Latest news with #EmilyPerkins
Newsroom
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsroom
Ockhams: in Emily's footsteps
The biggest night of the year in New Zealand literature is set to take place. Last year Emily Perkins waltzed off the Ockham book awards stage with $64,000 in her purse. Tonight, at around 9.30pm, one of four shortlisted authors will follow her as the 2025 winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, and pocket $65,000. It will be the final grand announcement of the awards, following prizes of $12,000 to winners of nonfiction, illustrated nonfiction and poetry. It takes place at the Aotea Centre in Auckland. Miriamo Kamo will act as MC. She received online criticism on Monday for her alleged mispronunciation of Chinese names as MC at this weekend's Barfoot & Thompson real estate awards but perhaps that was a mischievous attack and in any case no Chinese names are shortlisted for the Ockhams, only 19 European, eight Māori and one Pasifika. They make up a very wide range of authors – quite young, very old, some talented – who are in line for a shot of money and recognition for their hard work and brilliant ideas. I have made my feelings clear about who I hope wins the fiction prize and nonfiction prize, but recuse myself from chiming in with my five cents' worth about the poetry prize on account of the fact I am friends and allies with all four shortlisted writers, and have no opinion on the illustrated non-fiction prize. Anyway, and as ever, who cares what I think; it's the night of the judges, of their whims and tastes and reckonings; and alongside the shortlisted authors, and their publishers and editors and designers and proofreaders, the judges, too, ought to be thanked for their time and commitment. They don't earn a fortune for all their reading but they take the job seriously. The sponsors also deserve special cheers. The New Zealand book trade is in a bit of a slump. Bookstore sales are slow. Funding is increasingly difficult. Publishers – everyone remembers the day of the long knives at Penguin last year – are vulnerable. Huzzah, then, to the continued and positive support of Ockham (this marks their 10th year as principal backer) and the other sponsors at the national book awards: Creative New Zealand, the Acorn Foundation (via the late Jann Medlicott, who guaranteed her support of the fiction award in perpetuity), Peter and Marry Biggsy, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, e-commerce quango BookHub, and The Mātātuhi Foundation. But nothing happens without the writers. It all starts with their decision to write, their faith and wit and delusion and stamina and resolve. Congratulations are due to all the authors of the 16 shortlisted titles. The fiction prize is contested by Damien Wilkins, author of my favourite book of any kind in 2024, Delirious, a beautiful novel about old age; Kirsty Gunn's book of short stories Pretty Ugly (which includes her dark masterpiece 'All Gone', by far the most disturbing story to have ever appeared in ReadingRoom); and The Mires by Tina Makereti and At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley. To nonfiction. Two books of essays that I didn't read, The Chthonic Cycle by Una Cruickshank and Bad Archive by Flora Feltham, will compete with Richard Shaw's excellent book The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation and my favourite, Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku's memoir Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery, published by HarperCollins and one of the chief reasons I named them publisher of the year at the 2024 ReadingRoom awards. The four very, very good collections shortlisted for the poetry prize are Hopurangi – Songcatcher: Poems from the Maramataka by the nicest man in New Zealand letters, Robert Sullivan; Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit by Emma Neale, who has just finished editing my next book and was a total delight to work with; In the Half Light of a Dying Day by my amigo CK Stead; and Slender Volumes by the fabulous Richard von Sturmer. There are good pictures and some interesting text in the four books up for the illustrated nonfiction award, Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist, Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art, Leslie Adkin: Farmer Photographer and Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections. ReadingRoom will magically reappear this evening at about 9:31pm with commentary on the winners.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Teacher reveals the one thing she wishes all parents taught their kids before kindergarten: ‘It's really hard to help them learn'
Now, here's a parenting tip moms and dads oughta 'No!.' Emily Perkins, 28, a kindergarten teacher from Kentucky, is schooling parents on the art of saying 'uh-uh' before their little rascal's first day of school. 'Tell your child 'No,'' said the kiddo pro in a buzzy bulletin with over 326,000 TikTok views. 'Tell them 'No' as a complete sentence,' she urged, insisting that a homespun lesson in denial is the best way to prepare a tot for the classroom. 'Do not teach them that telling them 'No' invites them to argue with you.' Perkins assures that issuing a veto isn't about being repressive. Instead, it's about teaching tikes respect. 'If I can't tell your child 'No' as an adult, and they don't respect the 'No,'' she said, 'they're basically unteachable.' It's a piercing word-to-the-wise aimed directly at mothers and fathers of the 'gentle parenting' persuasion. The folks who'd rather let their kids run amok than reprimand them with tough love. Gentle parenting is bringing-up-baby style that prioritizes empathy, understanding, independence and boundaries. It's an ultramodern form of child-rearing that comes in stark contrast to the more traditional punishment-and-reward, 'spare the rod, spoil the child' ideologies of yore. The little hellions of gentle parents are often permitted to do as they please — scream, holler, hit, terrorize and vandalize — sans repercussion. Kelly Medina Enos, 34, doesn't even instruct her five-year-old son, George, to say 'sorry,' when he misbehaves. To the millennial mom of two, from the UK, making him apologize — even after he 'smacks' her — is 'disingenuous.' To Perkins, the gentle parenting trend is nothing but a nightmare. 'Congratulations, you're a pushover,' the teacher and mother of two scoffed in her viral rebuke. 'You can validate your child's feelings without being a pushover.' 'I had a parent tell me that they don't tell their child 'No' because it triggers them,' she said with a deep sigh. 'If you want to have a kid who you can't tell 'No,' and you don't want to use the word 'No' in your vocabulary [and] you want to be able to tell them 'No' and then they argue with you immediately — teach your own kids,' Perkins ranted. 'Teach your own kids,' she reiterated. 'If your child's teacher can't tell them 'No,'' said Perkins, 'it's really hard to help them learn.'
