20 Ways to be Quiet with Your Family
Creating silent, mindful time with your children and teens IS quality time. Moments of quiet and calm support your family in developing openness and trust. Keep reading for 20 ways to enjoy quiet connection.
Talking to Teenagers… About School and Homework
Your teenager is in the thick of figuring out how they want to participate in their school life, and you are standing witness, doing your best to encourage a healthy, productive level of investment in education and learning. Explore these 6 key strategies for talking to teenagers about school and homework!
Real Talk for Teens: 5 Ways to Be Creative
Creativity is a part of every human being. But how do we create an environment that helps that creativity to come through in writing, artwork, or other projects? Keep reading for 5 key steps to inspiring your creative self and living like an artist.
Talking to Teenagers… About Routines
You support tweens, teens, and young adults in building daily routines that support their social, emotional, and mental development. Keep reading for 10 practical ways to support tweens, teens, and young adults in building daily routines for success.
Top 3 Tips for Helping Your Teen With Autism Get Back to School
The transition from summer back to school can often be a challenging time for children and teens, especially for youths on the autism spectrum. Because autism covers a large spectrum and presents differently in every person, there are several ideas for ways to help your teen or child with autism feel that they belong and have significance during this time of change. Keep reading for top 3 tips for helping your teen with autism get back to school.
Quick Connection: The Power of Walk and Talks
Have you ever tried a walk and talk with your teen? This could be a walk for exercise, sure, and it can also be entirely leisurely. In either case, walk and talk is communication strategy, a tool to remember when you have a pressing idea to process with your teen or when you can tell they are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or frustrated. Being next to your teen, or "sideways talking," as opposed to face-to-face, can open the space for conversation-- literally and metaphorically. This orientation often feels less confrontational and more spacious for young people. For some teens, it can be safer to be next to adults when it comes to tough conversations and topics, or even asking for help.
10 Keys to an Intentional, Easeful Back to School Season
Some children and teens can't wait to get back into the routine of school; they might be excited to reconnect with friends, to resume extracurriculars, to get out of the house more. And others are dreading getting back to campus; they might resist or fear the structure, the workload, the socialization, the pressures. Regardless of where your teen is on this spectrum of back to school feelings, they are likely experiencing the energy of transition. And you too! Keep reading for 10 keys to an intentional back to school because the more aware we can be through this change, the more easeful this season will be.
5 Tips for Promoting a Positive Relationship Between Teens, Food, & Their Bodies
Some of my most stressful moments, as a mom of three, are around what my children are consuming in the form of food and media. I cannot always control what my children see and hear. I can’t control how much my children eat or what they eat. I CAN control my reaction and I CAN control what I say and do in regards to MY food and body. Keep reading for 5 tips for promoting a positive relationship between teens, food, and their bodies.
Real Talk for Teens: Back to School
This article is an invitation for teen readers to self-reflect and visualize a positive back to school experience. You are invited to create a vision of yourself living your best life next school year. This visualization is one that you can return to any time you start to feel bummed out or anxious or overwhelmed before school starts. It can also be used when you are at school, and you’ve caught an emotion that is weighing on you or keeping your mind in a place of worry. Furthermore, you can create and invest in this visualization as a safe space for you to access, a way to comfort and take care of yourself.
Quick Connections: Asking Curiosity Questions
Asking curiosity questions to the children and teens in your life will not only increase their engagement (which brings confidence, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and so much more along with it), but it will also give you, as the parent or caregiver, more room to breathe. Keep reading to learn how to use curiosity questions in a wide range of opportunities!