Dilemmas & solutions

Recent figures have shown that at the end of the academic year 2011/12, 88,000 children left primary school not having reached the required literacy standard for an eleven year old. The reasons for this are numerous and in many cases complex, as Julia Bairstow certainly encountered during her many years of teaching and more recently, whilst attending a launch meeting for the Volunteer Reading Help (VRH) charity and Igennus Healthcare Nutrition.

David Hodgson, Partner, Family Dept, Fisher Meredith LLP discusses what you should do to protect your chidlren if you die early.

Local authorities start sending out their decisions regarding the allocation of school places for September 2012 on 1 March. So what do you do if your child has not been allocated a place in the reception or secondary school of your choice? Associate solicitor Laura Berman gives her advice.

Subtitled How to enjoy mealtimes without worry, this excellent and sensible book, My Child Won't Eat! by Carlos González and published by Pinter & Martin should be on every new parent's bookshelf, writes Anne Coates.

A concerned parent asks Anne Coates, "What do you recommend for an 18 year old who cannot sleep near the exams and it's affecting his concentration?"

Research has shown that authoritative parenting produces the best results for our children. Here Anne Coates gives her top ten tips on how to become an authoritative parent.

From 15 to 19 November schools throughout the UK will be involved in highlighting anti-bullying strategies, an opportune moment for parents to read Lyndhall Horton-James' book: Raising Bullywise Kids published by The Soaring Phoenix.

Whether your child has just started school or is in the sixth form, parents' evenings can be daunting and unsatisfactory. Read Parenting Without Tears' top ten tips to get the most from your school meetings.

The plight of grandparents unable to see their grandchildren has been highlighted by Nick Clegg. Grace Parker-White, Senior Associate, Stevens & Bolton LLP, explains the current situatioon and how it is likely to change.

Lucy Lloyd, from the Family and Parenting Institute, explains how parents can find quality childcare solutions.

The experts at the Playwork division at SkillsActive, the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure and Learning, has compiled the nine questions every parent should ask before choosing a registered out of school club or play setting.

Our two daughters, 12 and 16, share a room but they fight constantly and when they're not doing that they're moaning to us about each other. It would be best if we could separate them but at the moment that's simply not a possibility. I just don't know how to get them to be nice to each other, or even how to get them to leave each other alone. I feel the younger one goes out of her way to upset her older sister, but then I also know that the older one can be horrid to her sister. It's starting to feel like an impossible situation.

Do-it-yourself DNA kits to test paternity are now available to purchase on-line but, as Katharine Vigus, Senior Solicitor at Mills & Reeve, explains courts are giving proper consideration to "non-conventional" parents.

When going abroad it's not just the air tickets and passports that need to be remembered; both parents must be in agreement with the proposed travel plans or a court application may be required, writes lawyer Georgina Vallance-Webb.

I've just got a phone bill for £400! It turns out that my 16 year-old son has met a girl on the internet who lives a few hundred miles away. As well as talking to her endlessly on on MSN, it now turns out that he's also been phoning her on her mobile. A lot. He has agreed to pay back the money but he doesn't seem to have grasped why this might be a problem. I'm concerned about the very idea of meeting someone online but he tells me it's totally normal and everyone does it. What should I do?

My 13-year-old son is truanting. He's been steadily going off school for the past year or so but I thought it was just a phase that would pass. However he seems quite open about hating it. He didn't really bother to hide the fact that he had stayed at home instead of going to school; he just said school is boring and that there's no point in going. What should I do?

National Pet Month - 4 April to 4 May - is promoting good pet ownership and raising money to help the nation’s animal charities. The theme is Healthy Pets Make Happy Pets and here are the top ten tips.

Our daughter is 13 and I'm worried she's wasting money on her mobile phone. We bought her a phone for safety but she uses it to talk to and text friends. It's on a contract where she gets a reasonable amount of free call minutes and texts but we've noticed that her bills are claiming most if not all of her pocket money. I think she could be doing something better with it than spending it on phone calls but perhaps I'm being too harsh?