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.
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 [...]
Making It Stick Part III: How To Get Teachers and Parents Off Your Back And On Your Side
In 2018, we’re launching a new learning-to-learn curriculum, based on the latest research from educational and clinical psychologists and on how we learn best, as well as over eighteen years of experience creating personalized learning solutions for kids. [...]
Thank You For Helping Me Practice Gratitude and Joy
Dearest YP Families, As we hunker down into these frosty days and, I hope, take a well-deserved break, I want to take a moment to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. I’m incredibly grateful for Yellow [...]
Making It Stick Part II: What We’ve Been Getting Wrong About Learning
n 2018, we’re launching a new learning-to-learn curriculum, based on the latest research from educational and clinical psychologists and on how we learn best, as well as over eighteen years of experience creating personalized learning solutions for kids. [...]
Improve Sleep And Study Time With Aromatherapy
Home fragrance has come a long way from the synthetic aerosols and potpourri of yore. More than creating ambiance, a growing body of clinical evidence shows that aromatherapy—the use of plant essential oils for therapeutic purposes—has remarkable healing [...]
Yellow Parachute 2017 Holiday Gift Guide (And Discounts!)
Much as I would love to trade love and good intentions alone this holiday season, the Santa-Industrial-Complex is far bigger than I. And while you don’t have to give things to prove your affection, there’s also nothing wrong [...]
Writing A College Admission Essay? Check Out These Quick Tips
For many high school seniors, Thanksgiving is a final calm before the storm of college application stress. I still remember the anxiety of crafting my own admission essays, though I’ve long since forgotten what they were about. You [...]
