Best of the Web: Why kids behave worse for you than their teacher, and more

(Meg Watson, ABC Everyday)

It’s an all too familiar story for parents trying to navigate remote learning. ‘Children across the country are sulking and screaming and muddling their way through another day of lockdown learning,’ writes the author.

The message for parents? You’re not the only parent who is struggling right now. And you are not the teacher.

Christine Grové, an educational developmental psychologist, says parents shouldn’t beat themselves up. There are a range of reasons why kids behave differently at home compared to school, especially at the moment with lockdowns and restrictions.

Dr Grove provides five ideas to help you and your children get through this difficult time.

You might also find useful our article from Andrew Fuller, A parent guide to learning at home

(Miranda Saunders and Lea White, ABC)

Calling Keith Urban. The children of a small primary – and the nation – are hoping to see you soon.

The kids at Urbenville Public School – all 16 of them – have asked the international singing star to join them for an end-of-year concert.

It’s no ordinary request. The children from the school on the north coast of NSW have won the hearts of the nation through their performances of songs they post on Facebook, as a way of helping us get through lockdown.

At the start of the pandemic, they would stand outside the local aged care facility and sing to the residents. When restrictions meant that was no longer possible, they took to social media. Thanks to the ABC, Australia now knows of their inspiring efforts.

Year 4 student Gabby McGrath says the choir’s message to people is ‘that they are not alone and they can always call someone if they are feeling down. They can feel down, but someone will always be there for them.’

(Stephanie Convery, The Guardian)

The much-loved children’s television show Round the Twist was a big part of  growing up in the 1990s.

The show, also created with a parent audience in mind, followed the supernatural adventures of the Twist family – single father, Tony, and his three children, who leave the big smoke of the city to live in a lighthouse. It was based on books written by Paul Jennings.

There’s exciting news for fans of the show – a stage adaptation is in the works.

This report quotes Jennings as saying the writer-composer behind the stage adaptation, Paul Hodge, had taken ‘the original stories and scripts and combined them with some wonderful new ideas.’

‘I loved the show as a kid,’ says Hodge. ‘I think the great thing about it is that you can identify with different Twist kids or Tony, their Dad, and it was made in that way so that everyone could see themselves in it.’