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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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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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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Ep. 4: Giving Kids’ Phones a “Vacation”
“We want this party to be with all the girls being present and in the moment with their friends.” -Ashley, Parent Ashley’s Facebook post caught my attention – it was a photo of the text she had sent to the parents of the 22 (yes, you read that correctly, TWENTY-TWO!) girls invited to her…
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Five (MORE) Reasons Great Parents Send Their Kids to Camp
There are so many reasons great parents choose to send their kids to summer camp. Two years ago, I shared five of them on the most popular post I’ve ever published. But now I have more to share. Consider this the second installment in a series with others to follow, because the list of ways…
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10 Surprising Things Kids Learn at Camp
I would not be the person I am today without camp. -15-year-old camper My three decades of camp experience, coupled with my own and others’ research, have shaped my long-held opinion that camp experiences benefit children in profound ways. Yet even I was astounded by the revelations shared at our closing campfires last summer for…
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10 Social Skills Kids Learn at Camp
At one of my son’s soccer games this fall, a mom on our team offered her son $50 for each goal he scored. He had the highest scoring game of his life, and his mom had to fork over enough cash for a new iPhone. This anecdote illustrates something I have long felt to be…
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It’s Not All Bullying
A few summers ago, a ten-year-old camper wrote a letter home telling his parents he was being bullied at camp. His irate mother called to let us know. I was very concerned, so I went to talk with the camper right away. I expected to find a sullen boy sitting in the corner of…
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Making Friends: Developing Emotional Intelligence
Why should we care so much about our kids making friends? Because children with friends show many positive characteristics that continue into adulthood, including more of all of these traits than their friendless peers: • Happiness • Confidence • Altruism • Cooperation • Ability to take different perspectives • Achievement and work-orientation But what exactly…
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Making Friends: Managing Difficult Emotions
Here are a few tough questions: • Has anyone ever accused your child of bullying or being mean to another child? • Have you ever seen your child lash out (physically or verbally) at another child? • Does your child react aggressively when upset by a sibling? • Have you noticed that other kids don’t seem…
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Making Friends: 3 Communication Skills Your Child Needs
Leaving a soccer game last fall, a teammate called out to my son, “Great game today!” My son didn’t turn his head. He grunted something unintelligible, and he walked away. My husband and I were shocked. Did he not know that you RESPOND to a compliment by turning towards the person and saying, “Thanks!” or…
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