by Rich Patterson | Jan 15, 2020 | Parenting, Resilience
What Kids Need: Self Esteem Less than half of today’s youth report that they feel good about themselves. Does that shock you? As an educator of many years, I must admit that it still surprises me when I hear that number. So how do we, as parents, work on...
by Rich Patterson | Jan 13, 2020 | Parenting, Resilience
Kids and Planning Skills We often do this for our kids, but do you teach your young person how to plan? In a national survey, nearly half of all the kids surveyed said they need help planning. One approach that has been quite successful is that of a family meeting. ...
by Rich Patterson | Jan 10, 2020 | Family & Relationships, Parenting
Building Trust One of the biggest compliments you can receive is someone saying, “I can count on you.” That means that they trust you, that you will be there when they need you. What a fantastic accolade that you earn by being fully present every day. It...
by Rich Patterson | Jan 6, 2020 | Parenting, Resilience
Setting Boundaries and Limits One of the most challenging assignments of being a parent is helping our kids learn to set boundaries and limits to help them guide themselves in a variety of circumstances. It is the one part that neither the child nor the parent enjoys...
by Rich Patterson | Jan 3, 2020 | Parenting, Resilience
What Kids Need: A Family with Love Number one with kids is a family that expresses love for each other. That makes for a comfortable and cozy place to be themselves that is peaceful. There is nothing like it and nothing that will replace such a protective cocoon for...
by Rich Patterson | Jan 1, 2020 | Parenting, Resilience
What Kids Need: Parental Boundaries It doesn’t take very long for kids to learn that they can break the rules without consequences. Parents help kids learn self-discipline and self-control when they set boundaries in the home and enforce them. As a high school...
by Rich Patterson | Dec 30, 2019 | Character, Encouragement
The Magic Four: Determination I have been writing about the magic four qualities that will make all the difference when applied in your life. The previous blog wrote about Persistence, and today I would like to discuss Determination. In the next blog, I will write...
by Rich Patterson | Dec 27, 2019 | Family & Relationships
Friendship-Making Skills The Search Institute (search-institute.org) talks about the importance of kids knowing how to make and keep friends. Do your kids have that skill? Are they good at forming positive relationships? To what types of friends are they naturally...
by Rich Patterson | Dec 26, 2019 | Character, Family & Relationships
Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash Decision Making Skills Do your kids have excellent decision-making skills? I don’t mean, do you think they can decide things. I mean have to deliberately sit with them and help them with several processes of making a...
by Rich Patterson | Dec 23, 2019 | Parenting, Resilience
Assertiveness Skills Kids can stick up for themselves and their beliefs. Those beliefs can be religious, where they draw the line with friends during those moments of decision. They can also include a choice they have made for themselves and are willing to stand up...
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