I am a very proud and biased Design and Technology teacher and Dad. In my opinion there are only ten things your sons needs to dominate life;
- Good quality friends
- Resilience and manners
- Respect
- Lots of tools
- Time in the garage with loved ones
- The ability to build cool stuff
- Healthy Food
- Exercise
- Single cab ute for a first car
- Most importantly, look after the women in their lives
Without doubt, my most favourite place in the world to hang out is in my garage, working on projects and spending time with my kids before they go and lead their own lives, start their careers and families. We will work on anything, motorbikes, race cars, classic vehicles, woodwork projects, school projects or just simply hang out and chat. You will be amazed by the conversations you will have with your kids while working together on projects. The distraction works very well with boys in particular.
Believe it or not, I have two degrees from university and no matter what the unit of study I was doing, the common theme to success for me was that everything came down to relationships and respect. The best place in the world as far as I am concerned to learn respect and build positive relationships is the garage.
For our kids it is an important skill to know when and who to ask for help, but just as important to take control of their own learning journey and think on their feet. The garage, workshop or shed is a place where kids can learn the skills for developing a strong and positive mind and body characterised by confidence, responsibility and resilience.
Research suggests that you can build a positive parent-child relationship by:
- Being in the moment with your child – Garage
- Spending quality time with your child – Garage
- Creating a caring environment of trust and respect – Garage
- Spending quality time with children and creating rituals – Garage
My absolute wish is to inspire mums and dads, sons and daughter, everyone and anyone to spend more time together, buy more tools, teach your kids a “have a go attitude”, hang out in your garage, sheds or workshops, whenever it may be. Learn lifelong skills, spend more time together in the garage, get dirty, and create moments and memories together, work on projects that will be around a lot longer than we will.
So move the car out of the garage, fill it with tools and start working on some projects with the kids. Don’t be scared to start and you don’t need a lot of tools to get started. My dream is for you to start something amazing, remember you can never have enough tools or cool projects. Let’s dominate life! Hit me up for some project ideas.
Jason Moore
Head of Design and Technology