How to apply our SKIP trick to find and share useful information with your kids

During these unusual school holidays, I’ve been reflecting on how there is so much nonsense out there about how to parent well. So much doom and gloom. So much evidence-free noise. So much information. So much stress!

When I’m reading books, feature articles, news, and blogs to improve my parenting, I use a simple framework to help me sift information and to make it useful for our family.

I call it my SKIP filter:

• Skills to teach your kids.
• Knowledge about the world to share with your kids.
• Inclusion tips to raise good people and citizens.
• Parent time – self-care and interesting things to discuss with my wife, e.g. on date nights.

I thought I’d share an example of how I used the SKIP method this week to find and share the good stuff with my family:

Skills I want my kids to learn

How to:

• do nothing with nobody all alone by yourself. Coping with boredom is an essential skill for life success. Maria Popova of BrainPickings reviews a classic ‘how to guide’ by Robert Paul Smith: ‘How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself‘.  

• remember any 10 things in order – revision. The Ancient Greeks and Romans knew that memory is linked to language and creativity. But, in the age of Google, have we forgotten how to use our memories effectively? In this video, we show you how to remember any ten items in order. 

Knowledge I want my kids to know

We think all kids should know about:

• the signs of a stroke. Everyone, including children, should know how to spot the symptoms of a stroke. Quick action can mean the difference between full recovery and permanent disability. In this one minute video, the Mayo Clinic shows you how to think FAST and get help: Mayo Clinic Minute: What you need to know about stroke.

• the Rosetta Stone: How did we learn how to read Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics? Listen to Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker discuss Decoding the Rosetta Stone while looking at it, via the Khan Academy.  

Inclusion tips

Could COVID-19 – bizarrely – usher in an era of more inclusive workplaces (and by logic, learning places)?  Matthew Keegan makes the case: ‘Why coronavirus may make the world more accessible‘. 

Parents’ time

I’ve done this thing for years, but never had a name for it. Daphne K. Lee explains the wonderfully-named, yet painfully applicable concept of ‘Revenge bedtime procrastination‘. 

From time-to-time – no more than once a month – we plan to share some of our SKIP findings with interested readers and followers who have (or work with) school-aged kids.

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