As they grow up, our children’s learning needs develop through phases that are just as distinct as their behavioural phases (think for a moment how their behaviour changes from dependent baby to adorable toddler to lovable pre-teen to impossible teenager to independent young adolescent …). Similarly, their learning skills develop from instinctively learning basic functioning as baby, to simple copying and repetition, to deliberate memorisation by primary school. As they enter more advanced grades they increasingly need to develop process thinking in order to solve problems that look different from examples that they have studied – particularly if they need to cope with subjects such as maths, science and accounting. They need to make huge leaps in terms of volume and complexity of study material, study methods and their ability to function more independently – typically moving through three phases in primary school and two more phases in high school. I assist with counselling to help them transition through these phases. Maths anxiety, test anxiety and exam anxiety start rearing their heads from as early as grade 4 or 5. I have separate programmes for dealing with uncomplicated anxieties that require interventions without therapy, and for complicated anxieties with deeper underlying issues that fuel their fears.