By 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.

By Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Friendships and social interactions are a key part of our children’s lives. Friendships help our children learn about the way that we interact with peers, social cues and norms (which can be different with peers than with adults), and gaining a sense of belonging away from their family unit.

It is all very normal and natural for friendships to have their highs and lows but this can be extremely hard for a parent to watch if their child is having a difficult time. We all want our children to be happy and have friends, but this can take time to establish and there can be some very tricky moments.

By Amy Frankcom, Teen blogger. Gender and sexuality can be extremely confusing for some, especially for those who were not raised with a high level of acceptance and understanding of the topic. It’s difficult to navigate and varies for every person; there is no concrete answer because of the fluid nature of gender and sexuality. Due to this, people are always concerned about getting it wrong, and choose to ignore the subject rather than exploring it with others and sometimes ‘messing up’. However, here’s the fact: gender and sexuality is a beautiful thing, encompassing myriads of diversity from all corners of the world. It deserves to be celebrated!

By Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. It is important to start with looking at what you, as an individual, see as ‘showing affection’ as this can be very different for each of us. As human beings we all feel and show affection in different ways, while one person might be very tactile and love cuddles, another might avoid this where possible as it makes them uncomfortable.

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.

Written by Maihri Cameron, Family Consultant. Many dyslexic children find school a real challenge. Difficulties in perceived academic ability can influence self-esteem, confidence, social skills and leave children feeling like a round peg in a square hole. This is completely understandable when much of our school education is focused on reading, spelling, rote learning, memory and concentration, the very things that dyslexic people often struggle with.

But what can we do to support young children’s speech and language development?

Written by Charlotte Hall, Speech Therapy with Charlotte. Speech and language development is so important because it really underpins everything else. If a child is unable to express themselves or understand what others are saying, they will find it difficult to thrive academically, form meaningful relationships and achieve positive mental wellbeing.

But what can we do to support young children’s speech and language development?

Written by Cheryl Bedding, Aperion SEND Training and Consultancy. When we think of a child with additional needs, challenging behaviours, special needs or delayed development what do we think? Do we think what can we learn from them, how fascinating, how amazing to see the world differently from everyone else, how can they enhance my life? Probably not. It’s more likely that we think or see barriers, we see problems, we see how this will affect the way we work, the time we need to give for support, the possible referrals process and the challenges the child will be facing.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Has your child suddenly started to say, “I’m scared!”, “I don’t like the dark”, or “I’m scared of the dark”? If so, please be reassured that this is a very normal phase of development and can be experienced by lots of children, their parents and carers. Most often the biggest impact of this can be around bedtimes where little ones are typically on their own and it is dark. This sense of fear can have an impact on sleep, bedtimes or even cause waking in the night.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. This is something that most parents have to deal with at some time or another with their child/ren and family members. Hugs and kisses are a way in which we show our affection to each other and often, as adults, we will greet people or say goodbye with a hug or a kiss, but we often know when not to as this isn’t something everyone feels comfortable with.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant.Bedtime and the lead up to it can feel like quite a juggling act especially when you have more than one child to do your bedtime routine with.

This time of the day is often when we want things to be calm and to be able to give our children opportunities for one-to-one time, but it doesn’t always happen that way! At the end of the day everyone (including you!) is tired, and bedtime might not always go as you would hope…but that’s ok! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself - it can take time to find what works and it will evolve over time as your little ones get older.