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Today I'm speaking to Dr Hayley J Smith. She is a clinical psychologist and a mother of two. We have a thought provoking conversation about the school system, the increase in children's mental health difficulties caused by their experiences in schools and the problems with a school system that is so focused on targets and assessment to the detriment of those children with individual needs or children with SEN.

Unfortunately bullying exists and as parents we cannot always be there to protect our children. Instead we need to give them the skills necessary to help them navigate these challenges. This week I speak to Stella O'Malley, a psychotherapist and author of 'Bully-Proof Kids' about how we can implement so practical tools to help them. She also gives great advice to us as parents and guardians about what we can do if our child is being bullied, or is the bully. 

In this episode I am speaking to Bradley Busch, psychologist who with his co-author have written a new book: 'The Science of Learning: 77 Studies That Every Parent Should Know' Using the studies as a guide to help you to understand the mysteries of children's brains. We discuss parents’ understanding of crucial psychological research so that they can help their children improve how they think, feel and behave in school (and, indeed, in life). We discuss some of the fascinating research which includes data that a lot of parents will find very surprising and which goes against some of our common held assumptions.  To find out more about Bradley and his work visit: innderdrive.co.uk - visit the resources tab and you will find a large number of free resources on a whole range of topics.

Today I speak to Will Rainey, the founder of Blue Tree Savings. A blog aimed at helping as many parents teach their children about money. We talk about why pocket money is essential. Why Will refers to money as seeds and the simple money lessons we can learn. You can find out more tips from Will's blog at https://www.bluetreesavings.com/ 

In this episode I am speaking with the 'Homework Guru' Omari Eccleston-Brown. He offers private tutoring in the UK as well as internationally. In our discussion we discuss the challenge of homework and why it can be a battle ground between children and parents. Omari offers some great insights into why this is the case but also how we can make homework a more enjoyable and enriching experience all round.    If you'd like to find out more about Omari you can visit his website: www.believeinlearning.com . He is soon to be launching a new book, 'The secret to happy homework. The 7 hidden laws of success'.

This week I speak to Emma Gleadhill. She is an educational speaker, mentor and coach who specialises in child and adolescent development. Among other things we talk about why the 'sex talk' isn't a one off discussion but hundreds of small conversations over many years and also why starting the dialogue with your children empowers them to make more informed decisions later on in life.  Find out more about Emma: www.emmagleadhill.com 

This week I speak to Emily Leary, food blogger and the author of 'Get your kids to eat anything'.  We talk about some of the challenges that this brings and how we can encourage our children to be more adventurous with food. 

Perfectionism isn't the same as having high standards. In this episode I speak to parenting consultant Heather Rutherford. We discuss why perfectionism is becoming more of a problem today and she gives some great tips on how we can help our children. You can find out more on www.theparentingpartnership.com

This is a fascinating discussion with Alex Beard, the author of Natural Born Learners. He set out on a global quest to understand what children should be learning in today's world. Find out how children learn in different parts of the world and what we can learn from them. www.alexbeard.org   

Today I speak to Robert Gardner. He talks about his relationship with money growing up and delivers some great advice about how we can instil good money habits in our children. Money habits are formed by the age of 7 so the earlier we start the better! If you have feedback or ideas for future shows please email on lessonsoutside@gmail.com . Be sure to hit 'subscribe' so you are instantly notified when a new episode is released.

Today I speak to the inspirational Erika Brodnock. The Founder of Karisma Kids. She believes that every parent should be their child's best first educator. In our interview Erika shares her journey as well her personal experiences of raising four children. If you have any feedback please email me on lessonsoutside@gmail.com . If you listen on iTunes be sure to hit 'subscribe' so you are instantly notified when I release new episodes. 

This week I speak to Julie Dunford the founder of Family Learning School. In our interview we talk about homework, parental influence as well as the challenges of being a parent today. If you have any questions, feedback or ideas for future shows please email me on lessonsoutside@gmail.com . If you listen on iTunes be sure to hit 'subscribe' so you are instantly notified when I release new episodes. 

Welcome to the very first episode of the Lessons outside the Classroom podcast.  In this first episode, I spend a bit of time introducing myself. I am going to tell you about why I started this podcast and what you can expect from future shows.  I'm excited to bring you this content and I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions, feedback or ideas for future shows please email me on lessonsoutside@gmail.com .