Imaginative or pretend play stimulates the senses, creates opportunities for exploration and creative thinking, and helps your child to develop key skills vital for intellectual and emotional growth as well as social success. When Do Children Start Pretend Play? Newborn – 2 Years The first signs of pretend play emerge around 12 to 18 months.…
read more
Everyone has the cognitive capacity to learn and it is the information and structures present in the environment that create the conditions for learning. Count – count everything as you go along, the steps you walk up, how many people are in front of you at the check-out, the numbers on the elevator buttons. Notice…
read more
When asked “what do you want most for your kids in life?” most parents answer “to be happy”. While much of what has influenced kids’ mental health and happiness in recent years is outside the realm of influence, their long-term happiness is something you can cultivate by implementing and teaching happiness habits and practices. Following…
read more
Almost exactly two years ago our world changed in incomprehensible ways. It was supposed to be a couple of weeks. A month at most. We just had to isolate at home. Flatten the curve. Protect the vulnerable. It meant working from home unless we were essential workers. It also meant school was at home. But…
read more
The start of the new school year brings a variety of challenges – from teacher and class changes, through to the transition from holiday mode back into the routine of school. This can make settling back into school difficult for some children and young people, especially after the extended summer break. Naturally, as a parent…
read more
What was the purpose of social media? To connect, to reunite, to support and inform. I think they sound like great reasons to use a platform which is easily accessible to most however what it has become especially during this pandemic is an opportunity for quite the opposite. We use Facebook and Instagram to connect…
read more
This is a statement we often hear one minute then the next they are best friends. It is important to remember early peer relationships have a long-term effect on children and these interactions (both good and bad) have an important impact on a child’s emotional development. When our children interact or play with their peers,…
read more
As someone who is fortunate enough to have celebrated 15 Mother’s Days with my beautiful boys and worked with many beautiful families over many years, I have learnt a few valuable lessons relating to the second Sunday in the month of every May – Mother’s Day. Make your expectations clear. Sometimes, we expect our partners…
read more
I recently found myself in the unusual position of needing to speak to my son’s teacher about a concern regarding an incident that occurred in the classroom. My first reaction was to fire off an email to share my concern and this would have arrived in her inbox at about midnight after spending hours coming…
read more
It is a hot topic at the moment…. the interview with Oprah, Prince William and Meghan Markle. Before most people had even seen the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview it had been scrutinised and critiqued all over the world – and as is typically the case for this couple and many in the media,…
read more