December Update
Hi, I hope you all have a happy and relaxing holiday season — whatever shape it takes. As I said in a recent Your Teen article (below), it’s perfectly okay to aim for “good enough.” I know…
Fall Update
Hi everyone, I hope you’re holding up okay. I’ve been back at work in my school building for a few weeks now, and it’s been wonderful to hear kids laughing and chatting out on the…
The Importance of Having Conversations With Kids
My friend Teddy was shocked. “My daughter Anna just told me her classmate got busted for vaping at school,” he told me. “They’re only 11! Now she’s asking me a million questions about marijuana, half…
Four ways to help kids cope with the uncertainty of the new school year
It’s hard to overstate how much the conversations I had with my sources for this On Parenting from The Washington Post article about helping kids adapt to uncertainty helped ME. As Dr. David Aronoff…
Upcoming Parenting in Place Masterclass series
Hi, As I write here in my latest article for The Washington Post — Perspective | Stuck at home? Now’s the time to have these important talks with your kids. — everyone is exhausted from months of coping with…
Tweens are listening. Are you?
“Can I take some of these?” the middle-school boy asked as he grabbed a handful of pretzels from the jar on my desk. He ate a few, then walked across my office and pulled a…
7 Ways Educators Can Help Students Cope in a Pandemic
Under the best of circumstances, children need to know that their world is safe and that they’re competent and worthy of respect. That need for reassurance is exponentially higher in the midst of a global…
Webinar: Parenting Middle School Kids in the Pandemic
Phyllis did a webinar for Your Teen Magazine on parenting tweens and teens through the pandemic
Middle School Parenting Tips for Coronavirus Lockdown
Here is a video I did for Hachette Books on some tips to get through this period. Licensed clinical counselor and journalist Phyllis Fagell gives tips for parents with middle school children from her book…
4 Ways to Help Your Quarantined Tween Preserve Friendships
Under the best of circumstances, middle schoolers have to navigate a complex social landscape. They care deeply about their friends, but their empathy is developing, they’re insecure, and they’re still learning how to self-regulate and…
