Feed your brain!

As adults we understand that others have emotions, we comment on this to show we understand and respond to their needs (most of the time!). Being able to do this is called having a theory of mind (ToM).Theory of Mind skills are directly related to mental state, emotional vocabulary … Read More

Fidget spinners – the latest trend amongst children, now also causing a media frenzy. We have browsed the internet to summarise for you where fidget spinners came from, why schools are having issues for them, and some surprising benefits. Plus, my top homemade fiddle toys.Media Frenzy for Fidget spinnersRead More

Screen timeThe amount of time children in the UK spend online has doubled in the past decade (to an average of 15 hours a week in 2015, Ofcom). Screen time and technology is often in the news, and can get a pretty bad press. But is technology affecting our … Read More

Some numbers around being bilingualCan you guess how many languages there are in the world? Give it a go...There are 6,900 different languages. 6,900 different sets of a combination of sounds that we use to represent the world around us!The literacy trust (2000) estimates that there are over 300 … Read More

Can you remember how you learnt to read?Many of us can't remember exactly how we learned to read, yet we all know how important this skill is in our daily lives. From reading our social media messages on our phone, to being able to read the instructions that come … Read More

We all stutter.It might be when we are nervous, when we give a speech, get angry, excited, face something that scares us or just when we have lots to say. You may have heard the term ‘dysfluency’. Speech and Language therapists refer to a stutter using this term as … Read More

Process of language learningThe process of learning language is complex and all children will pick it up at different rates. Generally, there are some key themes and pieces of advice that are given to help with the development of language for children who are developing typically and for those … Read More

After I’ve dished out a bit of first-class Speech, Language or Communication advice, parents often say to me ‘that’s great, but I’ve got 2/3/4 (+) children at home!’ It’s a very good point – balancing the demands of a busy family can leave little time for extra work on … Read More

Children will get angry.Children will get upset.Children will get frustratedChildren will have tantrums!As parents, we accept these home truths about our little darlings, and ride out the storm when it occurs (www.madeformums.com has some useful advice for toddler tantrums!). But when your child doesn’t have the language skills … Read More