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Here Comes Summer!
Summer is almost upon us. Parents and children look forward to summer and it also creates some stress and anxiety with the shift from the rhythm and routines of the school year. Doing some preparation for this unique part of the year can increase everyone’s fun and decrease stress. It is important for children to…
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Beginning the New Year with your Family
January is a great time to help children review routines and focus on the brand new year ahead. It is common, after winter break and less structured environment during vacation, to notice that it is harder to get going and return to the family’s daily rhythm. Re-establishing routines works best when the process is intentional.…
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The New Year: Reflecting and Refreshing in the Classroom
The start of a new calendar year is a great time to help students reflect on renewal and hopes for the future. Many teachers find that routines that were quite polished in December seem to need a bit of refreshing in January, as well. You can integrate both of these ideas as you reflect on…
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December Without the “Dizzy” for Educators
There is a lot of excitement in December. Staying focused can be a challenge for us and for our students during this stressful season. With the anticipation of upcoming celebrations, and the needed break from school, the adults are often in countdown mode. This can look like a countdown calendar, parties and lots of talk about…
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From Unknown to Expected: Relief
Not knowing what will happen next is stressful. In our families, many times parents/caregivers have a sense of what will be happening next but the children don’t. For children, the fear of the unknown can include everything from a new food, who will or won’t be at the playground, to the divorce of parents. Children…
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Homework Tangles?
The school year is well underway and fall routines are settling in. What is the homework routine in your family? As a parenting coach and consultant to schools I often hear complaints about homework from both parents and from teachers. Each expects the other to take a little more responsibility for homework. Interesting isn’t it?…
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Sharing Work and Play
Quite a few of the families I consult with struggle with the notion of children doing some of the family work. Sometimes it is because it is just plain hard to get your child to set the table or load the dishwasher and we get tired of reminding. Sometimes it is because of a belief…
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Lighten Up for the New Year
My yoga instructor offered an interesting challenge for her class this month: Lighten up. It was not meant to be the typical New Year’s resolution to exercise more and lose a few pounds, but to look at my life with more levity. We’ve heard about how a positive outlook on life invites better health and…
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Practice not Perfect
It’s great to have goals and to reach for things – but in our culture we often do that from a place of not being “good enough.” Daily we are given the message that we are not thin enough, fit enough, happy enough, rich enough or smart enough with all sorts of media messages about…
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Curiosity Questions Start Brains Thinking
You know how adults sound on those old Charlie Brown cartoons? Wah, wah, wah, wah, waaaaaahhhhh…” Yes, I am guilty as well. We just want to get our kids moving and we want them to just listen and do what we say. Then we feel irritated and challenged when it seems as though they are…
