Shawn Quek, school engagement manager for Centre for Fathering, shares his primary two son’s first home-based learning experience while working from home and useful lessons he learned. April 1st! It was an April Fool’s day like no other, because the first Home Based Learning (HBL) day was rolled out for all primary schools in Singapore. During the days before that, … Read More
Family Enrichment Programmes Can Increase Productivity
With more women entering or re-entering the workforce it is changing Singapore’s family landscape with more dual-earner married couples. According to Singapore’s General Household Survey report, the proportion of dual-earner married couples increased from 47.15 in 2010 to 53.8% in 2015. These couples have an added dynamic to contend with: work-life conflict. In a study on employed married parents by … Read More
Ask Questions That Help Your Children Feel
Emotional intelligence (or EQ) is recognised as one of the keys to success – more important than IQ, many say. As a result, books and workshops on this subject have been selling like hot cakes. But, developing emotional intelligence is not rocket science, really. We were all born with it. The problem is that it got snuffed out along the … Read More
Fathering Leadership: Leadership We Want
Are leaders made or born? There may be a small percentage of leaders who may be born with individual traits which lend itself to leadership, but leadership itself can be learned, especially by committed individuals who display an interest in doing so.[1] An analysis of thousands of 360-degree reviews [2], women outscored men on 17 of the 19 capabilities that … Read More
5 Ways Healing Your Emotional Neglect Makes You A Better Parent
Few things can make a difference in your parenting as much as healing your emotional neglect. It’s true! To explain why we must first take a look at your own parents. Emotional neglect (CEN) happens when your parents, even if they loved and cared about you, failed to validate your emotions enough while they were raising you. This seemingly small … Read More
Ask Questions To Help Your Child Think
Being able to talk to your kids is important at any age, and is best established when children are young, open, and impressionable. As your child goes through changes in life, like going from Primary to Secondary school, it is likely that they will have less time to spend with the family. This makes the pockets of shared time all … Read More
What New Fathers Face In The First Six Months Postpartum
What do Singaporean fathers do during the first six months of their child’s arrival? “Pay the bills, lah, mostly. (Laugh) That’s the largest part I have to play,” says one participant of a study by Dr Shorey Shefaly and her team of researchers from the National University of Singapore. Another shared that bathing the infant is almost exclusively done by … Read More
A Memorable Weekend at Pulau Ubin
Pulau Ubin is Singapore’s remaining hinterland, her last real kampong (‘village’ in Malay) and Singaporeans should rush to see it before it is pushed into oblivion by progress and development. That’s what a total of 24 fathers did with their children over two weekends in July. They had signed up for Centre For Fathering’s newest programme called Campout With Dad … Read More
Go Green
I have flown a kite only once in my entire life. Perhaps that was the only time my dad told me to “Go fly kite” (kidding). But from a young age, I’ve been attracted to scenic landscapes and nature. At first I thought that it was just a personal preference, but later learned that humans are biophilic: possessing an innate … Read More
Turn Towards Your Child’s Bids
”It’s so hard to get my 14-year old daughter to open up to me,” a father laments. “The only two times she speaks with me is to ask for her monthly allowance and to complain about how her elder siblings have been bullying her.” Sounds familiar? Obviously, this father isn’t aware that his daughter has been trying to connect with … Read More
