Every parent wants their son or daughter to feel passionate about what they do, to pursue interests that fuel happiness and provide a sense of accomplishment. But what if your child’s passions aren’t obvious? What if they seem to drift from one thing to another, but nothing really takes hold? […]
Self-Awareness
Most of us want to protect our children from struggle. After all, if we shoulder their burdens, they’ll be happier, right? Not usually. Children are happiest when parents scaffold their children’s ability to tackle life’s challenging experiences. This kind of scaffolding is necessary from a very young age. As children […]
Resilience
“No.” This simple two-letter word is often absent from our parenting vocabulary. Yet, a firm “no” can be a positive developmental tool for building resiliency in children. In parenting today, we are encouraged to focus so absolutely on our children’s happiness, self-esteem, and emotional health. It is perhaps this that […]
Resilience
What is collective impact? And how can it make a difference for children and teens? Collective impact is a relatively new term and strategy for helping communities effect positive social change. For example, most communities offer a variety of support to young people through after-school programs, services, internships, etc. But […]
Compass-Inspired
To banish cheating in school, we must change the culture of school. To change the culture, we have to measure what matters. Students don’t cheat when the culture values speaking up, asking questions, and making a difference to others, because cheating serves no purpose. When students are on a mission, […]
Curiosity
America Rice, age 11, recently expressed her views about hard work and perseverance: “If you want something,” she said, “you have to earn it. Everything is not going to come to you just when you want it.” How do children grow up to think and feel like America Rice? How […]
Resilience
One of the first things you might associate with teenagers is their risk-taking behavior. And most of the time, those associations are negative. Right? That’s because we are deluged with stories of troubled youth whose risk-taking actions got out of hand —sometimes with tragic results. But what if there was […]
Resilience
In today’s culture of high stakes testing and tough competition for college admissions, being a perfectionist is often seen as a desirable trait in children. But recent studies show that perfectionist attitudes can interfere with a child’s ability to achieve goals and shape their futures. In fact, perfectionists often struggle […]
Resourcefulness
Do you ever think about the role of teachers in your life? Those from grade school, sport teams, or mentors from after-school activities? I hadn’t thought about mine for quite sometime. That is, until I recently received a small package from Bill Mash, an 82-year-old who is grieving the loss of […]
Curiosity
For thousands of years, heroic stories have been used to inspire, motivate, and transfer cultural values to children. The stories have a common pattern. They begin with a likeable hero who encounters a challenge or roadblock in life. And then, with the help of others, the hero emerges from the […]
Resilience
It’s easy to think that parents of smart kids have it easy. After all, their kids have the potential to achieve their dreams. Right? Well, not so fast. Fostering true potential in bright children isn’t as stress-free as it may look from the outside. If you are parenting a bright […]
Sociability
Whether or not your children play sports, you probably have an opinion about the value of sports in children’s lives. You may believe that sports help children develop teamwork skills, self-confidence, resiliency, moral character, and other personal strengths. Or you may see a dark side of youth sports, believing that […]
Resilience
