Top Tips for Starting School

Quick, easy and commonsense advice on preparing your child for school

quick, easy and commonsense advice on how to prepare a child for school

Dr Helen Likierman is a school counsellor and a clinical psychologist in private practice. She is a parent of two teenage children and so has hands-on experience as a parent. 
 
Dr Valerie Muter is a clinical and research psychologist with a special interest in children's early cognitive development, particularly in relation to language and literacy. 
 
www.psykidz.co.uk.

Starting school can be an anxious time for many children, but there are simple steps you can take to prepare yourself and your pre-school child. 
 
Written by experienced child psychologists, Top Tips for Starting School will help you to: 
- Encourage your child to develop good social skills and friendships 
- Improve your child's use of language 
- Develop preparatory reading, number and writing skills 
- Promote emotional well-being 
 
And much more!

How to make sure your child gets off to a flying start

Prepare Your Child for School

This unique guide will ensure your pre-school child gets off to a flying start at school

It's to do with sharing, listening, speaking, playing: just getting on with others. That's why the advice in this book is useful and necessary

excellent advice for parents of first time pupils

covers the full range of early skills that are necessary for a successful start to a child's school career

A calm and helpful book for parents keen to get their child ready to tackle the school experience

This is a book I wish all parents would read before their children start at our school! ...readable,sensible and realistic.It also accepts that no parent can be perfect yet we can all still give our child a sound and sensible start to school in the UK

Gillian Smith, Headmistress Park Hill School Kingston

offers helpful, practical advice ... a valuable resource for parents

Dr Valerie Muter is a clinical and research psychologist with a special interest in children's early cognitive development, particularly in relation to language and literacy. 
 
Dr Helen Likierman is a school counsellor and a clinical psychologist in private practice. She is a parent of two teenage children and so has hands-on experience as a parent. 
 
www.psykidz.co.uk.

Prepare Your Child for School answers the questions every parent asks when their child is about to leave their exclusive care and go out into the world of school: 
- Is my child ready for this challenge? 
- Will the teacher bring out the best in my child? 
- What can I do to help my child cope with the stresses, demands and expectations of school life? 
- Will other children play with my child? 
- Does my child know enough? 
- Can my child communicate well? 
- Is my child ready to learn to read and write? 
 
Aimed both at parents of pre-school children (3 to 6 years old) and at teachers and carers, this practical book, including numerous charts, checklists, questionnaires and structured activities for developing children's skills as well as promoting their emotional well-being, will act as a blueprint for action.

Valerie Muter

Dr Helen Likierman

A parents' guide to dyslexia, dyspraxia and other learning difficulties

Many children spend their entire school lives struggling with their school work. Research has shown that at least 10-15 per cent of children with apparently normal learning ability will have a significant problem with school learning. They may feel that whatever they do it is not good enough - either for their parents, their teachers or indeed themselves. This can often result in feelings of demoralisation, and even alienation from learning and school. This book aims to address these issues and to help parents understand and deal with them. 
 
Dyslexia: A Parents' Guide starts by correcting common misconceptions of learning difficulties that are rife in the press and popular literature, and addresses the conflicting approaches and advice from 'experts'. This authoritative guide then moves through diagnosis – with information on dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, discalculia and more – to offering practical and easy tips to enable parents to help their child overcome their learning difficulty. 
 
Both authors are practising psychologists with extensive knowledge and experience of children's learning difficulties. They will show parents how to develop a successful approach to assessing and subsequently managing their child's difficulties.

Valerie Muter

Books by Valerie Muter

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter