Daily Telegraph Article - Screening Kid's time
/Research reveals technology limits for children have suffered as parents struggle to manage at home.
Dr Rosina interviewed for Daily Telegraph article
Daily Telegraph Article - Raise appreciative kids.
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Raise appreciative kids and decrease the clutter in your home by donating – Win Win
Too many birthday gifts?
Do you feel like your children get too many birthday and Christmas presents? And are you worried about your kids becoming ungrateful? Here are some great ideas to help you raise appreciative children, help those less fortunate and decrease the clutter in your home! Win Win Win!
Did you know that charitable acts have physical and emotional benefits?
Read More4BC Radio Interview - Importance of Role Models
/Dr Rosina interviewed on Nights with Walter Williams Fairfax Radio Network - talking about the importance of role models in children's lives.
Dr Rosina quoted in article on The Anti-Princess Club - The Daily Telegraph
/The Anti-Princess Club: Writer mum creates girls’ book series minus the princesses
JANE HANSEN LISA MAYOH, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, FEBRUARY 22, 2015
“It’s all about a balanced approach to raising children and empowering them with the life skills they need to lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives
”
WHEN Samantha Turnbull went looking for inspiring books for her little girl Liberty she found nothing but princesses and fairies.
Shocked at what she described as the “princessification” of everything and anything aimed at young girls right down to the newborn level, she decided to do something about it.
The result is The Anti-Princess Club, a new book that has old-school princess stereotypes firmly in its sights.
“I went to the department store to buy some books for my daughter when she was only a few months old and there was not a single book that didn’t have a princess or a fairy,” she said.
“I wanted to show her that there was more than one way to being a girl.”
Dr Rosina - Media Release
/Media Release 10th November 2010
Extreme Parenting: from ‘helicopter parents’ to ‘free range kids’.
Have we lost the common-sense middle ground?
Dr Rosina McAlpine, an internationally recognised, award-winning researcher, educator and mother talks about challenges of modern day parenting.
Conflicting parenting advice
Most parents accept that parenting is hard and that they need help. However, parenting advice is very confusing. Some experts advocate staying close to your children while others recommend giving them space. Over the years numerous conflicting approaches to parenting have come and gone and it’s no different today. So how are parents supposed to know what’s best?
“The current trends on parenting are situated at the extremes. Helicopter parents are criticised for ‘hovering’ over their children and being over protective. At the other end of the extreme are the advocates for raising independent ‘free-range kids’. It seems we’ve lost the common-sense approach to parenting and we need to ask ourselves what is parenting really about?, go back to basics and find the middle ground.” Dr Rosina
Inspired by her own experience of motherhood and concerned with the current trends in parenting, Dr Rosina developed the Win Win Parenting Program which empowers parents to help their children develop key life skills. It’s based on a common-sense approach to parenting with a focus on preparing children for life. As a working mother, Dr Rosina has first-hand personal experience about how busy today’s parents are, so the program develops life skills using activities that take only 15 minutes at a time. The program is emailed directly to parents providing weekly parenting advice and easy to follow life skills activities.
Parenting - no training or qualifications needed?
Most people accept that the majority of roles we play in society require qualifications and training. Accountants, doctors, pastry chefs and baristas are but a few examples. In particular, if you want to work with children whether at a day care centre, pre-school or school you need background checks and years of training. Parenting on the other hand is quite different. It involves taking care of children over many years with no background check and no need to learn anything about it.
“When I first became a parent I realised that I didn’t have all the knowledge I needed to help my child become a confident and well rounded person. As a researcher I put my skills to good use and interviewed experts and summarised the latest research on child development. Armed with this information I’ve become a more confident mother and have developed the Win Win Parenting Program to empower other parents and children.” Dr Rosina
Some people might say that you learn to parent from your experience of being parented and that may be true, but what if it wasn’t a wonderful experience? What then?
Parents can unintentionally get it very wrong
Most parents would agree that raising a child is one of life's hardest and most rewarding challenges. So it isn’t surprising parents can unintentionally get it very wrong resulting in depressed, obese, unhappy and psychologically unsound children.
“Even though parents know deep down that supporting a child’s physical, emotional, psychological and intellectual development is very complex, many parents don’t seem to actively learn about the important task of raising another human being until things go wrong and they need professional help for their child”. Dr Rosina
7 key areas for life skill and attribute development: back-to-basics parenting
Children require love and guidance to help them develop skills and the personal qualities which will provide them with a strong foundation for life success. Parents need practical advice to help them be active and supportive parents. Dr Rosina McAlpine, founder of the Win Win Parenting Program has identified the 7 key areas for life skill and attribute development.
The aim is to help parents get ‘back-to-basics’ in relation to parenting and empower their children with life skills. In just one year, the Win Win Parenting Program provides children with over 100 skills and personal qualities including:
• good self-esteem and resilience • a love for learning and exploring career paths
• how to budget and manage money • social and environmental awareness
• nurturing personal and professional relationships • maintaining health through nutrition and exercise
• effective communication skills • creativity and imagination
• identifying and achieving goals • relaxation and play for work/life balance.
Most importantly the program helps children be inspired to lead a happy, productive and meaningful life.
Dr Rosina McAlpine - Opinion Piece
/Current trends in parenting advice
The Festival of Dangerous Ideas held recently at the Sydney Opera House included many interesting local and international speakers discussing a range of controversial topics including: “what can we learn from suicide bombers”; “free-range kids” and “are children worth it?” Having a particular interest in parenting, I attended both parenting talks. I left quite concerned about the current thinking on parenting today.
“America’s worst mom”
I first attended a talk by Lenore Skenazy, dubbed “America’s worst mom” because she let her 9 year old son travel home on the subway on his own with $20, a subway map and change for a pay phone. Lenore shared her “free-range kids” parenting philosophy. While she was very entertaining, her talk centred on sharing exaggerated comical stories about children and parenting as well as ridiculing over-protective ‘helicopter parents’. She did provide some insights into why parents fear for the safety of their children; but unfortunately, I didn’t walk away with many practical parenting ideas.
Speaking with Lenore as she signed my copy of her latest book titled Free-Range Kids she didn’t seem at all like a “bad mom” and her book offers some practical suggestions for parents to help their children become more independent. Nevertheless, I was left with a cartoon image in my mind of children roaming free with chickens on a farm, and feeling quite sure that I need advice on raising a boy not a chicken!
“Are children worth it?”Anne Manne spoke eloquently on the controversial topic “are children worth it?” and asked the audience to consider where we are as a society to even entertain such questions. She discussed research studies which have found that individuals without children generally report they have happier lives than people with children. She went on to talk about inadequate and expensive childcare facilities and how much pressure there is on today’s mothers who need to work, take care of their children as well as their home.
No wonder they report they’re unhappy! In conclusion, Anne pointed out that today’s parents can’t win. Working parents are criticised for not spending enough time with their children and “helicopter parents” are criticised for spending time too much time with their children. I left the talks with two questions. Firstly, how did we end up parenting at the extremes? Secondly, what does it mean to be a parent?
“Parents are really busy, they know they need help with parenting but with the pressures of daily life there is so little time to go to courses and read books. So I’ve done all the hard work and developed the Win Win Parenting Program which empowers parents to help their children develop key life skills. ” Dr Rosina
30 minutes a week for one year, children can develop over 100 life skills.
In only 30 minutes a week, children can develop over 100 life skills in just one year. That’s achievable even for the busiest parent.
“Imagine how good you would feel as a parent if, when the time came for your children to venture out into the world, they were confident and well equipped with life skills to lead a happy, productive and meaningful life”.
Dr Rosina