Grit, Perseverance, Resiliency

Winner of the Counselor's Choice Award! Brothers Braden and Blake are the central characters in the Executive FUNction picture book series. One is quick to turn the smallest setbacks into the biggest life-shattering disasters while the other is...

Bundle the storybook with the Activity Guide. This is the story of Kelsey, a young basketball star who will do whatever it takes to win on and off the court. Unfortunately, her poor sportsmanship - or sportsGIRLship, as she likes to call it - hurts her...

Winner of the 2021 Counselor's Choice Award! It seems that the older Blake gets, the more he is expected to do!  Blake's baseball team is having a bake sale fundraiser, and he just can't wait for his mom to whip up a batch of her famous chocolate...

*Recipient of the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval* Kelsey's a typical fourth-grader. She likes to hang out with her friends, play games, and do all the standard stuff. But there's one thing about Kelsey that really gets her into trouble -...

Winner of the 2021 Counselor's Choice Award! Flexible thinking allows people to think about things in new ways or to incorporate new information into a specific plan or idea. Flexible thinkers are often able to come up with more than one solution to a...

Winner of the 2021 Counselor's Choice Award! Self-control is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior and to keep one's cool in the face of disappointment. But when children don't get what they want or expect, they often get upset...

Winner of the 2021 Counselor's Choice Award! Blake generally has a good time...until someone interrupts him and tells him he needs to do something RIGHT NOW! He doesn't understand why he has to clean his room THIS SECOND! And he'd much rather be doing...

Winner of the 2021 Counselor's Choice Award! Problem solving involves many other executive functioning behaviors, including reasoning, attention, planning, initiation, working memory, and self-monitoring. The one thing all of us have in common is that we...

Amelia is her name and conquering new challenges is her game! She's an up-for-any-adventure second-grader who's eager to try new things, provided nothing can go wrong. She takes up skateboarding with gusto and feverishly builds a swing set for her kid...

Poor Amelia! Between softball practice, homework, and chores, she's struggling to keep her head above water! And when she starts feeling stressed out, it seems like the world is at its end! Fortunately, Amelia's mom is around to teach her some stress...

Staying on task until a job is done can be tough for adults, so it's not surprising that it's also difficult for most children. Teaching kids the importance of staying focused and finishing tasks is something that will serve them well in life. Help...

Planning is the ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or achieve a task, while prioritizing involves the ability to make decisions about what is important for you to focus on next. It can be challenging for children to know where to get started on...

It's easy for kids to feel sad when bad things happen in their lives. This is especially true when boys and girls are bullied or picked on or feel left out and isolated. Author and School Counselor, Bryan Smith, has developed four exercises to accompany...

When children learn or try something new, they can easily get discouraged when things don't go as planned. They don't yet understand that mistakes and failure are parts of learning. Author and educator Bryan Smith has developed four excellent activities...

Flexible thinking allows people to think about things in new ways or to incorporate new information into a specific plan or idea. Flexible thinkers are often able to come up with more than one solution to a problem or challenge. The ability to think...

Self-control is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior and to keep one's cool in the face of disappointment. These four activities developed by author Bryan Smith can help children with self-control. The lessons are designed to...