#transitions

A Guide for Empty-Nesters on Dealing with Their Kids Going Away to College

Becoming a parent changes your life. While your role as a parent never changes, it does evolve over time. In most cases, you spend the first twenty years devoted to your role in caring for and raising a human. Then, one day, they're ready to fly on their own. Empty nest syndrome can be an extremely challenging experience. Here's a guide for empty-nesters who are dealing with their kids leaving for college. Practice Mindfulness to Process Your Emotions There's no wrong way to

How to Emotionally Help Your Child Switch Schools Mid-Year: 5 Lessons from The Art of Happy Moving

When families move, the top concern for parents is how the kids will adjust to a different environment. If the move is after the start of the academic year, parents worry even more. I want to assure you that a move in the middle of the school year can be a positive experience for your child. As the author of The Art of Happy Moving: How to Declutter, Pack, and Start Over While Maintaining Your Sanity and Finding Happiness, I host educational family sessions to help kids feel

What to do, and what not to do when seeking a path forward...

At some point, we all come to a turning point in life. New opportunities and new beginnings! This excitement can quickly be overshadowed by the confusion that comes with not knowing what to do or choose. We can feel paralyzed by our options and unsure about our futures. So, how do we find a path forward? Here are 3 “Do’s” and “Don’t” for finding your path: Do: 1. Believe. Believing leads to action. Once you believe in yourself, you'll become motivated to take action and achie

Going Back to School: Help for Parents Dealing with School Bullies

Going back to school can bring out many feelings including excitement and anxiety. Our goals as parents is for our children to begin school, venture into middle/high school and then finish strong with success, with minimal stress and problematic issues. When we think of each first day of school from Kindergarten – High School, it is our hope that our children settle in well, love their teachers, and meet good friends who’ll share their strengths, positive upbringing and moral

How To Avoid Living An Unintended Life

When you are speaking to high school and college students, you have a small window to grab their attention. You need to let them know pretty quickly that what you have to say is directly related to them. When I drop the line, “They end up living a life they never intended on living.” they usually look up and tune in. Of course, then I have to explain what that actually means. The Research After several years of working jobs in corporate America, I began to notice a disturbing

What Should High School Students Look for When Selecting an Undergraduate College

Transitioning from high school to college is a major step in any young person’s life. It often marks the first real taste of independence, with big and small daily decisions left to the new college student. It is important to find the right fit when deciding where to go to college for an undergraduate degree. Here are a few things to consider while making the decision. Location, location, location Do you envision yourself in a rural community or an urban setting? Do you thriv

3 Tips For Coping With Change

Sometimes we aren't quite ready for change. It just happens and we're left to adapt to the differences the best we can. For most major life transitions, like finishing high school, starting a new job or becoming a parent for the first time, it's common to need some transitioning time. Big life transitions are just like sailing a boat. Often we cruise along with familiar winds for some time, but when we hit a wind change, we need to learn how to navigate the new seas. Here are

How To Prepare For Your College Student's Return Over Summer

Another school year has passed and your college student is coming home for summer, which brings with it a range of emotions. One of the most important considerations for a smooth transition back home is to manage expectations - both on your part and theirs. The summer after your student’s first year of college is arguably the most challenging. Even if your student has been living on campus and is not fully responsible for themselves financially, they have spent the last year

7 Top Tips For Starting School

Starting school is a huge transition, for both you and your child. Preparedness is found to be the key to ensuring success, with studies illustrating the benefits of students preparedness for school life. When this is a negative or difficult experience, students are found to be at a higher risk of learning difficulties throughout their schooling years and more likely not to graduate (Kern & Friedman, 2008). From a positive standpoint, studies have shown that students who expe

Top tips for beating those back-to-school blues

Some great basic tips from 'The National Lifestyle' for beating those back-to-school blues! From making sure that your children get enough sleep to encouraging them to communicate and giving them the chance to experience boredom, we get some expert advice on smoothing their transition into the new academic year. It’s finally time for the kids to slip into freshly ironed uniforms and for you to fill those new lunch boxes with healthy snacks. Children across the UAE are heading

Increasing Youth Happiness: Building Resilience to Support the Major Transitions

How we can apply The GPS Model to navigate the momentous times of change. Today, you don't have to look far to see the warning signs of the increasing levels of anxiety and depression impacting our youth. Albert Einstein once said, “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking." This quote got me thinking. How could we change our thinking to reduce mental illness? One word sprung to mind - 'Prevention'. My st

How Back-To-School Stress Is Different Today

When I think back to my youth, I can remember the butterflies I got in my stomach as we pulled up for my first day back to school. Did I get the right v-neck sweater from The Gap? Were my bangs teased enough? Was Mrs. Carroll going to put me on the spot in math class? These used to be the important issues, and finding out I didn’t have the same lunch period as my best friends felt like the end of the world. Today’s kids, however, are facing very different issues and, as paren

Making a smooth transition back to school

With the first day of school just around the corner, some kids may be getting anxious about going back to class - but parents can help smooth the transition. It can be as simple at making time to talk... or taking a trip to the school and even setting the alarm a little earlier. "The first week of school is really complicated,” says Aubrey Doss, a counselor at Will's Place. For first time kindergartners, it could be the stress of learning classroom rules or being without mom

Make the transition to the school year less stressful

Some anxiety with a new school year is normal, psychologist Devin Carey says. Talking with your child before school starts can help alleviate worries. Transitioning from summer vacation to back-to-school can be an adjustment for both parents and children. With the carefree days of summer gone, getting back into a school year routine can be overwhelming and stressful, but it doesn't have to be. "Transitions for anyone can be stressful. Kids often react to stress in different w