Who is Stella Al Fresco I made a doll and it is not like Stella Al Fresco. Sunday morning in the NYTimes, I saw an article about how Megan, The Dutchess of Sussex, promoted a doll on her new show “With Love, Megan.” Commonly known Stella Al Fresco, Megan’s daughter’s doll is sold with “a …
Category Archives: Mental Health
How the phearnik!® Toy Helps Kids Manage Fear
*In my last post I announced my campaign to make phearnik!® available to kids, scared of everything, manage their fear. In this post, I aim to explain how it works. And, how, for children, their loved ones, and caregivers, life is better with the little plush. The phearnik!® Journey phearnik!®, a plush toy, used to …
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Support Kids’ Mental Health with phearnik!®
“My kid is scared of everything” Parenting fearful kids is exhausting. Furthermore, it’s even more exasperating than just “plain old parenting” which is exhausting enough! The fears I’m talking about are the non-life-threatening kind and are often about things other children have no issues with. Importantly, you wonder, why your child is so anxious and …
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How to Achieve Your Resolution
A New Way to Achieve Your Resolution It’s resolution time once again. This year, I was intrigued by the NY Times article, “For a Happier New Year, Focus on Your Loved Ones.” In it, writer Holly Burns, posits a new way to make and achieve resolutions. Instead of self-focused goals, Burns suggests making other-serving resolutions …
How the Social Styles List Can Transform Your Classroom
Free Resource for Effective Classroom Management Without a doubt, high school classrooms today are more diverse than ever—culturally, emotionally, and socially. As educators, you likely face students with varying communication preferences, personalities and “social styles”, making it challenging to foster meaningful relationships and manage your classroom effectively. Importantly, one-size-fits-all approaches to classroom management don’t work …
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Supporting Stressed Parents: A Resource for Teachers
The US Surgeon General’s Concern for Stressed Parents You’ve heard the US Surgeon General’s recent public health concern regarding stressed parents and their need for support. Subsequently, many school administrations called for schools and communities to respond. For teachers, this can feel like adding more to an already overloaded plate of dealing with classrooms, getting …
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You Won’t Get Classroom Management Without This
Dreading a New School Year? I don’t know about you but a new school year with new students used to get my tummy turning. Dread hung on my shoulders and motivation was nowhere to be found. How was I to keep control of new students, teens I didn’t know and who were different from me? …
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Art and Mental Health: Resources and Products
Art and Mental Health. No Brainer! This new tagline I created from a Wendy MacNaughton quote should help readers (and Google!) better understand aws Studios. In her “Pencil Skills Part 1” post about drawing with healthcare professionals, MacNaughton declares, “Art and health. No. Brainer.” (Which I understand to mean how ones’ involvement in art or …
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A Classroom Management Professional Development Activity
Classroom Management Professional Development Don’t waste your teachers’ precious time this summer! Have them take part in the Circle of Community™, a perfect activity for classroom management professional development. Circle of Community™ is a team building / community building activity for groups working together in classrooms, teams, families, or on the job. Works For Both …
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Build Teen Social Emotional Skills
Teen Social Emotional Skills: A Comprehensive List As a mental health educator, I knew the skills to help teens build their mental health or social emotional learning. These include communication, goal setting and planning, decision making, problem solving, and stress and personal management. Furthermore, as a Training Specialist for the NYS Adolescent Services and Resource …