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A few weeks into the school year, you might find yourself holding the hand of a child who has been walking to class alone since September. Or maybe the child who used to fall asleep after a goodnight hug now needs you to sit at the edge of their bed for an hour. Just when you thought they'd turned a corner, they seem to need you again. These moments can create a lot of frustration and might feel like backsliding, but they’re actually an important sign of development in the wo

The first few weeks of school ask a tremendous amount of children. New rooms, new teachers, new expectations, new friendships, and a full day of holding it together in ways that may be genuinely hard for them. Most parents expect the excitement, but they’re not always ready for the messy, difficult parts of the transition. There are two particular moments that tend to challenge parents the most. Here is what to know about both. The morning ☀️ Resistance at your front door th

In my last post, we explored the five invisible skills categories, the non-academic areas that determine whether a child has the foundation necessary to access learning. In part 2 of this blog series we will be focusing on how to actually build and support those areas. The school year is fast-paced by design. There is almost never enough time to let a child do something slowly, imperfectly, and repeatedly without the pressure of getting out the door or getting to the next thi

I was a kindergarten teacher for over 15 years. Without fail, parents would agonize over their children's reading and math prowess, at times fretting that their child wasn't further along, and at others leveling concern that we should be pushing academics more. While that focus makes sense in a culture centered on achievement, where most adults understand school through their own memories and measurable academic skills, educators know that what truly helps children learn ofte