Good Habits, Great Grades

Be Involved!

Another mistake I’ve observed is that the older the child is, the less involved at school the parent becomes. Consider the following percentages of parents attending at least 1 meeting with their students’ teachers: 90% in grades K-5; 75% for grades 6-8; 59% of 9th and 10th graders, and 53% ...

Don't Take It Personally!

One of the most common mistakes we make as parents is taking things personally. I’ve said it before – kids are gifted button pushers, and sometimes they say and do things that hurt our feelings, embarrass us, anger us, or totally astound us. Accept the fact that this will probably ...

Test Time Again!

The MSP (Measurements of Student Progress) – state-mandated testing for grads 3-8 – has begun in most school districts, so I thought it appropriate to say a few words about preparing, testing, and interpreting results. The best way to prepare for any test is to do the work consistently as ...

Be Consistent to Build Good Habits

A second mistake I commonly see is inconsistency – inconsistent meals, inconsistent schedules, inconsistent application of rules, inconsistent discipline. Consistency makes everything easier because there is no second guessing and therefore no argument. Consistency builds habits, and habits lead to automatic behavior. Let’s start with meals. Eating at approximately the ...

You Are The Parent, Not the Friend

The theme for my next few articles is mistakes we make as parents (besides being parents in the first place!) Please know that these are things I have see and heard in my 40+ years of dealing with kids. If I don’t hit your favorite “mistake” in the next few ...

Talking to Your Teen May Require Practice

Talking to your kids will, like everything else in life, take some planning and some practice. Coming up with topics, learning to ask open-ended questions, becoming skilled at follow-up may, at first, seem challenging. But you will all become more comfortable and open as you proceed through these conversations. I ...

Getting the Kids to Talk

In order to get your child to talk to you when he’s a teenager, you need to get him talking when he’s young. Then sharing stories of his day will become a habit. He will know that he can tell you things without judgment and criticism. He will be much ...

Getting Their Trust

The work I do daily requires a lot of interaction with kids kindergarten through 12th grade, their parents and their teachers. My process is pretty much the same with all of them: I let them do most of the talking. When people need to talk, they generally just want to ...

Listen as Your Teenager Talks

Last week I talked about listening and reacting to your teenager. I’d like to make some additional suggestions that might enhance communication with your kids. Talk to them as you would talk to your friend. Few of us would ever consider shaming, lecturing, or threatening our friends. If we did, ...

Respect Your Listener

Last week I talked about listening and reacting to your teenager. I’d like to make some additional suggestions that might enhance communication with your kids. Talk to them as you would talk to your friend. Few of us would ever consider shaming, lecturing, or threatening our friends. If we did, ...

Talking to Your Teenager

At a time when we most need to know what’s going on in our children’s lives, they quit talking to us. Single word answers, defensive responses, eye-rolling, and silence seem typical of teenage “communication.” The next few articles will deal with better communication within families. First, think about your most ...

Do Unto Others

We are almost at the end of our bullying series so I want to remind you what makes bullying ….bullying. Remember that it has to be intentional, hurtful, and repetitious. It generally involves some sort of perceived superiority: bigger, prettier, smarter, wealthier, more popular. Many times we say and do ...

Is Your Kid a Bully?

Sometimes our kids may be bullying others and we are not aware of their behavior. Sometimes we know they are having conflicts, but we think “it’s just a phase,” or “boys will be boys.” Sometimes we even justify bullying behavior: “He learns to stick up for himself.” All these things ...

Cyber Bullying

Cyberbullying is when a child is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or targeted by another child using the Internet, mobile phone, or other type of digital technology. Scan through your child’s facebook pages and you will find negative postings – about him or her or about others. Here are some ...

Symptoms of Bullying

One of the challenges surrounding bullying is that kids don’t want to talk about it out of a fear of making it worse. So it becomes incumbent on us as parents, teachers, counselors, friends to increase our awareness in order to help. There are many signs that could indicate that ...

Bullying Defined

When I think of bullying I think of a big kid picking on a small kid during recess. But of course it’s much more than that. It can be physical – hitting or pushing, stealing or hiding someone’s possessions, forcing someone to do something he or she doesn’t want to ...

Bullying is More Prevalent Than We Think

1 out of 4 kids experiences bullying in school. We adults need to be aware and get involved.

Just Do It!

A mom recently asked me, “Why does my student wait until the last minute to complete a project he’s known about for 2 months?” The answer is: It doesn’t become real until the night before. Book reports, social studies projects, science fair – even tests – aren’t real until the ...

No Sense of Urgency May Mean Lost Credits

Students wait until the last minute to try to raise their grades. We really aren't helping them, when we make that possible.

No means No -- Maybe

It's okay to change your mind, especially when dealing with your kids. Just think about it first and don't change too quickly!

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