Health and Well-being
Early Screening and Intervention for Dyslexic Children: Breaking Myths and Ensuring Success
Dyslexia, a specific learning difficulty, impacts around 10% of the population, according to the British Dyslexia Association. While many associate dyslexia solely with difficulties in reading, writing, and spelling, it extends to affect other...
Helping parents manage screen time
Helping children learn to become independent is an important role for any parent. We all want our children to grow up healthy and happy and not be slaves to their electronic devices. Yet the pull of the latest game or social media chat between...
Malnutrition Awareness Week
We need food to live, and eating a nutritious diet that is varied and balanced; including the major food groups as well as vitamins and minerals in appropriate proportions is important for our health and well-being. Even in the womb, we must...
Safeguarding and gambling awareness
Many things in life can be viewed as a double-edged sword. They can bring us pleasure and pain, and gambling and gaming are two such things that are emerging as increasing problems in the 21st century. According to Wikipedia: “Gambling dates...
Can vegan diets support early years development? – Part One
There has been a rise in the number of families switching to a vegan diet. There are certainly plenty of reasons why this seems a good idea for both the environment and our health but, what impact does a restrictive diet have on very young...
Cost of living crisis, How to support children’s nutritional needs
In recent years, there has been a steady stream of global events which have had, and are continuing to have a detrimental impact on individuals and families with children. Before COVID-19 and the Ukraine war, we had already seen an increase in...
Supporting new parents; listening to the real experts
In recent years, we have seen a rise in awareness of the critical period of development that occurs within the first 2-3 years of a child’s life. Those working in early childhood welcome this attention, to finally shine the spotlight on our...
Supporting colleagues and staff going through a difficult time
There’s no doubt that the last few years have been tough on everyone in many ways. First the pandemic, then the war in Ukraine affecting oil/gas prices, then the cost of living crisis and currently, people are struggling with the impact of NHS...
National Fitness Day
National Fitness Day 2023 is on Wednesday 20th September. This is a great day to highlight the role that physical activity plays in keeping us healthy and encourage everyone to take part in some activities to have fun and raise their fitness...
Hellos and goodbyes
There are times in everyone’s life when we need to either welcome new friends and meet new people or say goodbye to the people we already know and love. There are very few people who are with us on our entire life journey. Mostly, we encounter...
Practitioner Well-being
Early years practitioners and educators are the bodies and minds on the floor of our early years settings; supporting children’s learning and development, giving cuddles, wiping tears, running rooms, supporting other members of the team, meeting...
Shaping food relationships
Why is childhood such an important time for shaping food relationships? When it comes to feeding a child, there’s a lot more to it than simply filling them up. Whilst, of course, that is important, many other considerations influence a child’s...
Why engage your senses for mental health?
I’m Jo Grace: a Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist and Founder of The Sensory Projects. In this series of 10 articles, I am going to share some of my passion for understanding the sensory world with you. Connecting with your senses can...
Awareness of Group B Strep
Fact One baby a day will develop a Group B Strep infection One baby a week in the UK dies of Group B Strep One baby a fortnight is left with life-long disabilities The tragedy of these cases is that MOST ARE AVOIDABLE What is GBS? Group B...
The impact of ‘taught’ behaviours
Children are remarkable – they are always learning. Even before birth, children can recognise things from the world outside. Babies, only a few hours old, are able to differentiate the sounds of their native language from those of a foreign one,...
Nurturing lifelong learning with toddlers
As children reach their toddler years, their abilities and needs will, in many ways, become quite different to what they have experienced before. Their mobility, vocabulary and cognitive abilities are all increasing. But as these are not...
Building a skeleton!
Early childhood is a time which I refer to as a ‘window of opportunity’ for many elements of our future health. This is the time when we can lay down strong foundations to support us throughout the rest of our lives. One of those elements is the...
Staff health and well-being
In many jobs, the staff are central to the success of a business, but nowhere is this more important than in the caring and education sectors where there would be no business without the dedication and commitment of the staff on the front line....
Workplace challenges – what they are and how to overcome them
No matter where you work or what job you do, everyone at some point will face some workplace challenges. Whether you are a firefighter or an early years professional, there is no getting away from the fact that we all face challenges every day....
Learning Disability Week 2023
Learning Disability Week 2023 (LDW) runs from the 19th to the 25th of June and this year is all about busting the myths surrounding what life is like if you have a learning disability. According to the Mencap website: A myth is an idea about...
Attachment Disorders
Previously, we have looked at attachment disorders and how children whose early lives have been characterised by disruption, abuse and/or neglect that affects their relationship with their primary caregiver in a negative way, may develop a range...
Father’s Day and Men’s Health Week
In the UK, Father’s Day is always observed on the third Sunday of June, making the special day, Sunday 18th June 2023. Although Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are not public holidays here, the days celebrating our parents are actively observed by...
Building a Brain
During the early years, children experience rapid growth and development, a large proportion of which occurs within the brain. It takes a lot to build a brain, in fact from birth onwards, there is a phenomenal amount of growth to be done and...
Nurture your children’s ‘lifelong learning’ in the baby room
The features of ‘lifelong learning’ are present in every child, but they need validating, encouraging and nurturing during these early days. And this begins in the baby room. As you engage with your youngest children, take care not to lose their...
Sun Awareness Week: protecting children in our UK climate
Sun Awareness Week is an annual event that takes place in the UK every May, this year from 1st to 7th. Its aim is to improve understanding of the dangers of overexposure to the sun and the importance of sun safety. During the week, various...
Allergy Awareness Month
It’s May! Hooray! As we emerge from what might seem to some like the longest winter ever, lots of us welcome May as the month when the days get noticeably longer, the temperature starts to rise appreciably and the flowers and trees spring back...
Mental Health Awareness Week
Everyone knows that health is important, because without good health, our lives can be compromised, but our mental health is equally as important, because our mental health can have a huge impact on our physical health. However, many of us...
7 daily affirmations to create a fulfilled life
Affirmations are statements or phrases that we repeat frequently to ourselves to create a more positive mindset, and therefore a more fulfilled life. Our mind is a powerful tool that is programmed by repetition. The words that are said to us (by...
World Day for Health and Safety at Work
Health and safety are things we all talk about – whether it is to do with keeping ourselves healthy so that we can go to work and look after our children; or whether we mean keeping our home and environment protected using fire alarms and smoke...
Supporting children through difficult processes of social connections
From the day they are born, children are learning to understand and manage their emotions and behaviours. This is a complex process that will take years and many experiences to perfect, some of which will be more successful than others. It is...