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You can also check out all of our practical videos on our YouTube Channel here - these include nappy changing, making up a bottle, topping and tailing and so much more!
Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. This family came to us for a 1:1 parent consultation because sleep deprivation from their 7 month old not sleeping was affecting the whole family. Dad was in the spare room to make sure they weren’t both exhausted all day, their older child wasn’t getting the attention they wanted to give her, mum was exhausted and dreading naps and night-time and little one was grumpy and fractious.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. This family approached us as they felt that they had tried everything and needed some support. They were particularly concerned about their little one starting school and having toileting issues.
Read MoreWritten by Katie Crouch, Senior Lecturer, Researcher and Consultant in the Early Years. Due to Covid and subsequent home-schooling, we have all become aware of the pressures faced by families when trying to support learning in the home. Now that schooling and home learning are becoming separate entities again, we look at how we can build healthy routines and home learning habits.
How can we as adults help our children to develop a love of learning outside of the school environment? In fact, the learning which takes place outside of the school can often hold a deeper sense of meaning and understanding for many of our children and this leads to question why this could be the case?
In my experience, it is down to just a couple of simple factors;
Learning away from school can have fewer boundaries, such as time constraints.
Children are also more likely to feel emotionally safer with their significant adults and fewer opportunities for self-comparison with peers.
In this blog I will look at how we can maximise children’s learning potential within these circumstances.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. When planning a holiday abroad we often have to consider jet lag and how this might affect our children. For some families the idea of jet lagged children can put them off wanting to travel at all, but try to not let it put you off as there are a few things you can do to help!
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. There are always a lot of opinions when it comes to the use of screens with children and this could be a whole blog in itself, but for this blog I want to specifically focus on the use of screens (ipads, phones, TV’s) when a child is eating.
We live in a world where we have portable devices which allow us to access games, videos and TV wherever we might be. Whilst there are benefits of this, there are also times when it can cause some issues. We might remember the time when there was a lot of talk about ‘TV dinners’ and what impact these might be having on the family mealtime but also on our children…fast forward and we are now looking at the impact of screentime (specifically portable devices) on our children’s eating and mealtime experience.
Read MoreBy Holly Dodd. My name’s Holly I have a passion for writing content based on my personal life as well as what’s going on in the world around me as I believe it can bring different insights into my readers’ lives. This article was inspired by my past grandparents, I believe it’s so important to spend time with your elders and try to gain as much knowledge as you can from them. They have lived a life full of problems they’ve had to face, meaning they have got experience with issues you might be facing at this moment in time. They didn’t have access to the internet or advanced technologies they had to figure out how to navigate their own lives, allowing them to understand what a good decision looks like.
It’s a well-known fact that some of the best advice you can receive comes from those who have been around long before us. Every generation has its own unique set of experiences and knowledge to offer, and it’s important to take note of these lessons and strive to pass them on to your younger family members and friends. That’s why in this blog, I’m going to be exploring some of the pieces of advice that should be passed down from generation to generation.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. This is a phrase that I hear a lot from parents when looking at sleep and it can be something which puts parents off working on naps with their little ones.
So, what do I mean by ‘nap trapped’?
Napped trapped is when parents and carers can feel that they are ‘trapped’ at home because their little one needs to be in their cot for their naps and/or due to the timings of the naps it can mean that they are having to miss out of things such as classes, groups or going for a coffee with a friend etc.
Read MoreBy The Golden Circle. Reading and writing skills provide the foundation to succeeding in many aspects of life, both academic and personal. For some children, getting lost in the adventure of a book, or putting their imaginative thoughts on paper comes naturally. For others, developing this skill set can be a challenge and require a little extra encouragement. If your child falls into this category, here are some handy strategies from The Golden Circle’s team of qualified teachers to help make reading and writing a more enjoyable activity.
Just like adults, not all children are affectionate (when I say affectionate, I mean cuddly as this is what most people see as a sign of affection from children). When a child is not showing affection (in the way we expect as an adult) it can be due to their personality but also where they are in their developmental stage.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Keeping children entertained in the winter months can feel really daunting - we aren’t able to get out and about as much as we might like and getting everyone wrapped up for the weather can sometimes just feel too much. However, this blog is here to help with some simple activity ideas for the winter months for all age groups!
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