Notes for parents
Short, practical writing about the years between two and eight. No statistics we cannot stand behind, no advice that needs a perfect household to follow.
How Much Screen Time Is Actually OK for a 2-8 Year Old?
The hour limit you have read about is a useful floor, not the whole answer. What a screen does to your child depends far more on what happens on it, and what it replaces, than on the number of minutes.
8 min read
What Order Should You Teach Letters In?
Not A, B, C. The order that helps a child read is the one that lets them build real words within a week. Here is the sequence, the sounds to say out loud, and the letters worth delaying.
9 min read
School readinessWhat 'School Ready' Really Means (And What It Doesn't)
Teachers are not hoping for a four year old who can read. They are hoping for one who can hang up a coat, sit for ten minutes, and cope with not going first. Here is the honest list.
8 min read
ConfidenceWhen Your Child Gives Up the Second It Gets Hard
"I can't do it" thirty seconds in, then the pencil goes down. It is almost never laziness. Here is what is usually going on, and what to do differently tonight.
8 min read
Play at homeLearning Through Play, With Things You Already Own
No kit, no printables, no dedicated hour. The maths and reading a 2-8 year old needs is already sitting in your kitchen drawer, your laundry basket and the walk to the shops.
9 min read
WritingIs My Child Ready to Write? And How Should They Hold a Pencil?
Handwriting starts in the shoulder, not the fingers. Here are the actual signs of readiness, the grip explained properly, and the shapes that have to come before letters.
9 min read