Recent Articles
Cyber Safety
It’s a connected world. Australia is well known as a nation of early adopters when it comes to communication gadgets and tools, and recent research by Telstra with 1250 parents of school aged children confirms this trend. Read more . . .
Prescription medicine in schools
By the end of the first week of February, all of the nation’s children are safely back at school and parents knee-deep in the usual paper work that comes home in school back packs. Read more . . .
New Books for Kids
10 Scared Fish by Ros Moriarty, The Red Poppy, Find the Footy & Bumper Footy Colouring Book.
Smooth the 2012 school year start
The school year for 2011 is just about over, and one group of Australian children have had a taste of the next 13 years! Those children are the group aged five years who have been involved in transition to school days. Starting primary school is an important milestone in a child’s development according to the Australian Psychological Society (APS), with a positive experience producing long-term benefits for future learning and relationships.
While we parents might think that our child has made it through the first day of school successfully, transition is an ongoing process that starts before a child leaves their early childhood setting and continues well beyond the first day of term. To encourage the best possible start for both children and parents, the APS, with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, has developed KidsMatter. Read more . . .
21st International Children’s Painting Competition
These school holidays young artists are invited to demonstrate their vision for a greener future by putting paint to paper for this year’s competition.
The annual competition aims to highlight the importance of the environment to children all over the world and is run by the United Nations Environmental Program with support from Bayer. The painting competition has run since 1991 and received 3 million entries from children in over 100 countries in 2011. Read more . . .
Vitamin D
For years Australians have been advised to avoid the direct rays of the sun, hat up and slather ourselves and our children in sunscreen. Now medical experts warn that many adults and children are deficient in Vitamin D – the source of which is direct exposure to the sun!
Vitamin D is essential for strong bones and muscles, so the question is how do parents make sure that they achieve a balance in getting enough sun exposure to maintain Vitamin D levels, without risking over exposure to harmful UVA and UVB rays?
Most people need only a few hours a week of UV exposure, outside peak UV times, to maintain adequate vitamin D levels.
Summer months (August to May – or UV index above 3)
Fair to olive skin
A few minutes of sun exposure to the face, arms and hands (or equivalent area of skin) mid-morning or mid-afternoon most days of the week is sufficient to maintain levels, plus use sun protection at all other times of the day.
Darker skin (rarely or never burns)
Need 3–6 times the level of exposure compared to people with fair to olive skin. Vitamin D supplements may be required. It isn’t really necessary for people with this skin type to wear sunscreen but they should still protect their eyes with sunglasses.
Winter months (May to August – or UV index below 3)
Fair to olive skin need between two and three hours of sunlight (spread over a week) to the face, hands, arms or equivalent area of skin to help with winter vitamin D levels.
People with naturally very dark skin need three to six times the average amount.
Daily readings are available in the weather section of the newspaper or check the UV alert at the Bureau of Meteorology.
