Spending Time with Children

When I was a child I often asked for shiny new toys or objects which I wanted very badly. Usually the answer was 'no', but my mum or dad would tell me that it didn't matter because I was lucky enough to have lots of family members to play with, so I didn't need those things that I asked for.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_sxDo00n-AmkfUBMxL4rkm3ICEU_KvcsDs7WaHWGXoQhni4qyLDPO_79oDwwq_d6bt_7gPvpPJOB-YkZXyvoTCbKNjJFQp3Mxbdh9ARY2cfyqyiXAWAg_5uCGG8TIzQuodo521I2tg/s1600-h/Hands.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="180" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058074916876384114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_sxDo00n-AmkfUBMxL4rkm3ICEU_KvcsDs7WaHWGXoQhni4qyLDPO_79oDwwq_d6bt_7gPvpPJOB-YkZXyvoTCbKNjJFQp3Mxbdh9ARY2cfyqyiXAWAg_5uCGG8TIzQuodo521I2tg/s200/Hands.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 125px; height: 149px;" width="124" /></a><br />Now it seems that my parents were right all along (as usual...). A <a href="http://www.learningbenefits.net/Publications/ResReps/ResRep22.pdf" target="_blank">new </a><a href="http://www.learningbenefits.net/Publications/ResReps/ResRep22.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> has concluded that while there is a place for toys, the biggest influence on a child's development is the level of one-to-one interaction and personal attention that they receive. The research, conducted by the Institute of Education, is the latest report from a long-term project which is tracking the development of 12,500 children born between 1991 and 1992.

Spending Time with Children

When I was a child I often asked for shiny new toys or objects which I wanted very badly. Usually the answer was 'no', but my mum or...

Read more »

Autism

A Southampton University project has concluded that intensive tutoring can <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6593185.stm" target="_blank">raise the IQ levels of autistic children</a>; the study, which was carried out over 2 years, involved children receiving home education from a personal tutor for 25 hours per week.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyone with an interest in this area has a number of internet sources and reports to choose from. <a href="http://www.researchautism.net/" target="_blank">Research Autism</a> is a newly-launched website which aims to present authoritative research in a clear, user-friendly manner. The site has links with the <a href="http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/" target="_blank">Autism Research Centre</a> at Cambridge University and the <a href="http://www.nas.org.uk/" target="_blank">National Autistic Society</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br />For an in-depth look at what is known about the condition, this <em><a href="http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/publication/HMIE%20Literature%20Review.pdf" target="_blank">Literature Review of Autism </a></em>from 2005 is well worth reading, while <em><a href="http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/download?id=17343&filename=reaching-out-reaching-in-summary.pdf" target="_blank">Reaching Out, Reaching In</a> </em>is a report which looks at how autistic children can be successfully integrated into a mainstream school. Users of Athens may also be interested to know that issues of the <em>Autism</em> journal can be accessed via Sage Online back to 1999.

Autism

A Southampton University project has concluded that intensive tutoring can raise the IQ levels of autistic children ; the study, which was c...

Read more »