Received wisdom has it that babies and toddlers up to about 30 months/3 years thrive best if they enjoy a warm and stable relationship with at least one adult, responsive to their needs. This notion is well-supported by scientific evidence. Sound attachment, established first with the mother, is forged through consistent and committed care. OBSERVATIONS:…
At the end of November 2018 the first of three programmes, focusing on the under-twos and entitled Babies: Their Wonderful World, was televised. I was looking forward to the programmes, which I hoped would explore the rapid development of a baby’s brain in the first two years of life and how consistent, sensitive loving care…
The events and atmosphere in Parliament this week are being compared by the Press to war time in May 1940, a time of almost unprecedented national crisis. While the United Kingdom in January 2019 may not be faced by the treat of invasion by a military force, the debacle of the fallout of the Referendum…
As a grandparent to two lovely young people who are now young adults, I find myself reflecting on all my years of involvement in their lives. In this troubled world, with so many insecurities and uncertainties which I do not need to explain, widely published in the media, a small group of like-minded grandparents…
At a recent screening in Twickenham of the 2016 American film ‘Resilience’, Sir Vince Cable, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for Twickenham, Whitton, Teddington, and The Hamptons, summed up the post-film discussion with a question, “What do children need to thrive, and how can we help parents to provide this?” He said, “They…
Talk to me! Is an expectant mother aware that her child is tuning into her voice? In the early months of life it is the sound of her voice that will stimulate the learning centres of her baby’s brain, and it is especially high-pitched ‘baby talk’, sometimes called ‘Motherese’, that will have the greatest impact….