The Importance of Reading in a Child’s Development
It’s undeniable that a child’s reading skills are important to their success in school, work, and life in general. And it is very possible to help ensure your child’s success by reading to them starting at a very early age. Here are some of the top reasons that reading to your children is beneficial to […]
Common Types of Reading Difficulties in Children
When we talk about reading difficulties it helps to think about the pattern of reading problems that the child displays. This helps us to get a better idea of whether the child’s difficulty is due purely to not having had enough experience in reading (as happens often with learning to read in English) or whether […]
What Are the 3 Main Types of Educational Assessments?
Educational Assessments can help you understand more about your child’s educational development. So you may find yourself contacting an Educational Psychologist to have an assessment done. But there is more than one type of assessment, so how do you know which one is best? We look at the three main types of educational assessments that […]
Educational Assessment – Why a child may need one
When it comes to education, all children have difficulties at school from time to time. It’s normal for an otherwise bright child to, for example, struggle with math. It’s also normal for children to have difficult weeks or months, And this may not just affect their academics, but also how they behave and get on […]
Early Childhood Development: Barriers to Learning
There are often challenges in early childhood development, especially in terms of learning. Younger children across the world often have challenges that result in them having difficulty learning in the same way others do. In Europe, for example, around 15% of school children have special academic needs. These barriers to learning are important to understand, […]
Why an Educational Assessment is Important
When it comes to your child’s development, it’s always important to ensure that they are developing and learning as they should. However, if you feel they aren’t – and the strategies put in place by their teachers are not making a difference – getting an educational assessment from an experienced educational psychologist may be the […]
5 negative emotions your child needs to experience
Everybody loves the positive emotions, right?! Bring on happiness, joy, pride and love by the truck full. But negative emotions make us feel uncomfortable and often, we do our utter best to avoid them. Yet, negative emotions are important. We probably all agree that people who are able to control their emotions navigate the difficulties […]
Lithium as a treatment in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
When I say the word “Lithium” many of you may make a loose association in your head with the word “depression”. And you’d be on the right track. In 1949 Australian psychiatrist John Cade first published a paper on the use of Lithium in the treatment of acute mania. Since then it has grown to […]
When kids are too scared to try
It breaks my heart. They sit at my desk looking like deer in headlights: eyes wide; nostrils flaring and stubbornly, resolutely refusing to even just try. Their potential is so obvious! I know that if I could fast forward into the future these will be the star athletes, ground-breaking scientist and award-winning actresses of tomorrow […]
How to help children with Selective Mutism
Children with selective mutism are physically capable of speaking, but do not speak in specific situations or to specific people. For more information on Selective Mutism and how it presents in children, read this article: http://www.childpsych.co.za/barriers-to-learning/selective-mutism/ Selective Mutism (SM) is a debilitating disorder and may have a very negative impact on a child’s daily functioning in […]
