Category Archives: adult development

Parent Behavior in the College Athletic Recruiting Process

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

I have seen this play out up close and personally with many college athletes in the extended family. The fact that parent behavior is becoming an issue is very concerning. The positive coaching alliance has great resources here. Positive Coaching … Continue reading →

Posted in academic excellence in elementary schools, adult development, athletics, College Admissions, college athletic recruitment, parenting, Seven Hills School Walnut Creek, social emotional learning, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Helping your teen help a friend…

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Yes, this rings true, both from my own parenting and from listening to students grapple with how to help a friend over my 27 years in education . Some great advice here! Helping your teen help a friend… NY Times … Continue reading →

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, adult development, aggression among girls, childhood development, grit, leadership, leadership in children, motherlode, new york times, NY Times, parenting, social emotional learning, the science of emotion | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Tomorrow marks the release of a new report…

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

New Report on College Admissions about to be released by Harvard’s GSE and Rick Weissbourd! Because the Bay Area Heads had the chance to meet with Denise Pope last week, and she will be speaking at Seven Hills in April, … Continue reading →

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, adult development, Challenge Success, childhood development, College Admissions, Denise Pope, Harvard's Caring Schools Initiative, Making Caring Common at Harvard, Rick Weissbourd, Seven Hills School, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

KQED Mind Shift on avoiding or recovering from the Overparenting Trap.

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

5 Steps for Parents to Recover from Overparenting… KQED I am enjoying learning more about the reaction folks are having to this book. This piece is spot on. If we do not avoid overparenting, our children will revolt!

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NPR and a conversation about Overparenting.

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

There is plenty of room for adjustment on all sides here. Schools and parents DO need to work together. I feel sure that we could definitely improve how we think about autonomy for students from all angles. NPR: Overparenting?

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, adult development, childhood development, education | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

KQED’s Mindshift on the Teen Brain…

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Adolescence is a tornado of change: Not only is it the period of fastest physical change in life – aside from infancy I often quote statistics about developmental changes in the middle school years: people change more between 10 and 15 than … Continue reading →

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Are we sending the right messages about what’s important?

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

After all, college admissions is a beginning, not an ending. This is a serious and honest piece about the damage we unwittingly inflict on children when we focus on the immediate outcome, rather than the long term journey… I think … Continue reading →

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, adult development, childhood development, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Boston Globe on Parenting

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

The proliferation of articles and blog posts on parenting and fears of parents lead me to the obvious and inevitable conclusion that we, as parents, are too consumed with our children as our bumper stickers. Life is messy, and our … Continue reading →

Posted in adult development, childhood development, fear, parenting in 2015, social emotional learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The paradox of conferences and what we try to accomplish sometimes…

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

This piece by former colleagues Kyle Redford puts the issues of parenting, conferencing, and students who struggle in perspective. I appreciate her viewpoint and the reminders about shame… The Privacy Dilemna

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helicopter parenting

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

This article has gotten quite a bit of traction in the news in the last week; I do not like the demonization of parents AND I am always trying to help us as parents get out of our own way … Continue reading →

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