAGONCAKE79
Fabulous article Nikkia! Made me chuckle. The filter option online is definit... >>