The Blog
Reading, rhyme and character for children aged 4 to 9 — written by the author of Sing Me a Fable.
Why Rhyme Comes Before Reading
Hearing that cat and hat end the same is a stronger predictor of reading than knowing letters. Why, and what to do about it at home.
What Is a Fable? A One-Page Answer for Parents
A short definition, the four features that make one, and why a form this old still works on children who have seen everything.
The Child Who Only Plays It Their Way
Rigid play looks like bossiness but comes from somewhere else. Why some children cannot bend the rules, and how to help them start.
Why Children Shout, and What Lowers the Volume
A child who shouts is not usually being rude. They are being loud because loud has worked. What to change, starting with your own volume.
The Child Who Wants Everything in the Shop
Wanting more is not greed at five, it is a child with no sense of enough. How to build one, and how to survive the supermarket in the meantime.
Is My Child a Bully, or Just Unkind?
The word gets used for everything from one mean remark to sustained cruelty. How to tell the difference, and why it changes what you do.
When Your Child Hits First and Thinks Second
Some children go from calm to hitting with nothing in between. What is happening in that gap, and what actually widens it.
Teaching Gratitude Without Forcing “Thank You”
A prompted thank-you is a password, not gratitude. Four things that build the real version in a four- to seven-year-old, none of them a lecture.
When a Child Takes Something That Isn't Theirs
A small child pocketing something is not theft in the adult sense. What it usually means at four to seven, and how to handle it without a scene.
Reading Aloud When You Feel Silly Doing Voices
You do not need to be a performer. Four small techniques do more than character voices, and none of them requires acting ability.
The 15-Minute Read-Aloud for a Bad Bedtime
On the evenings when nobody has the patience left, a short honest routine beats a long ideal one. Here is what to keep and what to drop.
Why Children Remember Songs and Forget Instructions
A child who cannot recall what you said two minutes ago can sing a jingle from two years ago. The mechanism, and how to borrow it.
Letter of the Week: Does It Work?
The most common way to teach the alphabet is also one of the slowest. Whether to keep it, and the two changes that fix most of the problem.
Letter Names or Letter Sounds First?
Parents get told opposite things by school and by the internet. Here is the honest answer, and why it matters less than the order suggests.
Fable, Fairy Tale, Folktale: The Difference
Three words used interchangeably for three different things. A short answer you can settle it with, and why the distinction is worth knowing.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf: What It Actually Teaches
The lesson is not “lying is wrong”. It is something more useful, and more frightening, that children grasp immediately.
Teaching Honesty After Your Child Has Just Lied
Most lies at four to seven are wishes, not deception. What to do in the ten minutes after you catch one, and the trap to avoid.
The Child Who Always Expects the Worst
Some children narrate disaster before anything has happened. How to lift the mood without lying to them, and what not to argue with.
Homework First or Play First? What the Ant Knew
The evidence is thinner than either camp claims. What actually decides it is your particular child, and one thing that matters more than order.
“It's Not Fair”: Envy at Four, Five and Six
Children keep a scoreboard adults gave up on. What is behind the fairness complaint, and the answer that actually settles it.
Helping a Cautious Child Do the Brave Thing
Pep talks do not make a hesitant child braver. Small, boring, repeated steps do. What courage actually looks like at four to seven.
Teaching Manners Without Saying “Say Please” Again
Prompted manners disappear the moment you stop prompting. How to give a child a reason for politeness that survives your absence.
The Child Who Argues About Everything
Some children negotiate every instruction, every day. What is behind it, which arguments to allow, and how to end the ones that are not real.
Singing the Alphabet Isn't Learning It
Your child sings the alphabet perfectly and cannot name a letter on the page. That is normal, and here is what comes next.
Two Blending Games You Can Play in the Car
Blending and segmenting are the two skills reading is built on, and both work with no materials at all. Two games, five minutes, nothing to print.
Why Fables Use Animals Instead of Children
Two and a half thousand years of moral stories, and almost none of them star a child. The reason is practical, and it is why fables still work.
Why Nagging Gets Worse the More You Repeat It
Asking ten times teaches a child that the first nine do not count. How to break the loop, from both directions, without raising your voice.
When Your Child Is Jealous of a Friendship
Your child's best friend has made another best friend, and there are tears at pickup. What jealousy at this age is, and the words that help most.
The Bossy Phase: Why It Happens at Five
Bossiness at four or five is usually a child practising competence, not power. How to keep the leadership and lose the ordering-people-about.
How to Answer a Child Who Brags Constantly
Bragging is not arrogance at five, it is a bid for attention. What to say in the moment, and the one question that ends it without shaming.
How to Teach a Child Patience (When Waiting Feels Impossible)
Waiting is a skill, not a mood. Six things that actually build patience in a four- to seven-year-old, and why a story teaches it faster than a rule does.
Free Games That Teach Feelings, Not Just Letters
Most free games for young children drill letters and numbers. These teach a behaviour instead — one animal, one fault, two minutes, no sign-up.
Why “Share Your Toys” Doesn’t Work — and What Does
Telling a child to share teaches obedience, not generosity. A simpler question works better: are you actually using it?
Teaching the Alphabet with Fables: A Letter, an Animal, a Lesson
A practical way to teach letter sounds to 4-7 year olds using rhyming fables, one animal and one character trait per letter.
26 Character Traits Children Can Learn, A to Z
An A-to-Z list of the character traits children meet early — from aggression to zealotry — and how to talk about each one without lecturing.
