28/08/2026
Parents apologise to me for these five things every single week. None of them are a problem.
1. Not reading yet, or not knowing all their letters, before they start school. Finland doesn’t start formal school until seven. And there’s research that followed kids who began reading instruction at five and kids who began at seven, and by age eleven there was no difference between them. The later group actually had slightly better comprehension.
2. Swapping hands when they draw, before 5 or 6. Hand dominance is still sorting itself out until then, and both hands getting a go is how it sorts.
3. Reversing letters like b and d, or p and q, up to about 7. The brain reads them as the same shape flipped over. Reading practice is what teaches it that orientation matters.
4. Wetting the bed before 6. At four, nearly one in three kids wet the bed. By six it’s about one in ten.
5. Not hitting a milestone on the dot. Worth monitoring, absolutely. Worth panicking about the exact week, no. A milestone is a range, not a date.
To be clear, monitoring isn’t the same as worrying. If something isn’t emerging at all, or you’ve got a feeling that won’t go away, get it looked at. Waiting and seeing is not the advice.
Save this, or send it to someone who needs to hear it.
#Ìparentingtips
