Quirky Kid Clinic

Free Shipping

Leonardo Rocker — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:02:44 +0000

To celebrate the arrival of all our resources – for 10 days – we are offering free shipping on all Purchases of Quirky Kid Resources. If you have waited to buy our resources, now is the perfect time. Over 600 copies have been sold across Australia and overseas.

Head to: http://childpsychologist.com.au/shop and buy your copy today.

You can also come to our free event this friday

Or, call us on 02 9362 9297.

Sex Education @ Today Show

Leonardo Rocker — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:05:01 +0000

Kimberley O’Brien, our principal child psychologist, discussed the sex education with Today Show presenters on Channel 9 . You can find useful, practical and informative advice about parenting by visiting our resources page, – or discussing it on our forum.

Watch the segment below or visit Channel 9 website as well as Mother and Baby website

New Workshop Calendar

Leonardo Rocker — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:54:26 +0000

Our 2010/2011 Workshop Calendar is printed and ready for posting!

After reviewing our most popular school-based and clinic programs, “The Best of Friends” and “Why Worry?”, we added more motivational programs for high-achievers, such as “Power Up” and a new series for Mums and Bubs, exploring “The Inside Story” of infant development and healthy attachment.

Our online registration has also been stream lined, taking into consideration your feedback. Bookings are now easier and even faster!

See our new Workshop Calendar online or join our Mailing List for your hardcopy in the next 10 days - go to our Contact Page and send us a message with your postal address.

Melbourne workshops are booking fast!

The Quirky Kid 2010/2011 Workshop Calendar is printed on 100% recycled paper.

>>Download a copy now

Christmas Opening Hours

Raising Happy Kids @ ABC Radio

Leonardo Rocker — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:11:22 +0000

Kimberley O’Brien, our principal child psychologist, discussed the best ways to raise confident happy kids with ABC Nightlife Radio Presenter, Tony Delroy. You can find useful, practical and informative advice about parenting by visiting our resources page or discussing it on our forum.

Raising Happy Kids

Visit the ABC Nightlife page.

If you have a story and would like to discuss it with us, please contact us to schedule a time. Kimberley O’Brien enjoys sharing the best of her therapeutic moments with the media. View our media appearances to-date.

Tween role models @ Channel 10

Leonardo Rocker — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:16:12 +0000

Kimberley O’Brien, our principal child psychologist, discussed the influence of role models on tween girls with Channel 10 Presenter Angela Bishop. You can find useful, practical and informative advice about parenting by visiting our resources page, including a factsheet on Tweens – or discussing it on our forum.

Watch the segment below or visit Channel 10 website:

Cartoon Network & Quirky Kid

Leonardo Rocker — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:55:16 +0000

The Quirky Kid Clinic, Cartoon Network and Torah Bright (Winter Olympic Gold Medalist) have collaborated on a project in the search for 10 Australian girls (aged 5-12 years) identified as positive roles models for tween girls, known as “The search for Gwen’s 10″.

Kimberley O’Brien, our Principal Child Psychologist and the Quirky Kid team played an important role in developing the survey questions and providing consultation in regard to the following tween qualities. Gwen’s 10 Tweens are:

Confident and Hardworking
Honest and Loyal
Friendly and Compassionate
Quick-witted and Individual
Adventurous, Levelheaded and Smart

If you feel you meet any or most of the characteristics above and want to be recognized as an example for other Australian tween girls, head to http://www.gwen10.com/ and complete the survey.

Together with a panel of experts including Editor of Total Girl Magazine, Amanda Nicholls, Kimberley O’Brien, Torah Bright and the ever-confident Gwen Tennysen (Ben 10) will inspire girls to stand up for themselves through Cartoon Network’s “Search for Gwen’s 10”.

The Quirky Kid Clinic works with organizations – small and large – providing support for the development of projects, programs and products. Find out more in our About us section on this website or meet some of our clients.

If you are from the media and would like to find out more about the campaign including some research findings, see: Gwens 10 Media release.

The Importance of Social Skills

Leonardo Rocker — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:41:26 +0000

Social skills is a common concern among parents. Often children can have difficulties in making and keeping friends. They may be left out of games at lunch, not get invited to other children’s houses or may even be teased by some children.

An important aspect of maintaining friendships is social skills.

Social skills are specific behaviours such as smiling, making eye contact, asking and responding to questions, and giving and acknowledging compliments during a social exchange. These behaviours result in positive social interactions and have been linked to positive developmental outcomes, including peer acceptance.

How can I tell if my child is having difficulties with social skills?

Little use of eye contact,
Uninterested in social interactions,
Difficulties initiating social interactions,
Difficulties interpreting verbal and non-verbal social cues,
Inappropriate emotional response,
Lack of empathy towards others.

It can be upsetting for parents to realise that their children are having difficulties making friends. Research has shown however, that social skills can be effectively taught to children.

How to encourage your child to develop social skills

Help your child make friends by organising play dates, having sleepover and joining clubs.
Offer suggestions on ways to handle situations at school and with friends.
Children learn a lot by observing how adults interact so it is important to always model appropriate behaviour, such as greeting shop assistants and using Peoples names when possible.
Help your child to understand different points of view by describing feelings and having conversations about how other people might feel. This can help your child to develop empathy and will help them deal with conflict when it occurs.
Help develop conversation skills such as asking questions and listening to others
Discuss behaviours such as teasing and bullying with your child, to help them understand that some comments could upset others.

