The benefits of being outdoors are widely known and accepted. This can including minimising illnesses, building a respect for nature, gross and fine motor developments, enhancing social complicity when engaging with others, as well as instilling an overall sense of calm. Here are some ideas to encourage your children to be outside more often: Gardening…
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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…
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Having children outside and learning with nature is always what we aim for. However, sometimes this is not possible. In our house we have a jar for rainy days and a jar for sunny days. Each jar has activities written on pieces of paper. My three children take turns each week selecting a slip of…
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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…
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It is widely accepted and acknowledged that children grow and change so rapidly in the first few years. This period in a person’s life is significant for many reasons and here are some of them. The human brain develops more quickly in the first 1000 days than any other time during life. Nutrition intake in…
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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…
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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,…
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Have you ever ruined someone’s day by giving them the wrong coloured sippy cup? Or broken a heart by cutting toast into squares? Guilty! What is that?! Why is it such a big deal? How I wish my biggest problem for the day was that my coffee cup is green instead of purple. Right? Surely,…
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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…
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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…
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