Tag Archives: Seven Hills Walnut Creek

Helping Children Understand the World Around Them…

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

This latest round of news that is difficult to process around the wildfires very close to our community creates another opportunity for adults to explain the world to children and give them a sense of safety and reduce their anxiety. … Continue reading →

Posted in childhood development, education, social emotional learning | Tagged , | Comments Off on Helping Children Understand the World Around Them…

Top Ten Skills for Middle School Students!

Posted on September 5, 2017 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Top 10 Skills for Middle School Students! This is a great list, very thorough, and completely accurate for middle schoolers!  

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, education, global education, global skills, parenting middle school aged children | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Top Ten Skills for Middle School Students!

Chores at home… everyone can contribute

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Some great suggestions for helping children develop a sense of responsibility, incrementally, for their world. summer chores for children: teaching responsibility at home  

Posted in childhood development, education, parenting in 2017 | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Chores at home… everyone can contribute

Reading? Go for it!

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Some great opportunities here to think about the power of reading… And what better time to look at reading? Summer! https://www.commonsensemedia.org/reading  

Posted in Admissions, childhood development, Common Sense Media, education, new york times, parenting | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Reading? Go for it!

The Secret to a Meaningful Life…Study of Introverts vs. Extraverts

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

I am intrigued by Little’s notion that a personality trait does not have to dictate what personal projects one takes on. I even think the notion of a personal project is foreign to many of us. This concept of what … Continue reading →

Posted in 21st Century Skills, education, leadership | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Secret to a Meaningful Life…Study of Introverts vs. Extraverts

Early Math Education and the role of spatial reasoning

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Understanding space and our place in the world is a key ingredient in childhood development. As our Imagination Playground blocks arrive for our students to design, build, deconstruct and recreate, our children will start to work, informally, through the design … Continue reading →

Posted in 21st Century Skills, academic excellence in elementary schools, childhood development, education | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Early Math Education and the role of spatial reasoning

Raising Caring Kids… Harvard’s “Making Caring Common Initiative

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

As we try and model empathy and compassion for our students and children, we are faced with the task of working against a lot of what they are seeing and hearing in the popular culture, and even in the news … Continue reading →

Posted in 21st Century Skills, childhood development, education, empathy, Harvard Graduate School of education, Harvard's Caring Schools Initiative | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Raising Caring Kids… Harvard’s “Making Caring Common Initiative

Parenting Blues during the Middle School Years!

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Kathleen McNamara Head's Up!

Parenting Blues during Middle School IN all my work with middle school families over twenty seven years in independent school, this is still a truism: when they are at their most variable and vulnerable, so are we… Thanks, Mary Murphy, … Continue reading →

Posted in adolescent development, body image, childhood development, education, parenting middle school aged children, Seven Hills School Walnut Creek, wall street journal | 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

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 →

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