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Ideas for Celebrating the Season!
It was far from normal, and this school year marked the first time since 2018-2019 that most kids were in real classrooms, in person, together. So, when they leave their classrooms and say goodbye to their teachers this month, it will be truly transitional. Celebrating all that they accomplished this school year can help with…
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It’s Teacher Appreciation Month and We See You
What a school year this has been! By many accounts, this year proved even more challenging than the previous two years, leaving many educators exhausted and discouraged. And yet, you keep showing up. You continue to be present and attentive to the needs of your students. Even though you may feel depleted, you keep dipping…
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An Easy Way to Reduce Stress and Strengthen Relationships in Your Family
Want to play? What? Too busy doing important things to play? It turns out (check out this research), play is extremely important – for just about everyone and everything, but especially for learning and developing children. But why? Stress: It turns out play reduces stress (and therefore) facilitates learning. We know stress lowers the amount…
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Developing Firmness Tools for Parents
Kind compassion and grounded firmness are critical to effective parenting. If we can do both, our parenting takes on a strong even keel, so that in stormy times or calm, we know we are getting where we want to go with our children in a way that has direction and purpose. Both parents and kids…
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The Great Reset for Families
Priya Parker, the author of The Art of Gathering, encourages us to enter into 2022 with conscious intention and in community. Recently, she discussed her ideas for a concept called “the great reset” on Brené Brown’s podcast. Parker calls upon us to recognize the gift of our times: “We are in a moment of creation. And that…
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For Healthier Kids, Flip the Script on Self-Care
One way to help kids who are struggling is to try flipping the script – talk less about self-care and more about care for others around us. Research shows that kindness towards others is more beneficial for mental and physical health than self-care. Active kindness: helping others, volunteering, being generous and consciously kind, results in…
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How Parents & Caregivers can move on from “What’s Wrong with Me?”
Our early experiences shape us in profound ways. If those experiences were persistently stressful or traumatic in your early life, you may suffer from the results of adversity, just like millions of other parents and caregivers. Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey teamed up on a new book titled What Happened To You? that illuminates…
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How to Help Kids Rebuild Their Stamina for the New School Year
Masked up, many children have headed back to in-person learning. Though the academic load has not yet become heavy, the time in isolation has taken its toll in many ways. Just like an athlete returning to training after post-injury recuperation, our kids need to slowly build back the stamina they once had. We can help…
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A Smooth Transition to the School Year
The new school year is fast approaching, and the sunlit days are growing a little shorter. It’s time to transition from summer to the more structured schedule of fall. There are still a lot of unknowns this school year, so it will helpful for kids to feel as ready as they can. When we leave…
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How Parents Can Move Forward After an Unprecedented Year
Last year our worlds changed almost overnight, and we found ourselves working from home or maybe out of a job. We were thrust into the role of teacher and unable to access the supports we were used to: friends and relatives were no longer able to step in to help for fear of COVID spread,…
