Finding it hard to get moving on a bike? Five simple steps to help your child ride independently
Is your child asking difficult questions? How to deal with answering them
Your child may sometimes catch you by surprise when asking a question that’s tough to answer. They may also throw a question at you about someone who is close by, and it could feel embarrassing. But, as they gain an awareness of their world, all they want to do is find out something they don’t yet know. They mean no harm or embarrassment; they simply need to access an answer to a thought that has popped into their heads.
Here's some ideas for when you find yourself wondering, ‘How am I going to answer this?’
How does searching for images help your child learn to read?
The first skills that may come to mind when you think about your child learning to read are likely those that are related to letter recognition or understanding letter sounds. However, reading involves many skills including visual ones, and that’s why picking out details in pictures now will help them as they learn to read.
When your child identifies specific details in a complex picture, they combine visual and cognitive skills.
How do your child’s senses help them to control their attention?
Attention and our senses are inextricably linked. When we control our attention to focus on something important, our brain needs to ignore other stimuli. Think about when you need to make a tricky manoeuvre in the car, do you turn the music off or down? This is your brain reducing sensory input to help you concentrate better. Your child is starting to be aware that they sometimes need to make a change to help them and their concentration.
Their senses help them to regulate their levels of alertness.
Empathy begins at home: How you can support your child's development of compassion and understanding
For many of us, the moment we see our child go over to help someone, without a prompt from us, brings a glow of pride. We want our children to be kind to other people, and for everyone to see just how wonderful our child really is – showing this kind of concern for someone else is harder than it looks. And you have an important role to play in helping your child master the skills they need to be truly empathetic.
Social psychologists talk about prosocial behaviour, which are the things we do for someone else – things like helping, sharing, giving gifts and cooperating with one or more people.
What is theory of mind – and how does it help your child make friends?
Theory of mind is the understanding of the thoughts, feelings and ideas of other people. It is a skill that your child has been developing for some time and one that will help them as they make friends. Understanding other people’s ideas, thoughts and emotions is an important part of building relationships, it will help your child agree what to play, think about other people’s needs and show empathy – all important aspects of friendship.
Your child will have learnt about other people by watching those around them and noticing how people respond to experiences and events. They might have noticed what causes some emotions or pretended to be someone else in their play.
Have you seen the meme about children laughing more than adults? We wanted to find out if it was true, and if so then... why?
There is nothing quite as magical as when your baby first laughs, and laughing together is a wonderful part of family life – we're all for having more laughter in our lives! But we also like to check our facts, so when we see a meme we can’t help but look for the science behind the claims.
Laughter might be on your mind now as your child masters the skill of showing their sense of humour. Have you seen this quote before?
Cooperation and becoming competitive in games often develop together
If you’ve tried playing a board game with your child, you’ll know that understanding games with rules can be tricky. Your child might develop these skills through making up their own rules as they play with other children – or suggesting some simple rules in games they play with you.
Playing games with rules involves social and cognitive skills as your child needs to think about (and explain) the rules, remember them as they play and agree the rules with other people. Then they have to understand that in some games there is a winner and a loser – and sometimes they might lose (which is something even adults find hard to cope with at times!).
Cognition and emotion –why they go hand in hand
You've probably noticed similar skills in different streams as you’ve worked your way through the app. Responding to and regulating emotions draws on your child’s social and emotional, sensory and cognitive skills – and probably involves some language development too!
Self-regulation is the ability to recognise and control our responses. Although we often talk about self-regulation in the context of emotions, it might involve controlling thoughts, emotions, attention or actions.
Has your child started to seem a bit less confident? Read our tips for supporting them to develop a positive view of themselves
Who am I? Seems like a simple question at first but as you start to think about it, it’s really quite complicated. Psychologists have different theories about how we understand who we are, and the things that impact how children develop this understanding. All of this is described by psychologists as self-concept, and it is now your child is beginning to use what other people think of them as part of how they understand themselves.
Your child will often focus on describing what they can do – which can be a good reminder to us all to be confident. If you’ve ever seen the ‘Whatever you do today, do it with the confidence of a child wearing a superhero cape’ meme, you’ll know it is likely to sum up your child’s approach!
