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.
Worrying your child doesn’t understand how others feel? Tips to encourage empathy
Your child might be getting better and better at understanding their own feelings – but realising that other people think and feel different things is hard (and really important). Most of us want our children to be kind to others and to grow up aware of their own emotions and able to empathise with other people’s – after all, this is an important part of making and strengthening relationships. How then can you help your child see things from someone else’s point of view?
It is amazing how often the thing that will best support our child’s development is really simple – and understanding how people feel is one of those things! All you need to do is use words that talk about thinking and feeling when you’re chatting with your child.
My child isn’t holding their pencil properly, what should I do?
If you’re concerned about your child’s grip or control over a pencil, it’s likely that you have no need to be worried. It can be helpful to remember that motor development does not progress at the same rate, or in the same pattern, for all children. There is broad variation in the ‘typical’ age that children progress through motor milestones – so the way your child is comfortable holding a pencil could look very different to their friends.
Your child’s unique journey of development has been unfolding since before they were born,[1] and you will have seen how inter-connected the streams of development are.
Myth busting: Real learning only happens when your child is sitting still and quiet... or does it?
Sitting still, staying quiet, maintaining eye contact... these are all asked of children when they’re learning and often considered to be signs that the child is listening and learning effectively. But is it true that we learn best when sitting quietly, or is there value in getting the body involved and allowing fidgeting, movement and even learning on the go?
Myth: Children should be sitting still and listening in order to learn.
Early reminiscing with your child may help them share feelings in the future
Your child might be starting to talk more about the things that they remember and be making connections between different experiences. This is something we do all the time as adults, but did you know your approach to talking about and remembering events – what we call reminiscing – will help your child to build their own memories and social understanding?
Talking to your child is second nature, from chatting about your plans for the day to explaining an exciting new thing they’ve spotted and answering those endless questions about the world.
Harnessing your child’s interests is the most powerful way to inspire their learning
Children are far more likely to engage in activities that are linked to something that interests them. And this can be used to your advantage, especially when you’re trying to encourage them to learn a skill they've not seemed very bothered about so far.
This might be anything, but one of the questions we are most often asked by parents is how to get children interested in writing when they simply don’t want to hold a pencil or learn about letters.
Do you know how important your child’s thumbs are?
Thumbs are the smallest digit on our hand, but they have the most muscles and – due to the unique formation of the joint that connects it to our palm – it can move in a wider range of directions than any other finger or toe. But why should you care about this, and why is it so important for your child to develop their thumb movements?
As humans, we have opposable thumbs, meaning that they can rotate and pivot (move around a fixed point) – it’s called ‘opposable’ because this movement allows your thumb to be moved to be ‘opposite’ your other fingers. This allows us to be far more mobile in our hands than we would if our thumb was ‘fixed’ in one position.
