Articles | PIFE - Pacific Institute of Family Education

Thank You for Joining Us @ Let’s Talk

Sue Dvorak understood the busyness of today’s parents and craziness of today’s culture. Like a peer mentor, she generously shared her insights…

Thank You for Joining Us @ Life Lessons from Sports

“Victory accomplished without integrity, and respect is really no victory at all!” quipped Pat Macken, our guest speaker at the Bright and Cheerful…

Thank You for Joining Us @ Nurturing Young Children in the Digital Age

An educational session on “Nurturing Young Children (0-5) in the Digital Age” was presented by Scholastica Au, PHN, and Dawn Cooper, a passionate educator…

5 Homework Strategies in the Digital Age

One of the hardest things in parenting is helping kids stay focused while doing homework because of all the internal distractions, like dread of working on certain tasks…

Thank You for Joining Us @ Chinese Subtitled Version of Screenagers

A Chinese Subtitled Version of Screenagers 屏幕少年 was shown on January 14, 2018. Parents and teenagers had good reflections and discussions on the hot family topic…

Thank You for Joining Us @ Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age

Over 400 parents and teenagers attended the informative evening. Many attendees appreciated the parent panel discussion led by our moderator Vanessa Park and PIFE …

Confessions of a Millennial mum with a smartphone habit

We might not even be aware we are holding it, waiting for a call, a text, an email. Or perhaps we’ve fallen even deeper into the trap: we’re poised to make our minute-by-minute check…

Regret nothing, especially not motherhood

Apparently, when you are a mother, and finding the role incredibly challenging, you have two options. You can either regret motherhood, as an article published in the Sydney Morning…

Father Engagement from Three Months Strengthens Infants’ Cognitive Development

Our study on the fathers’ roles in early child development, conducted in the UK, has found that baby boys and girls showed cognitive gains at 24 months when dad engaged…

What’s destroying the kids – smartphones or distracted parents?

We all know that kids use their phones too much. They are too much on Snapchat or texting their friends. They would take their phones to bed if no-one stopped them…

Should smart teens have smartphones?

Smart phones are here to stay. Actually, that is not entirely true, for they will gradually be replaced by more sophisticated tools. But it is true that smart phones are commonly used these days…

Whom should you love more: your spouse or your kids?

A while ago, my husband brought up an interesting question: should you love your spouse more than your kids, or vice versa? After a bit of discussion, we agreed…

5 keys for a happy marriage

Sometimes, in places which are known for the inane, you discover a gem. Memes on Facebook are a great example. Neither I nor my husband are prolific “Facebookers”, but we both know what memes are…

Once in a while, one of my kids fall into a funk, a period of negativity and difficult behavior which makes parenting a real challenge. When this happens, not only do I feel sorrow for my child, but I also feel…

“Just” a stay-at-home mum

There are so many times when the word ‘just’ is appropriately used, but describing motherhood is not one of them. Before being at home with my baby, I knew in theory that the work of the home is demanding.

Unhappily married right now? Stick with it; you can find a way through

Today we have been married over thirty years and have six children. Both of us would readily admit that it has subsequently …

Can we stop teens talking to no—one but each other?

The other day a simple and all too regular event crystallised my understanding of how limiting it is now to be a child.

I’m a parent, therefore I am: thoughts on the value of caregiving

I’ve had a rather major life change recently. My youngest child has started school. Thus, for the first time in 16-and-a-half years…

A tribute to A.A. Milne

Of the many books that were read and re-read to me in early childhood before I could read, my favourites were A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. Especially appealing were the difficulties facing Pooh that he didn’t know how to resolve, like getting down from a tree…

To strengthen schools, start with the family

Successful Schools New research shows family structure is strongly linked to educational success. If your country is anything like mine, you will hear teacher organizations constantly complaining about the government’s miserliness towards schools and smallness of teachers’ pay packets.