Open Doors Therapy UK

10/12/2025

Parents often hear about the importance of milestones like crawling, rolling, or tummy time - but do you know why they matter so much?

Dr. Tony Ebel explains that these early movements help wire the brain for later emotional and cognitive skills. When milestones are skipped or rushed, the brain can miss vital chances to build strong connections.
Sometimes the result shows up years later as anxiety, reactivity, or difficulty focusing. Not because a child is “naughty” or “lazy” but because their brain is working under stress.

Movement-based support can give children another chance to strengthen these foundations, helping them feel calmer, more settled, and better able to learn.
(Ref: Dr. Tony Ebel, pxdocs.com, July 2025)

10/12/2025

Yet children are often getting less music in school

Music is one of the strongest tools for early brain growth. Children learn best through sound, rhythm, and movement, and these experiences build important pathways in the developing mind. Music supports thinking skills long before homework can make a difference.

Researchers found that even one year of music lessons can raise a child’s IQ in a meaningful way. The combination of rhythm, listening, and coordination activates many parts of the brain at the same time. This activity strengthens memory, focus, and problem solving.

When children clap, sing, or explore simple instruments, their brain becomes more flexible. These moments train attention and pattern recognition, which help with reading and learning later. Music also supports emotional growth by giving children a safe way to express feelings.

Parents may think music is only a hobby, but science shows it is a powerful form of training. It teaches timing, patience, and listening, skills that shape strong thinking habits. These lessons help the brain grow in ways that worksheets cannot.

Offering music in daily life, even through simple songs or steady beats, supports healthy development. With time and practice, children gain confidence and sharper thinking, showing how deeply music guides the mind during early growth.

07/12/2025

Children Who Keep a Beat Learn to Read Better—Science Shows How

Research shows that rhythm skills in early childhood are closely tied to language and reading development. Preschoolers who can accurately clap or tap to a beat score up to 30% higher on phonological awareness and pre-reading assessments compared to peers with weaker rhythm skills (Gordon et al., 2020).

Brain studies reveal why: children with stronger rhythm abilities have sharper neural entrainment to speech sounds, meaning their brains respond more precisely to syllables and phonemes—critical for decoding words. This neural precision predicts better reading fluency and comprehension in elementary school.

In 2024, a study tested a six-week rhythm-training program in elementary children. Students who engaged in daily 20-minute rhythm games improved reading fluency by 15–20% compared to a control group, demonstrating that musical rhythm practice directly enhances literacy skills (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2024).

Reading itself is rhythmic: the brain must track speech patterns, predict upcoming sounds, and organize language into meaningful units. Children with poor rhythm processing often struggle to segment words, which is why early rhythm skills can prevent later reading difficulties.

Activities like clapping to music, tapping along with songs, or interactive rhythm games strengthen the auditory-motor pathways in the brain and improve attention, working memory, and processing speed—foundational skills for reading and language.

Sources: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2024; Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2021; Tierney & Kraus, 2013; Gordon et al., 2020."

07/12/2025

It is the ancient knowledge confirmed by modern science and yet as a society many have lost the tradition of 'patter cake' etc.

Children Who Keep a Beat Learn to Read Better—Science Shows How

Research shows that rhythm skills in early childhood are closely tied to language and reading development. Preschoolers who can accurately clap or tap to a beat score up to 30% higher on phonological awareness and pre-reading assessments compared to peers with weaker rhythm skills (Gordon et al., 2020).

Brain studies reveal why: children with stronger rhythm abilities have sharper neural entrainment to speech sounds, meaning their brains respond more precisely to syllables and phonemes—critical for decoding words. This neural precision predicts better reading fluency and comprehension in elementary school.

In 2024, a study tested a six-week rhythm-training program in elementary children. Students who engaged in daily 20-minute rhythm games improved reading fluency by 15–20% compared to a control group, demonstrating that musical rhythm practice directly enhances literacy skills (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2024).

Reading itself is rhythmic: the brain must track speech patterns, predict upcoming sounds, and organize language into meaningful units. Children with poor rhythm processing often struggle to segment words, which is why early rhythm skills can prevent later reading difficulties.

Activities like clapping to music, tapping along with songs, or interactive rhythm games strengthen the auditory-motor pathways in the brain and improve attention, working memory, and processing speed—foundational skills for reading and language.

Sources: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2024; Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2021; Tierney & Kraus, 2013; Gordon et al., 2020."

17/11/2025

Low Omega-3 Linked to Higher ADHD Symptoms

A new study links reduced omega-3 intake to increased ADHD symptoms among Palestinian adolescents, showing that diet and socioeconomic status both play major roles in attention and behavior.

Researchers found that even when income and education were considered, omega-3 deficiency remained tied to symptom severity.

The findings suggest school-based nutrition programs could be a practical, low-cost tool to improve adolescent mental health worldwide.

03/11/2025

QUICK PREWRITING EXERCISE
The following exercises are designed to stimulate a child’s proprioceptive feedback and so give the child greater fine motor and more comfortable pencil control lasting up to about 40 minutes. Not only have teachers reported back that this has improved writing within their class but that children are often stiller and more focused as they write.
Children with proprioceptive difficulties can temporarily awaken (about 40 minutes) their proprioception by doing some simple and quick Prewrite Warmups. For many children this improves the fluidity of pencil movement, and accuracy of intent.
• Play an ‘air piano’ for a few seconds.
• Put index fingertip to thumb tip and rapidly tap 5 times, using both hands. Repeat finger thumb tapping with the other fingers.
• Grasp right wrist with left hand and gently ‘yank’ the arm 10 times. Swap hands and repeat.
• Whilst sitting securely on a chair place palms on the edge of the seat or desk and do ten sitting press ups.
Remarkably with the groups and classes of children I have done this with, the children were generally more focused and less fidgety afterward.
PART OF MY BODY SYNTONIC HANDWRITING COURSE FOR TEACHERS

29/10/2025

‘’Different activities to engage children, keeps them interested and actually wanting to do their writing practice. Even teachers have said they've seen improvement in his writing which is AMAZING news! Big praise thank you for these, it has become a family favourite.’’ 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 - Elizabeth W

It's the perfect time to get little ones having fun learning indoors on those cold days or get started on some early Christmas shopping with our handwriting activity packs designed to make learning to write exciting for little learners!

Shop Fun Handwriting Activity Packs & Resources for Ages 2–9 and enjoy 20% OFF with code LEARN20 and make learning fun this season 🎁✏️

29/10/2025

28/10/2025

ADHD Awareness Month
Poem 25 – When Sleep Won’t Come

When the world slows down,
mine speeds up.
It’s as if the quiet
turns the volume inside me on high.

My body is tired,
my eyes are sore,
but my thoughts?
They have other plans.
They dance.
They build.
They refuse to rest.

Do I really want to borrow
from tomorrow’s energy tank
by staying awake now?
No. I don’t.
Sometimes it’s enough
to ask myself that question
and move toward bed.
But mostly,
this isn’t about choice or habit.
It’s about a busy, racing, brilliant mind
that won’t let go of today,
and just won’t stop whirling.

My circadian rhythm,
Is out of sync,
running late.
A brain still sparking
when it should be sedate.

It’s lonely, sometimes,
to be awake
when everyone else drifts easy.
To feel like night is both
a friend and a thief.
Stealing rest,
but offering clarity.

And when at last
sleep takes pity,
it comes in bursts,
in patches,
like everything else about me.

When the world slows down,
mine speeds up.
And somewhere between
the quiet and the dawn,
I finally close my eyes.

Jannine Perryman

26/10/2025

Connecting, Sharing and Empowering