The Perfect Gift for High School Seniors
During the next few weeks you may find yourself in the company of high school seniors and may think that a logical topic of conversation is the college admissions process.
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What Colleges Want in an Applicant (The Glass is Half-Full Perspective)
In November, The New York Times published an article titled What Colleges Want in an Applicant (Everything). Understandably, the topic of college admissions is often fraught with anxiety and frustration, and the details within this article may have heightened people’s concerns about the process.
Loving School: From Stressed Out Student to Challenge Success Coach
I love school. As a child in elementary school, I would be so excited to get the school supplies list and go get things like new sharp colored pencils and books.
All Stress is Not Distress
At Challenge Success, we sometimes get the question: can’t some forms of stress be okay, or even helpful for students?
Class Rankings
Denise Pope shares why eliminating class rankings can reduce undue student stress without decreasing engagement.
What Parents Say Matters
When I overheard a troubling conversation at a recent dinner about a child’s academic performance, it reminded me about the importance of the words we use when speaking with our kids
Our Kids Are Listening: Election Results and Rhetoric
My office phone has been ringing lately. A lot. It’s been a while since parents were quite so worried about the impact of media coverage on their children’s mental health.
Pulling Anchor, Setting Sail
I always chuckle at Norman Mailer’s pithy depiction of masculine rivalry: “When two men stop in the street to say hello … one of them loses.” But it would not be difficult to extrapolate a bit and substitute “parents” for “men.”
Calling Into Question
We are all familiar with the adage, “Ask a silly question, you’ll get a silly answer.” The questions that parents ask children are worth considering because the depth of the questions that we present to them correspond closely with the depth of self-awareness and understanding that will be engendered by those questions.
Sending Our Kids to College and the Goldilocks Dilemma
Since my last few weeks have been spent listening, sympathizing, educating, and mostly reassuring parents whose first (or second or third) child has left for college, this column …
Playing at Sports
As a clinical child psychologist interested in youth sports, I’ve seen a huge cultural shift in the meaning and culture of youth sports. Parents have noticed it, schools have noticed it, and psychology researchers have noticed it.
Don’t Forget To Bring a Doorstop
The most important piece of advice my oldest daughter and I heard when she was packing for college was: Don’t forget to bring a doorstop.