Today Tile Triggered Content

Could using Alexa make your child rude? An opinion piece in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood suggested that it could, as social conventions such as saying, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, aren’t always followed when talking to a digital assistant.^[1] As we often find when we start to look a bit deeper, the role of digital assistants in children’s development is still very much up for debate.  

The concerns about how talking to Alexa, Siri or Google Home might impact on your toddler’s understanding of social conventions, like saying please and thank you, are linked to how they view these devices.  

Your toddler’s understanding of what they should and shouldn’t do is developing – but that doesn’t mean they can always stop themselves in time! The story of George the dog, written and illustrated by Chris Haughton, is a great way to start a chat about how difficult it can be to do the right thing. 

George the dog is being left home alone, and he really wants to be good – but that chocolate cake looks yummy, and he loves chasing cats. What will George do? 

Stories can be a brilliant way to help your child think about emotions. Sharing a story can be a starting point for chatting about how the characters in the story are feeling and why.  

Here are five stories you could share with your child which will support a chat about emotions.  

As you follow your child’s journey in the app, you will find lots of activities, tips and information linked to supporting their behaviour. We thought it might be helpful to have a bit of an overview of the skills involved in ‘learning how to behave’ and some practical ideas about what you can do to help.  

Social, emotional and cognitive skills and ‘learning how to behave’ 

Does your child seem to be shy, embarrassed, guilty or proud now, is this something you haven’t noticed before?  

You might feel a bit concerned if your confident, lively child seems to be becoming shy or embarrassed – maybe you’ve been wondering if something has changed or if you need to do something quickly in response to this change. What you might be noticing is an important part of your child’s development as they become more self-aware.

Your child demonstrating what are described as ‘self-conscious emotions’ shows that they are taking another step in their development.