Bonsai Kids

One evening at the campus in China, I was waiting at the main gate to the campus for a student to have dinner with me. It was a eureka moment for me because it was the first time I took notice of the two huge bonsai trees in elegant pots, one on either side of the gate. Suddenly, I saw something more than those two elegant potted trees. They reminded me of the young men and women under my care in my daily classes; their thinking, behaviors, mindsets, personal interactions, class participation, community activities, likes and dislikes, and habits were expected and predictable because of years of trimming, pruning, twisting, and shaping by their parents to be who they are today. They are the bonsai kids! Here are some of their voices. “Meanwhile, I got a five-thousand-Australian-dollar scholarship from the university that I applied to. I then managed to persuade my parents to support me. I was lucky because my parents said yes to me because they did not want to let me down. Now I am studying for a master’s degree at the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia. In the words of Steve, “Do what you have to do to get where you want to be” (Jay Qi-long Han). “I studied very hard because I wanted to become a doctor. I wanted to help my mother because she is not a healthy person. I was able to enter Chongqing Three Gorges Medical College. I wanted a better future for myself and my family” (Michael Qiao Jia). “To me, the key to success is one’s ability and willingness to adapt to new possibilities in life and also to do what you have to do to get where you want to go, even if that meant giving up my PhD in transportation engineering and pursuing a new dream, leading me to Amazon in Seattle, Washington State” (Duan Xi). “Now looking back, I don’t know how I came along nor how I will go in the future. But I think it’s good to keep an active attitude. I went to teach in a college in Guangzhou after finishing my postgraduate program. And three years later, I successfully applied for the PhD program of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This is where I am” (Minwei Ai).

Modern parenting is in crisis. Parents put more time and effort into raising their children than ever before, but children's self-esteem, resilience and wellbeing don't appear to be improving. In her work as a clinical psychologist and researcher, Judith Locke, PhD sees a disturbing link between high-effort parenting and poor outcomes for children. She believes parents make their children's lives too easy by doing too much for them and giving too much to them. This type of parenting produces 'the bonsai child', an apparently perfect child raised in a protected environment and nurtured on attention to their every need. Dependent on constant care, the bonsai child can remain confined by their ideal conditions, incapable of coping in the real world. In The Bonsai Child, Judith explains why the current generation of parents and children are in this mess, why parents are encouraged to parent this way, and what often happens to their children. Most importantly, she offers practical and realistic strategies that have worked for hundreds of parents she has helped. These strategies will work for you, too. The Bonsai Child will change the way you think about parenting. This book will show you the best way to be a good parent for your child. It will teach you how to encourage your child's confidence and resilience. It is an essential resource for parents and anyone working with families or children today.

Join the contemporary artists around the world who are refining and developing the ancient art of bonsai. Find out about state-of-the-art tools invented by Ken Moore. See how Rob Clausen uses latex and fiberglass to create dramatic groupings of trees on a rock base. Explore the breakthrough methods of Singapore’s bonsai masters, with inspiring examples of the results. Covering both basic and advanced techniques and illustrated with step-by-step photographs taken over months, Bonsai Master Class is designed to guide the reader on an artistic journey. It provides expert tips throughout on buying bonsai, seasonal care, horticultural requirements for different climates, and distinctive ways to display the results.

In her work as a clinical psychologist, researcher and former teacher, Dr Judith Locke has seen a disturbing link between high levels of parental effort and poor outcomes for children.Nowhere is this trend more obvious than in schools, where parents and teachers put high levels of care and effort into making students successful, yet many students seem less prepared today for their lives beyond the school gate.In the same easy-to-read style that made her first book, The Bonsai Child, a bestseller, Dr Locke now turns her attention to schooling. She looks at the current environment in parenting and education, and shows the different ways bonsai parenting affects students, parents, teachers and schools. Most importantly, she offers practical and realistic strategies which have helped the thousands of parents she works with clinically and in her sessions for parents and teachers at schools across Australia and New Zealand.The Bonsai Student will show you the best way to be a good parent for your child in their school years.It will teach you how to encourage your child's confidence and capability in their schoolwork so they become motivated and responsible at school, and ready for the years that follow. It is an invaluable resource for parents, teachers and anyone working with parents or children in an educational environment.

Tired of hearing your child ask, “Mum! Dad! What are we doing today?” Have you run out of ideas for entertaining your kids at the weekend? Are you sick and tired of visiting the same old places? If your answer to these questions is “YES!” then Fun for Kids in Singapore is for you! This third edition of Fun for Kids in Singapore addresses the ever-increasing demand for information about children’s activities and interests in Singapore. You will be surprised to find out how much there is to do. This book will dispel, once and for all, the myth that Singapore is boring!

**Winner of the 2015 Gelett Burgess Award for Best Intercultural Book** **Winner of the 2015 Silver Evergreen Medal for World Peace** This true children's story is told by a little bonsai tree, called Miyajima, that lived with the same family in the Japanese city of Hiroshima for more than 300 years before being donated to the National Arboretum in Washington DC in 1976 as a gesture of friendship between America and Japan to celebrate the American Bicentennial. From the Book: "In 1625, when Japan was a land of samurai and castles, I was a tiny pine seedling. A man called Itaro Yamaki picked me from the forest where I grew and took me home with him. For more than three hundred years, generations of the Yamaki family trimmed and pruned me into a beautiful bonsai tree. In 1945, our household survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In 1976, I was donated to the National Arboretum in Washington D.C., where I still live today—the oldest and perhaps the wisest tree in the bonsai museum."

The way children cope with the small things in life builds a foundation for dealing with the bigger problems later on. In ‘Everyday Resilience’, you can learn how to help kids deal with increasing challenges of friendship issues, academic pressure and self-doubt. With rising mental health issues amongst children and young people, it has never been more important to nurture resilience. By focusing on key traits, Michelle uncovers the answers to the age-old questions, such as how can I help my child be more confident? What do I say when my child is rejected by friends? And how do I help a child who is struggling academically? As a teacher, and founder of Youth Excel, she has witnessed first-hand what works. And it's now time for you to learn too. Packed with every day scenarios and practical steps, ‘Everyday Resilience’ provides every parent with tools to nurture strength in young lives. Michelle Mitchell is an educator, author and award-winning speaker with a passion for supporting families. Having left teaching in 2000, Mitchell founded Youth Excel, a charity supporting young people with life skills education, mentoring and psychological services. Bringing hands-on experience in the health and wellbeing sector, she is the author of the bestselling self-help books ‘Self Harm: Why Teens Do It And What Parents Can Do To Help’ and ‘Everyday Resilience: Helping Kids Handle Friendship Drama, Academic Pressure and the Self-Doubt of Growing Up’. She lives in Brisbane, Australia with her husband and two teenagers.

Walk your way through the process of creating a Bonsai tree, Through simple to follow instructions and drawings.