Hyper-parenting support teams

Helen Kirwan-Taylor12 April 2012
Kids love her for

Learning-disorder specialist

Laura Irwin

Parents love her for treating symptoms from handwriting difficulties to temper tantrums.

The routine Devised according to a child's needs.

Drawbacks None.

Cost per month £220 (£55 per hourly session). 020 7243 3590

Nanny

Joelle How

Kids love her for sustaining their social lives. Nannies are to children what PAs are to parents, managing 'playdates' instead of meetings.

Parents love her for everything. She fetches, carries, tidies, washes clothes.

The routine No one routine - it's different every week.

Drawback With nannies as good as these, who needs parents?

Cost per month From £1,300 net a month plus household costs, national insurance and tax (for live-in). From £1,500 a month for 'live out'. Monroe Nannies (020 7499 8867)

Riding instructor

Basia Briggs

Kids love her for making them the envy of their friends. Riding gives them a taste of independence - it's the pre-teen equivalent of learning to drive.

Parents love her for getting kids in touch with nature, improving confidence and posture.

The routine An hour's riding per week.

Drawback 'I want a pony.'

Cost per month £112 (£28 per lesson, booked in blocks of ten). Hyde Park Stables (020 7723 2813; www.hydeparkstables.com)

Kumon maths tutor

Steve Dale

Kids love him for making maths a breeze. Kumon pitches lessons at a child's ability level and moves on as their confidence builds.

Parents love him for building confidence, improving analytical abilities, and good maths grades.

The routine Ten minutes of sums a day. Two 20-minute sessions a week at a Kumon centre.

Drawback Mum and Dad must mark homework.

Cost per month £41, plus £15 registration. 020 8447 9010

Art tutor

Barbara Nicholls

Kids love her for letting them get messy. Barbara encourages kids to make sculptures with found objects. Nothing is too mad.

Parents love her for developing visual skills and filling the creative hole in the national curriculum, where art is a low priority. Plus, she provides a limitless supply of offspring art for the walls.

The routine Once a week.

Drawback All that mess.

Cost per month £200 (£50 per one-on-one session). 020 7243 3590

Ballet teacher

Laura Snowball

Kids love her for helping them live the ballerina dream (and, thanks to Billy Elliot, ballet's OK for boys too).

Parents love her forteaching kids to 'inhabittheir bodies' (ie giving themperfect posture for life).

The routine About onehour a week.

Drawbacks Ballet exams - very stressful.

Cost per month Around £17 (£48 for 11 lessons). Laura Snowball, Snowball's School of Dance (020 8785 9219)

Climbing instructor

Shannon Law

Kids love her for upping their street cred. Climbing is the new skateboarding, you know.

Parents love her for building concentration and co-ordination skills.

The routine At least one hour-long lesson.

Drawback Limitless costs if they want to go on expeditions.

Cost per month £100 (£25 for a private session), plus kit. Westway Sports Centre (020 8969 0992)

Suzuki Violin Teacher

Felicity Lipman

Kids love her for making music fun. If everyone can acquire language, then everyone can learn music skills, with guidance, said Suzuki. Some of Felicity's pupils pass grade eight at primary-school age.

Parents love her for improving her pupils' concentration, and memory co-ordination.

The routine One group and one private lesson per week.

Drawback The noise.

Cost per month Around £200 (£40 per hour). 020 8458 7637

Hairdresser

Sarah Jarrett

Kids love her for her Hoxton fins and her 'Rachel' cuts (the 'in' coiffures among urban eight-year-olds).

Parents love her for her ability to soothe the most grooming-averse child, thanks to the easy atmosphere of her toy-filled salon/shop.

The routine One cut every six weeks.

Drawback Girls are likely to demand makeovers with the Miss Molly cosmetics range.

Cost per month About £8 (£12.50 per cut for under-tens). Little Willie's (020 7498 7899)

Personal trainer

Renee Geoghegan

Kids love her for treating them like adults. Kids have their own area and equipment and can only use them after four training classes.

Parents love her for teaching kids the virtues of regular exercise.

The routine Three hours a week maximum.

Drawback Another reason for flabby parents to feel guilty about not exercising.

Cost per month Around £180 (£1,100 family joining fee, £45 per personal training session). Next Generation (020 7266 9300)

Yoga teacher

Fenella Lindsell

Kids love her for getting them bending. Fenella devised kids' 'Yogabugs' classes six years ago after seeing how much her stepson enjoyed her yoga classes.

Parents love her for helping asthma and sleeping problems, getting non-sporty kids active, improving concentration.

The routine One or two 45-minute classes a week.

Drawbacks Too much yoga could make Jack a holistic therapy junkie.

Cost per month From £16 (£4 per class). The Art of Health (020 7243 3590; www.artofhealth.co.uk)

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