Pick a Summer Theme!
With school out, longer days, and more open space in your family’s schedule, summer offers a great opportunity to try something new! Instead of getting bogged down (like I often do) with lofty goals and plans that just aren’t realistic (like cleaning out every closet), why not pick one main theme for your family’s summer…
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Salsa & Sunshine Walk & Talk #7
Visit Sunshine Parenting for more resources & episodes. Get on your shoes, hop on your treadmill or go outside, and join summer camp directors, moms, & joy chasers Audrey “Sunshine” Monke & Sara “Salsa” Kuljis as they share updates, resources, ideas and encouragement with each other and with you! In this episode, we’re talking about…
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Visit Sunshine Parenting for more resources & episodes. Get on your shoes, hop on your treadmill or go outside, and join summer camp directors, moms, & joy chasers Audrey “Sunshine” Monke & Sara “Salsa” Kuljis as they share updates, resources, ideas and encouragement with each other and with you! Watch the video of this Walk…
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Why Can’t School be More Like Camp?
Originally written in 2012, but still as heartfelt today. For more information about the work I’m doing to help educators make school more like camp, visit my speaking page or GATA (Gold Arrow Teacher Academy). Why can’t school be more like camp? Yesterday, my fourth grade son came home from school downcast. It’s his third…
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4 Friendship Concepts to Share with Girls
In researching and planning for a talk I gave a few weeks ago about girls’ friendships, I read through some excellent resources, including these books. I also wrote this post about ways to help your daughter become a thriving adult. While many concepts I write about friendship apply to both boys and girls, there are…
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Ep. 57: The Importance of Adult Friendships with Sara Kuljis
“The strong bond of friendship is not always a balanced equation; friendship is not always about giving and taking in equal shares. Instead, friendship is grounded in a feeling that you know exactly who will be there for you when you need something, no matter what or when.” Simon Sinek Our adult friendships are really…
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Ep. 56: Off the Clock with Laura Vanderkam
In Episode 56, I’m chatting with Laura Vanderkam about her book Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. Laura is the best-selling author of several time management and productivity books including 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most…
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The Magic Relationship Ratio
View recording here I recorded this month’s One Simple Thing during a retreat this weekend at 1440 Multiversity I attended with my daughter, Gretchen (see video below or on Facebook). We were at Shasta Nelson‘s Frientimacy seminar where we focused on learning about the crisis of loneliness and how to develop closer friendships and help others develop…
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The Wisdom of High School Girls
One highlight of my summer has been meeting with our oldest female campers to discuss relationships, goals, and life. These girls have so much wisdom to share with each other and with adults. We meet on the middle Sunday of their two-week camp session. We spend two hours doing activities together and sharing ideas about…
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Talking with Kids about Friendship
“Friendship is a life skill you need to learn, so why not start now?” Jackson, Age 9 I spent yesterday evening making friendship bracelets and talking about friendship with a group of campers. We were outside, near pine trees and a campfire — the perfect camp setting. At one point, a deer walked by about…
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How Can I Help My Kid Make Friends?
One of the most basic and often overlooked social skills our kids need to learn in order to be approachable and available to make friends is to greet others appropriately. Last summer, when I taught campers how to introduce themselves to others, step 1 included smiling and making eye contact. That step holds true for…
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