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What is a great source of frustration when it comes to helping our children? In short, of the five important ingredients, ingredient #4 is Resources. When there is a lack of it, it leads to frustration. Resources includes time, money, and access to professionals. For example, the child’s or parent’s schedule is so tight that […]

(1.5 minute read)There’s a lot of debate whether children should be rewarded, whether behavioral changes stick once the reward is stopped, whether the changes are “real” and internalized, and so forth. What’s my opinion?? Rewards and incentives are necessary to motivate people, regardless of age. Without incentives, change can be very slow. Of the five

(2 minute read)Ok. The holidays are over. Real life is settling in. Back to work and personal goals. You made a resolution to say, lose some weight. Or exercise daily. Or organize that messy closet. (I know I’m not alone in these goals 😉 …) Whatever the goal is, the ingredients for success are still

30 Second read My dear friends, families, and colleagues, Yom Kippur reminds me of the scale of reds and greens. Have you noticed some kids spiral into reds the moment they are criticized or told that they are engaging in a red behavior? Some children notice themselves do red behavior and they feel absolutely awful,

(1 minute read)It’s the time of year that many of us might want to commit to a New Year’s resolution, maybe on behalf of ourselves, or perhaps on behalf of a family member or work/team member. What’s going to make the difference between success and failure? Well, there are five important ingredients. Here’s ingredient #1:

(1 minute read)Here’s a quick and simple strategy for high school students who struggle with intense schedules that require changing classes, books, and materials every 40 minutes. For those students who already do it, kudos to you! 1. Have a color-coded, weekly calendar/schedule of all teachers and classes. For examples, “Trigonometry” might be pink, “Biology”

(30 second read)So I shared a nice social story last week (about having a successful year in 4th grade) and a colleague of mine commented that she’d like to believe that it sticks in their head when they get to school! My bad. I forgot to mention a key ingredient: The social story needs to

                                       (One minute read)It happens. Sometimes kids have had one or two or three (or more) difficult school years. Does history have to keep repeating itself? One of my students did some great work over the summer

(One minute read)Question: Hi. My child gets quite rigid about timing. For example, getting somewhere a little late is a huge deal for him. Any suggestions? Answer: Here is a social story you may use (or modify as needed.) Do I Have To Get To Places First? Sometimes, my parents make plans to go places.

(Four minute read)Question: Hi. I love the weekly posts. It could be you already covered this topic, but if you didn’t, I’d love some ideas on helping a kid who sees things as black & white. For example, his Rebbi (whom he loves & respects tremendously) said that it’s assur (forbidden) to go places where