Beyond Books

Safety is a matter of choice and should not have to be enforced by law. There's no legal compulsion to increase the height of a balcony railing, but we choose to do it anyway, to keep our children safe.  But for some reason, we tend to treat safety on the road differently.

Both working and stay-at-home parents need to make the effort to spend some quality time with kids and help them grow into happy, confident and responsible adults. Here's how...

The self-portrait of a former jihadist is gripping but does not add to ongoing debates on Islam or democracy. Keshava D Guha writes.

Festivals are meant for celebrations. Rakshabandhan, Janmashtmi, Dusshera, Diwali, Id and Gurupurab - the fun is just beginning and we have a long way to go. However, it can result in stress, even in children.

Scholars of education say that poetry is an excellent and necessary means of self-expression. Poetry necessitates scratching below the surface, plumbing emotions students are often afraid to share with their peers.

Children have a natural love for music. They love a good tune with an energetic beat. The visible impact of music on children is amazing. As a powerful stimulant, music can alter your child's mood instantly and create new bonds and memories.

As mothers there are things we can do, some simple steps to make that change. If we call ourselves a generation of empowered women and informed mothers, surely the least we can do is to ensure our sons are not the ones responsible for a woman's discomfort at any level in the future.

Dinosaurs, fanged robots, icky slime, movies about vampires and zombies, morbid blood-oozing stories or the gross toilet humour - why can't children fancy the more simple, pleasant stuff around us?

It is not all play at a Playschool. Progressive education, Montessori system, multiple intelligence, Playway method, holistic learning - the terminology is bound to boggle the mind, especially when you consider that all this jargon is used in the context of preschool education.

The countdown is on and there's less than a fortnight to go before the London 2012 Olympics. It is important then to encourage kids to get excited about the Olympics.