Dear SFE Partners,

Welcome to the SFE e-newsletter. The SFE e-newsletter aims to provide updated information on SFE and other family life education programmes and happenings. We will also be sharing a short article with you in this e-newsletter.

The highlights of the May 09 issue of SFE e-newsletter include the SFE Logo Design Competition and National Family Celebrations '09.

We would like to hear from you on how we can make this e-newsletter and the SFE programme better. If you have any suggestion or feedback or wish to contribute to the e-newsletter, please contact us at mcys_sfe@mcys.gov.sg.

The SFE e-newsletter can also be viewed at www.sfe.org.sg. Do visit the SFE website on a regular basis for updates. We hope you will enjoy reading this SFE e-newsletter.

The School Family Education (SFE) Programme is another family life education effort by

Family Education Department, MCYS.

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NEWS

A Warm Welcome to New SFE Schools

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the 43 new schools and the 11 schools that have rejoined the SFE Family in FY 2009.  Currently, we have 201 schools on board of the SFE Programme.

To encourage new SFE schools as well as schools who have rejoined the SFE Family to start the programme earlier, they can clock in hours for programmes done in March and claim together with the April submission.

School Family Education (SFE) Logo Design Competition

Calling for Entries... Creative Logo Designers Wanted!

Looking for something creative and meaningful for your students and their families to do during the June holidays?  MCYS is inviting budding artists and designers to come up with original designs for the SFE logo.  The SFE logo should encapsulate the essence of SFE, which celebrates great parent-school partnership in fostering strong and stable families and developing confident and resilient children.

The logo design should be created on paper (no larger than an A4 size), using not more than 3 colours and accompanied by a tagline for SFE.  Each entry must be accompanied by a brief description of the logo design and tagline and explanation for colours and associated letterings used.

Prizes

The top 3 entries will stand to walk away with fabulous prizes!

·               First Prize: $300 worth of CapitaLand vouchers and a plaque of appreciation

·               Second Prize: $200 worth of CapitaLand vouchers and a plaque of appreciation

·               Third Prize: $100 worth of CapitaLand vouchers and a plaque of appreciation

Terms and Conditions

1.             The competition will commence in May and end on 30 June 09.

2.             This contest is open to all SFE parents, staff and students only.  Only 1 entry per respondent is allowed.

3.             All entries submitted must be original works of the person or team submitting the entries.

4.             All submitted entries will be retained by MCYS and therefore not be returned.

5.             MCYS shall have the right to exhibit and use any of the submitted entries for publicity purposes.

6.             The winning entries will become the property of MCYS, which reserves the right to use them in any manner deemed fit, without payment of any fee.

7.             MCYS has the right to modify any of the winning designs of the competition, and the winning design may not be the final SFE logo.

8.             Prizes are neither transferable nor exchangeable with cash.  MCYS reserves the right to substitute the prizes with one of equivalent value.

9.             Winners will be notified via email in July.

10.          Submission of entry signifies agreement and acceptance of the terms and conditions stated above.

Submission

The participating entries must be submitted to the SFE coordinators in the following format:

·               Your entry

·               Name of SFE School

·               Full Name

·               Mailing Address

·               Contact Numbers

·               Email address 

SFE coordinators will then collate and submit them directly to MCYS, Family Education Department (510 Thomson Road, #01-00 SLF Building, Singapore 298135) by noon, 30 June 2009.

Judging

Judging will be based on creativity, originality, relevance and feasibility of implementation to SFE. The judges’ decision will be final and no further correspondence will be entertained. MCYS reserves the right not to award any of the prizes should entries fail, in the opinion of the judges, to meet the desired standards.

National Family Celebrations 2009

The National Family Celebrations is back again! Come, celebrate with us!

Organised by the National Family Council and supported by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, the nationwide celebrations will take place from 30 May to 28 June 2009.  To kick-start this year’s celebrations, we are organising the Singapore's Family Day Out on 30 May (Sat), with the intention to encourage families to set aside this day to spend time together as a family.  Join us at the launch event by the Singapore River where there will be a Family Day Out Carnival throughout the day with many fun-filled activities and exciting games for the whole family such as FIFA 09, NBA 09, Need for Speed Undercover, Monopoly, Mirror's Edge, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Skate 2 and many more!

For more details on Family Day Out and a whole line-up of exciting family events, please log on www.nfc.sg.  

Distribution of Family Life Resource Materials, Banner and Carousel Brochure Stand to New/Rejoined SFE Schools

The Family Education Department from MCYS, is pleased to extend to new/rejoined SFE schools our family life education resource materials:

·               SFE pamphlet - Parents' Guide (English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil)

·               Essential Parenting Tips (English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil)

·               Beyond the Vows (English, Chinese)

·               Personal Work Life Effectiveness Booklet - Live It! (English)

·               SFE VCD

·               Love Them, Let's Talk About Sex Booklet for Parents (English)

·               SFE Banner

·               SFE Brochure Stand (3-tier)

The resource materials will be delivered to schools in June 09 while the banner and brochure stand at a later period.  We hope that these resource materials will provide families with greater inspiration on how they can spend time together, connect as a family, be a better family member and acquire skills to improve their family life.

ARTICLE

This article "Motivating Kids to Clean Up'" is by Dr Bill Maier. We would like to thank Focus on the Family for contributing this article.

Motivating Kids to Clean Up

When it comes to getting your kids to help with chores around the house, it's critical to consider the age of the child. At first, very young children are going to need lots of direction and specific, step-by-step instructions on what to do.

For example, with a 3-year-old, you might say, "Jimmy, I need you to pick up all of your Legos and put them into the Lego box in the next 10 minutes. I'm going to set the kitchen timer and when it rings, all of the Legos need to be in the box. If they aren't, you won't be able to play with them tomorrow." Then set the timer and follow through.

Assuming that Jimmy gets his Legos put away to your satisfaction, you can move on to another task, such as putting his picture books on the shelf or placing his dirty clothes in the hamper.

Although this approach will demand more of your time and attention, it's much less frustrating and anger-provoking than repeatedly yelling, "Clean up this room or you've had it!" You'll also find that giving specific, step-by-step instructions, backed by consequences, will yield much better results.

With older kids who can read and write, it can be helpful to write their daily chores on a small white board that you hang on their wall or to give them chore cards that spell out the specific actions they need to take in order to complete a task. Again, be specific about the deadline for completing the task and what the consequence will be if they don't get the job done.

By the way, when using consequences with kids, it's most effective to balance both positive and negative consequences. If we simply punish our kids for bad behaviour or failing to follow through, they can easily become discouraged. It's just as important to praise and reward our kids for their good behaviour. So when your children consistently follow though on their chores, such as cleaning their room, they should receive verbal praise, a hug and even an occasional small reward.

Many parents have found that sticker charts can be a great motivator. Each time a child follows through with a task, he receives a sticker. When he earns a certain amount of stickers, he then receives a special privilege or treat for his efforts.