FREE WEBINAR: Creating Your DREAM Community

Creating Your DREAM Community

Are you a school leader concerned about building your ideal school community? Please join me for this 50-minute “instant” webinar on Creating Your DREAM Community.  Watch Now! In this free webinar you’ll learn: Why creating and communicating a clear vision of your dream school community is the first step to transforming “customer” families into partner families, […]


FREE TRAINING | The Five Most Important Questions

There are five questions that you should consider if you are going to create a joyful and confident school community of children, families and staff members. Unfortunately, many school leaders spend decades without understanding what is missing in their leadership and in their community. If you are a school leader, you won’t want to miss […]


FREE TRAINING | Teaching Civility

Teaching Civility

Over the past few years it seems like incivility in our culture has reached a new high. Which is not a good thing! Most of my life I have been teaching others how to problem solve and urging others to treat all people with kindness and respect. Time to double down on those efforts. There […]


BOOK REVIEW | The Big Disconnect

The Big Disconnect

The rate of change in our digital world confounds. Published in 2013,  The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, cites research from 2010, now over eight years old.  Eight years in digital time is ancient history. The stories and key findings that the authors share with us, though, are relevant […]


Gimmee! Gimmee!

Gimmee! Gimmee!

‘Tis the season to be jolly. If only our over-demanding children would stop with the demands for this and that, and this again. For a second, try to see the world from your child’s point of view and you might see that some of the following situations help create and reinforce their whiny requests. Too […]


FREE WEBINAR: Understanding How Children Learn To Read

understanding how children learn to read

Want FUN activities to do with preschoolers? Want to feel confident about children’s reading? In Understanding How Children Learn To Read, you’ll learn: Skills essential to reading success Common developmental obstacles Why one important skill is overlooked How you can help, all in a FUN way! Parent or teacher, you’ll get FUN tips to help […]


Got an itch you can’t scratch?

got an itch you can't scratch?

Something you want to know? Is there something that is bothering you but you can’t quite put your finger on it? Got an itch you can’t scratch? Answer my one question survey to see if there might be a Kids Talk remedy. Plus your answers help me plan newsletter topics, webinars and more.  Thank you! […]


Practicing Freedom

practicing freedom

Freedom is a tenuous situation at best. The ability to freely do something interconnects with several attributes that include critical thinking and the courage to act or not act, as the case may be. Gullible folks lend themselves to the idea that there is a sucker born every minute, while a proverb tells say a […]


The Breakfast Pledge

The Breakfast Pledge

Last year in my For School Leaders newsletters I focused on teaching civility. With this series on teaching civility, I drew heavily from Christine Porath’s book, Mastering Civility: A manifesto for the workplace, as well as other sources. Teaching civility, the grace and courtesy lessons we offer in our Montessori classrooms find renewed importance. Who do I want to […]


When to Ask, When to Tell

when to ask when to tell

Fostering cooperation in our children can be a blood-pressure-altering event. With so many chores that need to be done during the day, we can feel like a drill sergeant, police officer and the Wicked Witch of the West, all rolled into one. To avoid appearing to our children as the triumvirate of meanness and control, […]