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.
We Are Made to Learn
When our kiddos were figuring out how to walk, we let them figure it out. We supported the effort and comforted the fall. We honored their pace, their style, their disposition because we had faith in the process. We knew that, ultimately as able-bodied children, they would walk.
How to Become (and Stay) Motivated!
It’s a New Year, and we have a chance to set the tone that will get - and keep - us motivated. I’m going to share a few tips for how you can help the students in your life get and stay motivated...
Setting Your Pace for 2021
In the wake of 2020, and with great desire to set my own pace for 2021 rather than be tossed and tumbled along with the crowd, I’ve been doing some vision-setting. I’m sure we all have done this in some way, and I wonder what it would look like for us to make a more formal effort this year?
It’s Time to Change
It’s the time when we look back on the year past...and forward to the year ahead. Often we make resolutions, deciding which actions we will take to make the next year different. I’ll offer couple of thoughts about making change...
Rest Up and Get Ready
It’s here. We’ve made it to winter break! After working through ALL of the learning options this fall (classroom, hybrid and distance) I know so many families, including my own, who are looking forward to taking a few well-earned days off from school...
Ditch the Cape
The “it was never a dress” image is something that has always resonated with me… but during my family’s adventures with distance learning, it’s resonated with me in a way you might not expect...
The 7 Day Challenge
Take 7 days to change your family's life... or change the way you think about it!
Scrap the Schedule
Scrap the schedule and focus instead on building routines and habits. Why? The concept of “schedule” can serve us, but it doesn’t create an action plan for how to stay motivated to stick with it, even when we don’t want to....which, by the way, we won’t.
Pausing…
If you know anything about our family, you may know we spend A LOT of time shuttling our kids to and from their various sports practices. That’s why Wednesday night’s announcement that youth sports would be put on “pause” for the next four weeks throughout the state of Minnesota was devastating.
Here We Are Again
Yellow Parachute Learning Partners’ flexible learning models can help guide you through the transition to distance learning and help you move through the disappointment, frustration, and fear of the unknown. Here’s how...
The Simple Act of Paying Attention – Part 2
Last week, after sharing the painful realization that my son cannot pay meaningful attention during his online Physics X class, I promised to follow up with some tips for simple ways we help our kids practice paying [...]
The Simple Act of Paying Attention – Part 1
The other day I listened in on my son’s Physics X class, which sets 9th graders up for a full year of physics in one semester and chemistry the next. Taught in a 2-hour block, it's a rigorous [...]
Are You An Art Teacher From New York City?
September 8, 2020: Well, day #1 in the books of my new teaching venture...elementary! My two favorite interactions with kids -- I think it has to do with my new hairdo 3rd grader: “Are you an art teacher [...]
The Indian Education Program
Yellow Parachute proudly partners with the Anoka-Hennepin School District by providing tutoring services to students enrolled in the Indian Education Program. The program, which has been around since debuting in the 1973-74 school year, focuses specifically on the [...]
Pulling Back the Curtain – The Student Connector
Last week we wrote about “getting what you need.” Working with that same theme, this week we’re going to focus on Yellow Parachute Learning Partners’ Student Connector, Jenny McKeand. Everything Jenny does for Yellow Parachute, from hiring and [...]
What Can I Control?
It’s the end of September and now officially fall. I’m certain I’m not the only one who is wondering where the time has gone! We’re six months into the new normal that was thrust upon us in March [...]
How do I know what I need, and how can I get it?
We’re in the early days of the 2020-2021 school year, and many of us are settling into our routines. Others are struggling to get into the school year groove after a six month hiatus from the traditional school [...]
