Today Date Triggered Content

You probably find lots of people share their opinions about your child’s development – and if you hear something a few times you might wonder if it’s true. One of the things we’ve heard many times is that girls learn to talk sooner than boys, so when we saw a research paper reviewing this we thought we’d dive in and find out more.

In this paper, scientists from the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies in Rome looked at research that had considered the development of language in boys and girls – looking at if, how and why this differed.^[1]  

Over the past few weeks there have been a lot of headlines warning that shouting at children causes the same level of harm to their mental health as physical and sexual abuse. Lots of parents have seen these headlines and panicked, asking us for more information.

Before you spend too much time frantically trying to remember when you last raised your voice in frustration, read on to see why the headlines don’t tell the full story of this research study.  

There is growing interest in the role nature plays in learning, with many people believing that spending time with nature not only helps children (and adults) care more about the planet but also helps them learn more generally. A research review, published in February 2019, concluded that this belief can be backed by research evidence. 

On our podcast we spoke to Charlotte from Parents For Future, an organisation supporting parents to campaign for climate action.

She described the complicated emotions of raising children while aware of the climate crisis - and they shared some small changes or action you can take to reduce that anxiety. Listen to the podcast here, and read on to see how we use research to support our ideas - and to support you. 

It can be really difficult, with so much information and opinions surrounding you both online and in real life, to work you what information to trust. That’s why as well as drawing on our years of experience, and experts in their field such as Charlotte, we look into the latest research to stay up to date with current evidence.

The book Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was published in 2002.^[1] Since its publication finding ways to achieve flow has been the focus of research in everything from sport to workplace performance, and recently in parenting.  

Flow is achieved when you’re fully involved in what you’re doing, to the point where you don’t notice time passing. Activities where you experience flow feel good!  

There are 14 million grandparents in the UK, and almost two-thirds of grandparents regularly look after their grandchildren.^[1] We know experiences in early childhood are important for lifelong learning, health and wellbeing, so scientists have started to look at the role grandparents play in children’s development.^[2] We decided to look at what science tell us about grandparents. 

The first important point is that there needs to be much more research into the role grandparents play in children’s lives. Despite growing interest in their role, research studies are often small, and focus on grandmothers rather than on all grandparents.^[2]  

If you have more than one child, it’s not unusual to be asked, “How do they get on?” Research published at the beginning of July this year suggests that the answer for most families will be, “It varies!” 

According to figures published in May 2023, in the United Kingdom 56% of families had two or more children.^[1] Which means most children will have at least one sibling, and if you’re wondering what you need to do to help your children get along with each other you aren’t alone.  

Anyone who was pregnant or gave birth during lockdown knows it was a different and sometimes difficult experience. There have been various headlines since then about the impact of lockdown on children’s development, as if you need something else to feel guilty about. We noticed another at the weekend, but what has it really found? 

At the weekend we saw this headline – ‘Children born in pandemic have poorer communication skills, study finds’.^[1]

You might have heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” but for lots of different reasons we don’t always feel we’ve got a village – especially in the early days of parenting.

In the app, you’ll find lots of ideas to support your child’s development, and more information if you are interested in understanding the science behind their skills.

Have you ever had a comment along the lines of, “They’re only little, they can start learning when they get to school.” We know how important early childhood is for your child’s future learning, wellbeing, and health, and you’ve probably chosen the app because you know too! But not everyone realises just how important these early years are, and that can lead to some interesting conversations.  

We thought we’d look at what the Royal Foundation for Early Childhood found about public attitudes in the United Kingdom this year. The brilliant news is that more people than last year recognise how important early childhood is, but there is still a way to go!  

It can feel strange reading books to your newborn baby, and although 95% of parents in a recent survey could see reading was important – just 77% started reading to their child before they were one, and 28% said they don’t find reading to their child easy.^[1]

In this week’s research article, we’re going to look at the benefits of reading to your child whatever their age and give you some ideas for sharing stories together.