Child neuropsychologist Valentina Paevskaya

Child neuropsychologist Valentina Paevskaya A specialist in early childhood, a practising child psychologist and a neuropsychologist. 16 years of practice.

01/16/2026

Tying shoelaces means the ability to imagine an action in advance, hold the sequence in mind, and carry it out through movement. In scientific terms, this is called motor planning.

The same thing happens when a child cuts, builds, or constructs without instructions, which pushes them to roughly imagine what they want to make and keep the whole plan in their head.

Motor planning is the foundation for:
• independence
• writing and reading
• concentration and willpower
• finishing what you start

That’s why lace-up shoes are one of the most accessible daily “brain workouts.”

When we constantly simplify — velcro, “I’ll just do it faster myself” — we take away developmental potential from the child.

01/14/2026

How to Stop Snapping at Your Older Child

Create positive emotional experiences with them. For example: a weekly café date, a theater outing, or a museum trip, just the two of you.
What matters is consistent one-on-one time.

And don’t forget about yourself. Sometimes outbursts have physiological reasons. It may be worth checking in with your doctor.

01/13/2026

Environment shapes thinking.
If a four-year-old only has stacking toys and picture books on the shelf, don’t be surprised if they show no interest in learning.

Children develop through what surrounds them. Books expand horizons. When encyclopedias, factual books, and “books to grow into” appear nearby, curiosity naturally follows: what’s this?

Create a space where it’s interesting for a child to grow.
A child’s room is a mirror of their cognitive activity.

01/13/2026

A child rarely does something out of spite. Much more often — out of helplessness.

01/12/2026

Treat your child’s body the way you want their future partner to treat it.
No spanking. No slaps. No pushing, kicking, or hitting on the head. That’s the goal.

If you notice that you sometimes raise your hand toward your child, it’s important to stop this as soon as possible.
The earlier you do, the healthier your child’s boundaries in communication, in relationships, and in their future family life will be.

01/11/2026

Balls are the foundation for activating brain development.

Games with balls of different sizes should be introduced as early as age one.
At first, it’s just throwing.
Then learning to catch.
A bit later — tossing the ball up and catching it, gradually making it harder: adding claps, more height, more coordination.

Sadly, we’re seeing this more and more often: five-year-olds who can’t toss a ball up and catch it.
Don’t take away your child’s developmental potential. Play the simplest games, because they hold so much more value than they seem.

01/09/2026

Don’t Foster Codependency in Your Children

How to organize the process:Let them wash two socks using a bar of soap.Show the steps one by one: wet, soap, rub, rinse...
01/08/2026

How to organize the process:
Let them wash two socks using a bar of soap.
Show the steps one by one: wet, soap, rub, rinse, wring out.
At the end, hang the socks to dry using clothespins.
From time to time, add a few more items: underwear, T-shirts, handkerchiefs.

Don’t present this as a “you have to.”
Frame it like this instead:
You’re doing this so well — can you help me soap this stain, please?

01/07/2026

By age three, a child is physiologically ready to dress and undress independently. It’s not an easy skill, and it develops gradually.

As soon as a child starts walking, you can gently introduce the first steps: teach them to pull pants down and up, then socks, and slowly add new actions, making the task a bit more complex over time.

One important thing to remember: getting dressed is always harder than getting undressed. So move from simple to more difficult, and give your child enough time to master each stage.

Monthly recommendation — fewer gadgets, more real connection.Less screen time means more presence. More real conversatio...
01/05/2026

Monthly recommendation — fewer gadgets, more real connection.

Less screen time means more presence. More real conversations, shared activities, and simple moments with family and with yourself.

Quiet time without a screen gives rest to the eyes, the brain, and the nervous system. That’s where clarity and inner calm start to return.

Just a few days without constant “online” changes how life feels, and you notice more details, more sensations, more of the present moment.

Less time on the phone. More time for life.

01/04/2026

There is no healthy childhood without tears and meltdowns.

If you allow yourself to fall apart once in a while, you’ll react much more calmly to your child’s meltdowns too.

Moms, do you ever let yourself cry?

01/02/2026

Think about whether your child might be getting secondary benefits from nighttime bedwetting.
Are they making up for missing affection and attention?

Basic rules for children 4+ with enuresis:
- Give your child attention during the day, while they’re awake.
- Remove the comfort factor — the child changes the bed themselves if there’s an accident. Expect resistance; that’s normal.
- Don’t wake your child to use the bathroom at night. Don’t reinforce this habit.
- Don’t check whether the bed is dry or wet. Step in only if the child wakes up on their own and comes to tell you (then follow rule #2).
-Never go back to diapers if you’ve already stopped using them. From a brain development perspective, this is the worst thing you can do.

The child’s brain needs to learn to regulate this process on its own — either to hold it until morning or to wake up and go to the bathroom.
If you’re doing everything right and nothing changes, consult a child psychologist to understand whether there was stress, overtiredness, unrealistic expectations, or whether secondary benefits are still present.

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