Wednesday Wisdom
Tooled Up Tips for Parents and Educators Around the World
06/05/2026
Reluctant Readers
I feel a bit of a fraud writing this week’s Wednesday Wisdom. I know I’m very lucky, but both of my children enjoyed reading from an early age and have continued to do so into their teens. That’s not the experience of many families. For lots of parents, including many friends, reading can feel like a battleground, perhaps particularly during the primary years. Plenty of people I know also have one child who loves nothing more than burying their nose in their favourite book and another who rarely chooses to read at all.
29/04/2026
Parenting Panopticons
Last weekend in London, I was enjoying a rare moment of sunshine while walking past Madame Tussauds when a commotion on the pavement startled me. A young boy, around nine years old, had come to an abrupt, determined halt. He loudly declared that his mum was a “psycho” and, for added emphasis, dropped his large Stanley Cup onto the pavement, which caused a loud bang.
22/04/2026
Stress and Support
April is Stress Awareness Month in the UK and this year’s theme is #BeTheChange. As part of Tooled Up’s contribution, we hope to increase understanding of autistic burnout. Burnout is chronic mental, physical and emotional exhaustion caused by cumulative stress overwhelm and continual masking, without adequate support or understanding.
15/04/2026
Love, To the Moon and Back
There is a vast skylight above my bed, too large and too expensive to ever cover. Most nights, before falling asleep, I look up. Jupiter glows, constellations shift, the occasional object sparkles. I wonder whether it’s a plane heading towards the nearby airport or something more galactic!
25/03/2026
Community and Connection
Regular readers of Wednesday Wisdom will probably have noticed that there are a few patterns to how we approach writing this weekly blog. We tend to start with a ‘hook’, introducing the topic that we plan to discuss. We might explore something topical from the news. Sometimes, we home in on something we’ve learned from professional conversations. At others, we open with a more personal anecdote. This week, I knew that I wanted to write about community, both its importance to children and young people more widely, and the community we are building within Tooled Up Education. But where to start?
18/03/2026
Grifters and Gurus
Much of my work involves scrutinising claims about what is supposedly “good” or “bad” for children and young people. It often leads me deep into research rabbit holes. One such deep dive this week reminded me how easily misinformation can be amplified through digital media and even by people in powerful positions.
11/03/2026
Empathy in Action
You’ve probably noticed that Tourette Syndrome has hit the headlines in recent weeks. While much of the press coverage focused on a distressing moment at the BAFTA (film) awards, I want to turn briefly instead to the film that was being celebrated.
04/03/2026
Poor Punch
As Mother’s Day reminders appear here in the UK ahead of the 15th March, we are gently steered toward a familiar and comforting narrative: mothers as instinctively nurturing, endlessly self-sacrificing and biologically primed to love quickly and unconditionally. The cultural script reassures us. Maternal devotion is natural. Automatic. Universal. Or is it?