New York Post
28-04-2025
- General
- New York Post
Teacher reveals the one thing she wishes all parents taught their kids before kindergarten: ‘It's really hard to help them learn'
Now, here's a parenting tip moms and dads oughta 'No!.' Emily Perkins, 28, a kindergarten teacher from Kentucky, is schooling parents on the art of saying 'uh-uh' before their little rascal's first day of school. 'Tell your child 'No,'' said the kiddo pro in a buzzy bulletin with over 326,000 TikTok views. 5 Perkins virally scolded 'gentle' moms and dads who refuse to tell their kids 'No' for fear of triggering negative emotions. – 'Tell them 'No' as a complete sentence,' she urged, insisting that a homespun lesson in denial is the best way to prepare a tot for the classroom. 'Do not teach them that telling them 'No' invites them to argue with you.' Perkins assures that issuing a veto isn't about being repressive. Instead, it's about teaching tikes respect. 'If I can't tell your child 'No' as an adult, and they don't respect the 'No,'' she said, 'they're basically unteachable.' It's a piercing word-to-the-wise aimed directly at mothers and fathers of the 'gentle parenting' persuasion. The folks who'd rather let their kids run amok than reprimand them with tough love. 5 Gentle parenting emphasizes a child's thoughts, needs and feelings over rules, restrictions and punishments. JenkoAtaman – 5 Perkins says kids who aren't taught to respect an adult's instructions are virtually 'unteachable' at school. Getty Images 5 Gentle parents often avoid yelling, giving time outs and spankings. pikselstock – Gentle parenting is bringing-up-baby style that prioritizes empathy, understanding, independence and boundaries. It's an ultramodern form of child-rearing that comes in stark contrast to the more traditional punishment-and-reward, 'spare the rod, spoil the child' ideologies of yore. The little hellions of gentle parents are often permitted to do as they please — scream, holler, hit, terrorize and vandalize — sans repercussion. Kelly Medina Enos, 34, doesn't even instruct her five-year-old son, George, to say 'sorry,' when he misbehaves. To the millennial mom of two, from the UK, making him apologize — even after he 'smacks' her — is 'disingenuous.' 5 Perkins says parents who are opposed to using the word 'No' should homeschool their little terrors. – To Perkins, the gentle parenting trend is nothing but a nightmare. 'Congratulations, you're a pushover,' the teacher and mother of two scoffed in her viral rebuke. 'You can validate your child's feelings without being a pushover.' 'I had a parent tell me that they don't tell their child 'No' because it triggers them,' she said with a deep sigh. 'If you want to have a kid who you can't tell 'No,' and you don't want to use the word 'No' in your vocabulary [and] you want to be able to tell them 'No' and then they argue with you immediately — teach your own kids,' Perkins ranted. 'Teach your own kids,' she reiterated. 'If your child's teacher can't tell them 'No,'' said Perkins, 'it's really hard to help them learn.'
