3 Ways to Help Kids Make Friends

By Lynne Watts
kids on playground

Not having a friend can be hard… What if it’s the first day of school and you are the new kid in the class? What if you return to school after a summer off,  only to find that your best friend  has made a whole new set of friends and you aren’t in the circle…

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Taking the Stress out of Holiday Giving

By Lynne Watts
kids and Christmas gifts

Holiday Giving and the 5 Love Languages Do you feel like your children or students have a case of the “Christmas gimmies?” Is “no” fast becoming  your most frequently used word during the holiday season? Are you rushed and stressed already about shopping and hosting family events? The holiday season is here and as usual…

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Connection with Kids

By Lynne Watts
Two fathers play educational games with their children,

Connection with Kids In her book, The Good News about Bad Behavior, the author, Kathryn Lewis, identifies three steps that are taught in the Parent Encouragement Program. It will come as no surprise to counselors of all types that the first step is connection. Establishing rapport with a student is always the first necessary step…

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The Secret to Successful Parent Conferences

By Lynne Watts
parent with child

How to engage parents through crucial conversations Recently I presented a training on parent engagement and crucial conversations for the staff at a local school.  You might wonder why a school would be interested.  It was a school that already delivers a great academic program with lots of dedicated teachers.  The involvement of parents is…

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5 Ways to help children develop GRIT

By Lynne Watts
kids on playground

5 Ways to Help Children Develop GRIT Prepare the child for the path; not the path for the child.  (author unknown) Over fifty years ago, Emmy Werner, a psychologist did a groundbreaking four decade study of hundreds of children living on the Hawaiian island, Kauai. One third of the kids were born into poverty or…

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