ALL | Babies | Behaviour | Bereavement | Co-Parenting | Food and weaning | Getting to know | Grandparents | Health | Lockdown | Nursery | Other | Play | Routines | School | Separation anxiety | Siblings | Sleep | Teething | Toilet Training | Transitions | Travel | Tweens and Teens | Twins
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. The first and most important thing to say here is that preparation is key! Think ahead and have a plan of the weeks that you are looking to cover with childcare. Having a calendar is essential to provide a visual outline to see when and where you will need cover and have it available either online or somewhere visible for all family members to be able to refer to it if needed!
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 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. It can feel so daunting when it comes to choosing childcare - there are so many options! Whatever your reason is for needing childcare it is important that it suits you and your child/ren’s needs. In this blog I am going to talk you through the different options of childcare and why they may (or may not) be right for you.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. It might not feel like it when we are only a few weeks into the holidays, but it’s that time of the year where everyone is thinking and talking about ‘starting school’! When I was planning this blog I was going to cover the usual things to think about when you child is about to start school for the first time, but then realised that even if your child is already at school – be it primary or secondary – they experience very similar emotions and uncertainty about going into a new school year…it isn’t just about starting school.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. There are lots of different types of nurseries to choose from – large, small, independent, chain, attached to a school, forest school, Montessori etc. You need to think about what type of nursery will best suit you and your child. Another key thing to consider is location – will you, for example, have enough time to drop off and pick up before going to work? Can you walk to the nursery if this is something that would work for you?
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. The last 12 months have been such a strange time and we are all adjusting after spending so much time at home with our family members (possibly more than ever before). We have had to make changes so that we have been able to manage the situation and by doing this we have got into new routines and hopefully made home a place where we can feel safe and secure.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. There is a wealth of information out there to support babies, toddler and pre-school children, but once they are over the age of 5 the information tends to be more limited and is often focused on school related topics.
Just because our children are getting older, it doesn’t mean that parenting gets easier or that you will have all the answers to the new phases and stages that your child might be going through. It can be challenging and sometimes make you feel like you are having to use guess work to get through it.
Read MoreWritten by Anna Turner, Childcare Consultant. During this time of lockdown, I have had many conversations with parents, friends and colleagues about how school will be for our children when they go back – both on an emotional and physical level. We are entering the unknown when it comes to fully understanding what the long-term effects will be for children who have been forced into different routines before being re-introduced to what could be a very different environment – one where safety, health and hygiene is now paramount, where they may not allowed to play with the same friends, join in with class assemblies, or even hug their best friends.
Read More
