Yellow Parachute Blog
Yellow Parachute’s Blog Mission
Our blog mission is to share the research and resources that inform our unique approach to coaching Executive Function Skills, to advocate for neurodiversity, and to uplift students, parents, educators, and leaders.
Calling in the Jump Squad Part 2: Finding the Courage to Ask for Help
Last week we talked about how you know it’s time to hire a tutor. Still, even when all the signs are pointing that way, it can be hard to ask for help. We know. We’re supposed to be [...]
The Domino Effect: How Math Tutoring Multiplied my Son’s Successes
We talk a lot about the transformative power of reciprocity between a student and tutor (learning coach!). It’s something we believe in at our core, and so we’re always thrilled to hear success stories from our clients. Of [...]
Calling in the Jump Squad Part 1: Eight Signs You Need a Tutor
Your kid works diligently at a certain subject but becomes increasingly frustrated as it fails to click. You gear yourself up for homework battles every afternoon. She struggles to focus and the effort to keep her on task [...]
How To Make the Most of Your Summer with Erika Bussmann
When the last dregs of snow have finally melted and the crunch of spring playoffs and final exams and end of year celebrations have subsided, all we want to do is belly flop onto a sunny patch of [...]
Change your life in 30 seconds or less with Habit Gal Sara Brand
Come New Years, the summer, the weekend, we make our lists—we will use the fresh start, the extra time, the good weather to exercise more, eat better, make more time for friends, pursue that old passion, start that [...]
Simple Steps to Up Your College Admissions Game this Spring and Summer
The college admissions process can be exciting, stressful, and mystifying for students and parents alike. There’s the anxiety over grades, test scores, college rankings, finances, and the more subjective questions of fit and preference. As a parent, how [...]
Learning Coach Gabriela Grosshans, inspired by neuroscience, pancakes
As a Yellow Parachute Learning Coach, Gabriela tutors math, science, and Spanish, including ACT, SAT subject tests, and IB and AP levels. Her passion, animation, and dedication to her students embody Yellow Parachute’s model of holistic tutoring. Coaches [...]
Math, Mentorship, and Machine Learning with Alex Gutierrez
Ever wonder what a mathematician actually does? Or how you can train computers to take over the world? Or what kind of degree could give you the flexibility to be involved both in medical imaging research and machine [...]
How Taking in a Foreign Exchange Student Helped My Family Learn to Love Better
Ah, snowy mid-March in Minnesota. It’s a season that may make some of us wish to be anywhere but here. As you dream of warmer climes, or return from exotic spring-break locales, we invite you to enjoy this [...]
Jump With Me? Reciprocity, Mentorship, and Unlearning the Naturalness Bias
As an educator with a deep desire to help struggling students and their families, I used to imagine myself as a rescue worker parachuting into a disaster zone, knapsack stuffed full of answers and fail-safe strategies, energy bars, [...]
Living As You Leap: How To Succeed Outside The System
Yellow Parachute sprung from my desire to give every kid access to the education that he or she deserved. And true “access” meant processing and translating information in ways that made sense for each individual student. It also [...]
From Pool to Parachute: How I Found My Purpose And How You Can Find Yours
Yellow Parachute’s mission is to inspire each individual to discover her or his unique gifts and use them to serve others—in short, to change the world. It’s a tall order, to look beyond test scores and profit margins [...]
How To Turn Family Conflicts Into Fun(ish) Puzzles
Last week we waded into the fascinating world of Executive Functions (EF) in family dynamics. EF mismatches between parents and kids, as well as between siblings, can account for a good deal of the strife in households with [...]
I Asked My Kids To Set Their Own Bedtimes. Here’s What Happened
More than a political-patriotic display of unity or might, the Olympics, for me, are incredibly moving. Watch an Olympic athlete in the middle of a performance; the sheer beauty of their movement, the serenity in their focus, is [...]
How Asking For Help Makes Space For What Matters
This fall, Shauna Niequist’s, Present Over Perfect inspired me to clean out my closet, which in turn inspired me to clean out my life. This seemed like an exciting and manageable task for about ten seconds, before I [...]
Emotional Healing For An Organized Home With Suzanne van Dyck
Keeping a neat home is tough, and even tougher when kids are involved. It isn’t only the toys and sporting equipment that make organizing hard; it’s the emotional pull of the objects we associate with our kids. A [...]
How Productive Teens (And Parents) Get It Done In 5 Steps
Cultivating good habits is hard. You need to decide what habits are “good” in the first place, make a plan for acting on them, and manage the guilt you have when you (inevitably) fall short of your aspirations. [...]
How My Son’s ADHD Helped Me Stand Up To My Perfectionism
I wear a lot of different hats: educator, CEO, daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend. Sometimes I feel like I’m wearing all these hats at the same time, stacked on top of each other in a wobbly tower. When [...]