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Kindergarten teacher begs parents: Please teach your kids this 1 skill
How can parents really prepare their kids for kindergarten? Take advice from a teacher who says parents need to do one important thing: 'Tell your kid no.' ''No' is not a bad word,' Emily Perkins, a kindergarten teacher in Kentucky, tells As Perkins, 28, explained in a TikTok video, 'A lot of people ask me all the time when they figure out that I'm a kindergarten teacher: What can they do to prepare their kid for kindergarten? What can I do — help them open their snacks? Help them tie their shoes? No, no, no, not that. Tell your kid, 'No' ... Tell them 'No' as a complete sentence.' Perkins continued, 'Do not teach them that telling them, 'No' invites them to argue with you, because if I can't tell your child 'No' as an adult, and they don't respect the 'No,' they're basically unteachable. Let me tell you something: I will open their snacks, I will tie their shoes, I will help them blow their nose, I will teach them how to wash their hands properly.' She joked, 'I will put the Capri Sun straw in the non-existent hole of these new, 100% fruit juice Capri Suns — whatever they are. Let's figure out a hole for that, OK, Capri Sun?' 'The term gentle parenting gets thrown around like a reward — 'Congratulations, you're a pushover,'' Perkins said in the video, adding, 'You can validate your child's feelings without being a pushover.' 'I heard a parent tell me that they don't tell their child, 'No' because it triggers them,' Perkins said in the video. 'If you cannot tell your child, 'No,' your child's teacher probably can't tell them 'No,' either. And if your child's teacher can't tell them, 'No,' it's really hard to help them learn,' she concluded. Many on TikTok, including teachers, agreed with Perkins. 'It's actually non-parenting. That's the problem.' 'Fellow kindergarten teacher: Best advice ever. I have multiple students who melt down and argue ... when I tell them, 'No.'' 'This why I come home exhausted each day. Having 18 6-year-olds argue with me all day and then choose to ignore me and do whatever they want anyway is so tiring.' 'Not everything needs to be a lesson. Sometimes, 'Because I said so' is a complete sentence.' 'I teach first grade and my God, yes. Girl, I am TIRED.' 'Gentle parenting and permissive parenting are two VERY different things! ... We can gentle parent and still say, 'No.'' 'Preschool teacher here. You are ... correct. Let them struggle a bit so they can ACTUALLY do hard things. Let them experience disappointment! Make them resilient!' 'As a public Pre-K teacher, I can confirm. The number of kids that have not been told 'No' is astonishing. I put out fires all day long as a result.' Perkins, a mother of two, tells that ''no' is not an invitation to an argument.' Perkins explains why she can't always — and shouldn't have to — take time to spell out her reasoning for saying 'no' to a child. 'My whole job is explaining,' Perkins jokes. 'Think of logistics — if we're lining up for a fire drill, it's, 'No, you may not stay inside if the building is on fire' or 'No, you may not climb on the table because it's not safe.'' Perkins says she children generally deserve an explanation for the 'no' and she's fond of circling back with students when there's time for her to talk about the context. 'I love to explain why, but if I can't right then, kids still have to hear and accept 'no,'' she tells Learning to respect the word 'no' is an 'essential skill for life,' according to Dr. Deborah Gilboa, family doctor and resilience expert. Gilboa tells that some children struggle with being told 'no' because, 'It's never meant 'no' before — it's meant, 'Ask me again' or 'I'll whine until you give in.'' Do kids have to love adhering to the word 'no'? No! Responding to it properly, however, is important when starting elementary school. 'Kindergarten is often children's first experience at being somewhere — not just for their care and feeding — but also their learning ... and having to meet metrics,' explains Gilboa. Gilboa adds that educators generally care about helping children develop into people with whom other people want to socialize. Kindergarten teachers in particular are 'experts' at consistency, she says. 'That's how they manage the behavior of a roomful of young children.' To deny kids reasonable expectations of the real world, says Gilboa, is unfair to them. 'If children have no practice at having limits set and held to expectations for good behavior and having consequences for breaking rules,' says Gilboa, 'they're going to struggle at school.' This article was originally published on
Daily Mail
27-04-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Kindergarten teacher shares the ONE rule she wishes parents would teach kids before starting school
A kindergarten teacher has shared the one rule she wishes all parents would teach their kids before their first day of school. Educator Emily Perkins, 28, from Kentucky, recently took to TikTok to share the single request that she had for all moms and dads who are preparing to send their toddlers to kindergarten. She explained that while most parents are focused on teaching their kids the basics like tying their shoes or opening up containers for snack time, there's something much more important that they should be concentrating on. She vowed that the most important lesson a kid needs to learn before starting school is hearing the word no. 'Hey, I'm a teacher, I teach kindergarten and a lot of people ask me what to do to prepare their kid for kindergarten,' she began in the now-viral video, which has been viewed more than 317,000 times. 'Tell your kid no. Tell them no as a complete sentence. Do not teach them that telling them no invites them to argue with you, OK? 'If I can't tell your kid no or they won't respect the no, they're basically unteachable. 'I will open their snacks, I will tie their shoes, I will help them blow their noses, I will teach them how to wash their hands, I will put the Capri Sun straw in the hole, whatever you need, we'll figure it out. 'I will do that all day, but if I can't tell your child no, unteachable.' In recent years, something known as 'gentle parenting' has become extremely popular, which sees moms and dads respond to kids misbehaving 'with kindness and patience, rather than resorting to punishment or harsh discipline.' But Emily slammed it, adding, 'The term gentle parenting gets thrown around like an award. 'Congratulations, you're a pushover. I can probably do a whole rant on gentle parenting... just don't do it. 'You can validate your child's feelings without being a pushover.' She recalled one parent telling her they 'don't tell their child no because it "triggers them."' 'As a teacher, I believe in the "why," I believe in figuring out why things work, I believe in figuring out why their behaviors happened in the first place,' she concluded. 'But if [teachers] can't tell them no, it's really hard to help them learn.' While chatting with the Today show about it, Emily explained that a huge part of her profession is saying 'no.' She explained that it's mostly important for safety, as it's her job to ensure your kids don't get hurt. 'Think of logistics - if we're lining up for a fire drill, it's, "No, you may not stay inside if the building is on fire," or, "No, you may not climb on the table because it's not safe,"' she explained. 'I love to explain why, but if I can't right then, kids still have to hear and accept "no."'
