I watched Brené Brown’s Netflix show last night. I have read (and re-read) her books and love her Ted Talk. Her show on Netflix is like a highlight reel of her books peppered with her sense of humor and great storytelling. Take the time to watch it, it’s so worth it. Of course, I […]
sleep more
Summer Plans
What did you do as a junior high and high school student during your summers? Camp? Summer job? Nothing? I was a life guard, and a camp counselor at the park near home in L.A.. It was the most exhausting, but fun job I’ve ever had. These days the summer options for junior high […]
Back to basics…the benefits of using a planner
We are entering one of the busiest times of the year for our students and their families. Between academic commitments, extracurriculars and end of the year exams, projects (and SATs for our juniors!), things are well…chaotic. I wanted to share a gentle reminder for the benefits of using a written planner. Many of our students […]
benefits of mindfulness and meditation for kids
Jim Wiltens, who teaches fabulous leadership classes for elementary and middle school students is one of my favorite resources for students. As he says,”extraordinary people are ordinary people with extraordinary habits”. Jim teaches leadership in a tangible way to students; giving them tips and tricks they can implement immediately. Meditation and mindfulness are high on […]
Say what? Listen to your kids
I had the pleasure of attending the Challenge Success event at Stanford a few weeks ago. If you are not familiar with Challenge Success, they are doing groundbreaking work in the areas of student support and success at the high school level. They work with schools, students and families to come up with strategies for […]
organization and growth mindset-the struggle is real
Last week I was on the other side of the table and attended my daughter’s middle school conferences. She’s in 7th grade and this year has definitely been an adjustment; higher expectations by her teachers, more work, more responsibilities, and puberty. That doesn’t even touch on the social distractions of friend groups, social media, etc. […]
Need Help with Morning Routine? Try this!
We’ve all been there; scrambling to find shoes, yelling about getting lunches made or breakfast consumed. I thought this article brought up some great suggestions, but the fundamental thing the author changed to have success in the morning was to ignore the morning routine completely. Say What? The author, Jenny Anderson, basically left the […]
Is your Student Overwhelmed By Projects?
We had a student in our office this week who came in almost in tears over some school projects. He was paralyzed by the word “project” and the work he associated with having to complete them. We’ve all been there; whether it’s a test, project for school or presentation for work. And, we all […]
Digital Detox for Kids (& Parents)
Many parents struggle with managing their kids’ time on their phones and other devices. As a parent myself, I’ve found that it’s often hard to practice what I preach to my own kids around their digital use. For me, the distractions of email, text messages and Instagram are often too hard to resist. I […]