Blog

The world-wide pandemic changed many things in our lives. One of those big changes was school closures which thrust parents into a new role as educator and therapist. This may seem scary and you may want to react in a big way. When you stop to think about it, as a parent you are one of the best possible teachers for your children. Not only do you know them so well but you spend many more hours a day with them. Instead of just thirty minutes of language or social skills practice, with …

When I was 11, I walked over to the corner store to buy a soda. I paid with a twenty-dollar bill, and the guy mistakenly gave me back some ones and a fifty instead of a ten. I ran up to my dad and said, “Guess what? I just got paid to buy a pop! It’s my lucky day!” My dad looked at me surprisingly and said, “You’re keeping it?” I replied, “Heck yeah! He’ll never know.” Then he said, “But you will know. You’ll know today, and tomorrow, and forever. You just sold out your integrity for forty …

It’s heartbreaking to learn your child has been the victim of bullying. No matter how you learned this information, be thankful you have it. We sat down with school counselor Jennifer Licate, author of the new easy-read chapter book He’s Not Just Teasing! and the Navigating Friendships book series, for steps parents can follow when they find out their child is being bullied.Q: After the initial shock of finding out your child is being bullied, what do you suggest a parent sho …

Though the world of education always remains vigilant to the negative effects of bullying on our students, the month of October brings with it a renewed focus on awareness, action, and advocacy. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a month devoted to prevention, intervention, and spreading awareness. Great strides have been made in our crusade against bullying in schools in recent years, but we still have progress to make. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported i …

When our son was toddler we owned a set of Sesame Street board books. Each one featured a letter of the alphabet, with several verses of a catchy poem highlighting words that began with the featured letter. They were quick, fun reads, and he wanted to read them together. ALL. THE. TIME.What we weren’t consciously aware of at the time, was just how much he was comprehending from the stories. That is until we were hanging out with some friends who had two children a bit older than our then-18 …

As we enter into the 2020-2021 school year, a sense of unease, of uncertainty, hangs above students, parents, and educators alike. For most educators and support staff, it is like their first year all over again. There are new rules, new procedures, and new methods of delivery. It is an altogether new normal, if it can be called that at all. With all of these changes comes anxiety, not only from the rapid acquisition of new methods of instruction, but from the floating fear of the unknown. Will …

Our ability to socialize and work with others in a group to accomplish common goals and succeed together is one of the best abilities we have as a community. But at times, our social nature works against us, and we confuse the suggestions of others for things we need to do to fit in or feel accepted. Peer pressure seems to plague every generation. Why do kids try to influence each other to do things that might negatively impact them? Why do kids listen to their peers instead of th …

My husband has been working from home for the last few months. Like many families, we have had to adjust our routines to accommodate the change. For us, this means my husband retreats to his “office,” a tiny room near the entryway of our home, for conference calls. In turn, I try my best to keep the kids quiet. Most of the time this works out well. But our house is small, and some days we all get an earful. I normally tune out the monotony of his meetings, but one particular call piq …

We’ve all been there. It’s summer vacation and just as you’re ready to start relaxing and enjoying the dreaded summer homework emerges. While summer is a time for fun, sun and family it’s also a time when many skills that kids have worked so hard on over the school year can see a dip.Social skills are just as at risk as academics. Without practice they can slip back to old patterns and habits. But is the battle to get them to do work really worth it?The answer is yes and the good news is …

As a school counselor, I often share with parents one of my favorite quotes by Catherine M. Wallace: “Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.”But where does that leave tattling? We certainly don’t want to encourage an influx of tattling in our classrooms, or in our homes -- there …