The Parent Squad

Schools have started back up and we all, obviously, want our children to do well.
Parents will be doing drop off and pick up, making sure the homework is done and forms are signed, keeping an eye on grades and reports.
But how involved should parents really be in their children's education?
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One of the hottest topics of the modern era is kids and smartphones. As we've seen more of the what the internet can do (for better or worse) they seem like an essential part of life. Wallet, Keys, Phone, that's what you always keep on you.
A first phone is typically only for texting mum and dad, so why do you need a device that has the capability for so much more?
Child Psychologist Sara Chatwin joins Tim Beveridge to give her advice on when to let kids get their own devices and how to manage them.
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NCEA results are officially out.
Most kids would have genuinely worked as hard as they could to get the grades they hoped for - even the kids who act like they don't really care.
And for many it won't have turned out as hey had planned - whether that meant not quite meeting the dizzying heights of their ambition or an actual fail grade. But it's unavoidable - at some stage through their school career - and life for that matter, most of us have to deal with the disappointment of failure.
They need to learn how to deal with that disappointment - but it will of course still be there, so how are parents supposed to help their children through it?
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We've all seen the videos - we may have even seen it in our own living rooms on Christmas morning...
A child, even teenager, opens a gift their loved one has especially picked out for them, and they proceed to complain about how it's not the one they wanted.
The wrong colour bicycle, wrong model phone, it could be anything.
So how do we teach our children to be grateful for anything they're given this Christmas?
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What are the essential life skills our kids truly need to know before they head out into the real world?
How often to wash their sheets, how to cook a basic meal, managing bills and payments, doing laundry without turning their white shirts pink - these are things that most of us learnt well before we moved out, but they don't seem to be as common today.
Only 21% of parents of children aged 5-17 years say their kids are often involved with cooking. That's 79% of kids that will likely leave home not knowing how to cook much more than a toasted cheese.
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