All genders

The brain develops very rapidly in the first 3 to 5 years of life. All the structures and building blocks are present by the age of 9. Find out when the different centres of the brain develop.

You can reduce the risk of diabetes complications by maximising the time your glucose levels are in the target range (4 to 8 mmol/L). Screening is important to find any possible developing complications early.

Tamariki (children) and rangatahi (young people) with diabetes can travel just the same as people without diabetes. You will need to do more planning to make sure travel plans include management of diabetes.

Tamariki (children) and rangatahi (young people) with diabetes do not usually become unwell any more often than tamariki without diabetes. They just need extra care and attention from an adult who has received training from a specialist diabetes team.

Hypoglycaemia happens when the blood glucose level is less than 4 mmol/L, or where your child has symptoms of hypoglycaemia at a level close to this.

Tamariki (children) and rangatahi (young people) with type 1 diabetes mellitus need insulin therapy to replace the insulin that the body can no longer produce. Tamariki and rangatahi with type 2 diabetes may also need insulin.

Attachment is the deep bond that develops between a child and their primary caregiver in the first few years of life. Secure attachments have positive outcomes for pēpi (babies) and tamariki (children) throughout their lives.

The content in this section has been produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and adapted from 'Much more than words | Manuka takoto, kawea ake'. If you would like to look at anything in more detail, this list of references might be a good starting point.

Some questions and answers to help you decide whether your child needs a referral to the Ministry of Education for their communication, speech or language development.

Communication skills are strongly linked to the development of reading and writing. The better a child's conversational skills now, the easier it will be for them to understand what they read later on.

Find out about how children's communication skills usually develop by the age of 5. Check some activity suggestions to encourage communication from 5 years. Use the language that you are most familiar and comfortable with.

Find out about how children's communication skills usually develop by the age of 4. Check some activity suggestions to encourage communication from 4 years. Use the language that you are most familiar and comfortable with.

Find out about how children's communication skills usually develop by the age of 3. Check some activity suggestions to encourage communication from 3 years. Use the language that you are most familiar and comfortable with.

Find out how children's communication skills usually develop by the age of 2. Check some activity suggestions to encourage communication from 2 years. Use the language that you are most familiar and comfortable with.

Find out about how children's communication skills usually develop by the age of 18 months. Check some activity suggestions to encourage communication from 18 months. Use the language that you are most familiar and comfortable with.

Here is some information about how children's communication skills usually develop by the age of 1. Below are some activity suggestions to encourage communication from 1 year. Use the language that you are most familiar and comfortable with.