How can the Quirky Kid Clinic help your child?

The Quirky Kid Clinic is a unique place for children and adolescents aged 2-18 years. We work from the child’s perspective to help them find their own solutions. Additionally, we offer a variety of resources, workshops and individualized consultations to support children experiencing difficulties with social skills.

The Best of Friends Workshop^TM is an innovative social skills and communication program for children aged 3 to 13. This activity-based workshop encourages children to make the most of their friendships by developing good communication skills. Workshops are available throughout t the year both in school and clinic setting.
Face it Cards are a set of 35 hand-draw facial expression cards. The cards give greater meaning to discussions involving feelings and behaviors. They can help families resolve conflict and classmates explore social scenarios or ethical dilemmas and also allow children to ‘pointing out’ their emotions, helping then to increase understanding, problem-solving and empathy when dialogue is difficult.
Tell Me a Story Cards are a useful tool for parents and professionals working with young people. They invite children to recall and retell their own memorable moments of extremity, this facilitates communication, highlights strengths, and boosts self-esteem.

Please contact the Quirky Kid Clinic on 9362 9297 for further information. You can also discuss Social Skills with other parents at the Quirky Kid Hudle – our parenting forums.

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Information for this fact sheet was taken from an interview with Child Psychologist Kimberley O’Brien, the Raising Children Network website, and the following articles and was compiled by Corina Vogler, Interm-Psychologist at the Quirky Kid Clinic

Reference: Tse, J., Strulovitch, J., Tagalakis, V., Meng, L., & Fombonne, E. (2007). Social skills training for adolescents with asperger syndrome and high functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1960-1968.

Rao, P., Beidel, D., & Murray, M. (2008). Social skills training for children with Aspergers’s syndrome or high-functioning autism: a review and recommendations. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 353-361.

Practical Parenting and QK Resources

Leonardo Rocker — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:05:22 +0000

If you like reading the parenting magazine ‘Practical Parenting’ stop at the toddler & preschooler section on Info&ideas on page 80 to ready the great review about the Quirky Kid Resources on the July 2010 edition.

We are really proud to appear at this great publications. Practical Parenting is full of other useful information for parents and others interested on subjects about children, pregnancy and parenting.

The ‘Info & Ideas’ section also features other fun activities ideas and expert tips for parents. It lhas been compiled by Anna Scobie.

You can buy the Quirky Kid Resources at our online shop.

The July edition of Practical Parenting is out now.

Vocabulary in Primary School

Leonardo Rocker — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:33:20 +0000

Vocabulary knowledge has a wide-ranging influence on a child’s reading comprehension ability. Therefore it is important to ensure that students are being taught vocabulary in an effective and long-lasting manner. Below is a program designed by Dr Lorraine Hammond from Edith Cowan University on effective vocabulary instruction however, there are other ways of teaching vocabulary as well.

Dr Hamond separates words in Tiers. Examples of Tier 1, 2 and 3 words are below:

Tier 1 (everyday words) – lamp, spider, shirt, flower, mouse

Tier 2 (language of academics, business, government) – illusion, improvise, meticulous, glimpse, edible

Tier 3 (domain-specific terminology) – hydraulic, asymmetrical, monograph, periodical

1. Decide which Tier 2 words are relevant and teachable to your students.

When choosing tier 2 words to teach your students, it is important to consider the importance and utility of the word, as well as its instructional potential: you mus be able to explain the words using concrete, simple terms. It is also important to consider whether the students already have the vocabulary to explain this word.

2. Write some child-friendly definitions that are meaningful to your students

Use language that your students are familar with and try to capture the definition of the word in its broadest application. For example:

Furious: Someone who is furious is extremely angry

Premonition: If you have a premonition, you have a feeling that something is going to happen, often something unpleasant.

3. Provide an additional context for a word

For example, Furious doesn’t always mean extremely angry. Furious can also be used to describe something that is done with great energy, effort, speed or violence.

4. Provide opportunities for students to actively process word meanings

The key to effective activities is that they require students to attend to the meaning of a word in order to apply it to a given situation. Some examples of opportunities for students to engage in words include:

Word associations
Have you ever? questions
Idea completions
Questions, reasons, examples, making choices

5. Provide for a high frequency of encounters over time

Frequent encounters with words make new knowledge ’stick’. It is recommended that teachers provide their students with 10 new words per week, with daily activities, as well as ongoing revision of words that have already been introduced.

6. Review student learning

The most effective way to review student learning is by asking, specifically about the new vocabulary. Learners need six (meaningful) exposures to a new word during the initial lesson and at least 30 additional exposure during the ensuing month.

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Information for this page was taken from Dr Lorraine Hammond’s lecture, “Teaching Vocabulary: One component of reading comprehension” presented at the SPELD Conference 2009 on 7th October, 2009 . The Quirky Kid team attended to this event.

Raising Happy Kids

Leonardo Rocker — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:03:15 +0000

Podcast with Child Psychologist Kimberley O’Brien. interview by ABC Nightlife Radio Presenter, Tony Delroy.

Raising Happy Kids @ ABC Radio

Kids Writing

Happy Families @ New Idea TV