The “Making it Better” program is built on this “wellness” premise. The curriculum content is focused on strengths and positives. The premise is that any student can attend, participate and learn. There are many benefits of an inclusive approach; most significantly, there is an opportunity to avoid negative stigma. Reaching out to all youth, this approach may reach those who silently struggle. Wellness offers a wonderful opportunity for prevention, early intervention and support.

The world is a big place and if we let it, it can crowd your head. Not just our head but consequently negatively impact our children.

When we are asked to engage children either personally or professionally, we must be keenly aware of our personal agenda towards that child. Is our agenda to teach him how to add 2+2, is our agenda to prevent a bully from bullying another child, is our agenda to rudely assert that you didn’t get back the exact change you were supposed to? Adults have agendas when interacting with children and youth; it is the natural hierarchy in our society and although it needs to be this way, there are more appropriate ways to engage our younger generations. Unfortunately, engaging a child in an authoritarian way has become the norm in today’s culture where expectations for young people are to respond to adults robotically.

With summer coming many families are planning at least a week or two in which they will travel with the kids.  Road trips when I was a kid have made lasting memories that I will long cherish.  Usually they consisted of long hours in an over packed car, eating on the road, and driving my parents crazy by fighting with my brother.  The following are a few good tips to help keep your body in healthy condition when you travel. 

As parents, don’t we often experience this disorienting feeling in our journey of raising our children? We always search for realistic and effective ways to produce healthy and creative children. Through detailed research, the Search Institute has discovered many things that do result in more successful lives for children and youth. They are described as assets and it is clear that our role as parents is to be asset builders. So how do we do this?

During the winter months, a family’s days tend to get busier with the start of the new school year and the onset of the new season’s various extracurricular activities. These added stresses combined with the many hazards of winter can be of concern to some families, leaving them vulnerable to higher levels of daily stress.

All kids worry from time to time – about school, family, and friends. Worry is a normal response to uncertainty, and it helps our minds and bodies get ready to handle the unexpected. But worrying can get the better of us sometimes. It can leave us afraid to try new things, feeling bad about ourselves, and not able to do our best. When worry keeps our children from taking on new challenges, and drains joy from their lives, it is time for us to take stock and help them put those worries in their place.

Our children learn in so many ways, and there are so many surprising things they do with the messages and information we expose them to. One of those ways is through family stories.

Listen first
The key to effective communication is being a good listener. With kids, it’s important to make the time to listen to them, especially when they’re ready to talk. Responding with “just a minute” or “not right now” only discourages them from opening up to you. So, when they want to talk, try to drop what you’re doing and devote your full attention to what your kids are saying.