As parents, we all have a secret toolkit that we carry around with us: distractions, ways of speaking, words we say, maybe even a mini Soreen or a box of raisins… We draw on our invisible tools all day and every day to survive each varied moment, from get up time to bedtime, as smoothly as we can. For over 30 years, Social Stories have been written to support children with learning difficulties, but with AI being so easy to access now, Social Stories can be created in a few

Happy New Year! Whether you vow to take up running, promise to make your bed every day, or tell yourself you’re going to eat your five-a-day each day of the week, it’s very well known that New Year’s resolutions are almost impossible to stick to. Our lives are so busy, it’s often really difficult to even think up any changes we want to make, so putting them into practice is even harder. I once heard someone on a podcast saying that it takes an adult at least two weeks to cha

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” The cakes and mince pies may have been made for a couple of months now (or in the shops if, like me, you don’t make your own!) and Black Friday, Red Monday and all the other coloured days that marketing teams can think of, are coming thick and fast. You’ve worked out who is going where on Christmas Day, how many chairs you’ll need (remember that Peter Kay joke about everyone being on different chairs around the table, at a range of

Review commissioned for Ryedale and Thirsk Mumbler, July 2024. The short version: Well organised, great food, good bands, funny...

‘Discover Northallerton’ through an augmented reality tour! Now there’s a new way to take a look into the past as you explore North...

A last-minute trip to Disneyland, on a budget? That's not possible, surely? It was! I usually write about supporting learning, reading, writing, handwriting etc, but this time, we did some learning of a different kind! Once in a lifetime, perhaps. Towards the end of the summer holidays, my sister suggested a few days away with our children. With busy weeks behind us, we'd hardly seen the cousins and a little trip away seemed like a good idea. I was dreading the suggestio