Navigating Tough Conversations
Has your mentee ever asked you a question or brought up a topic you found difficult to discuss? How prepared are you to have difficult conversations with your mentee? Topics like sex, politics, drugs or religion can be hard to talk about, especially with children....
Setting Goals in Mentoring
Have you ever created a goal you wanted to achieve while mentoring? You may have a goal to remember your mentee’s birthday, or to show up to your visits earlier, you may even want to make a goal with your mentee for this school year. Whatever your goal may be, putting...
Let’s Grow Together
Human development is a lifelong process of physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. As our mentee grows and learns new things each year, it is important for mentors to keep up! Understanding our mentee’s current developmental stage is...
Seedling Nurturing
I have a super handy app on my iphone, a life saver for any novice who enjoys growing plants. It is my go-to if my beloved flora is looking droopy or sad. All I have to do is pull up the app, snap a picture and presto, a specific Rx pops up to tell me how to care for...
Developmental Characteristics of Nineteen to Twenty-One Years Old (Young Adults)
Developmental Themes During this stage of life, young adults further develop their critical thinking skills, form relationships based on shared values and belief systems, modify their risk taking behaviors and make decisions based on future consequences. As mature...
A Primer on Pronouns and Gender Identity
More youth are identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community than ever before in American history. A recent study found that as many as 1 in 4 young people identify as “nonbinary”, meaning outside of male or female. Additionally, 1 in 5 young...
Managing Stress
For over a year now, we have been navigating extreme uncertainty. The hyper vigilance of staying safe, piloting constant change, and the effects of isolation and loneliness, have taken a toll. Fears and insecurity can create chronic stress which negatively impacts...
Transitions: Tips for Mentors
In a normal school year, transitioning to a new school (such as Elementary to Middle or Middle to High school) can be daunting. COVID has only compounded anxiety about any changes, and that’s before considering things like returning to full classrooms. Many of our...
It’s Important
Given the significant social, environmental, and political events of the past year, it may feel like it’s more important now than ever to spend time with your mentee simply talking about their feelings to process all of the changes we’re experiencing. We always...
Processing Racism-Related Trauma through Creative Expression
In the last few years, our country has begun confronting racism and racial injustice on a scale that we haven’t seen since the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s. Understanding the history, scope, and implications of systemic racism is a complicated undertaking...
It Matters: Building Representation in Mentoring Relationships
On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice President, becoming the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to hold the office. The importance of the moment was not lost – across social media, posts celebrating this...
Talking About Current Events
We’ve all been shaken by the acts of violence that took place this week in Washington D.C. and at several state capitals across the nation. The violent actions have left a significant impact on us as a nation and as individuals and may lead to conversations...
Fighting Racism Through Mindfulness
Jill Suttie of Greater Good Magazine, interviews Law Professor Rhonda Magee on how mindfulness-based awareness and compassion is key to racial justice work. For more than two decades Professor Rhonda Magee has worked to address issues of race, racism, and...
Somatic Experiencing and Mentoring
“The super-power of human kind is our capacity to connect; it is regulating, rewarding, and the major route by which we can teach, coach, parent, heal, mentor and learn.” Dr. Bruce Perry At Seedling we often refer to our mentors as having “super powers.” You have...
The Holidays and Practicing Gratitude
Navigating the holidays in a mentoring relationship can be tricky. As Seedling mentors, we are sensitive to the fact that some households may not celebrate holidays we hold dear. This reality might be due to religious practice, financial distress or family strife. The...
Cultivating Patience
Lately, it seems like everything in the world is happening at once. It’s easy to get caught up in the rush of deadlines, news, and the daily grind, and feel like we have to demonstrate tangible success every day. Research of human growth and development tells us that...
Mentoring and the Art of Validation
When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it is our job to share our calm, not join their chaos” -L.R. Knost As Seedling mentors, our goal is to be a trusted friend, boost our mentee’s positive self-esteem and safeguard their opportunity to thrive!...
Coping With Stress
The school year is upon us and, in any normal year, that often brings its own stress and anxiety. Of course, 2020 has proven to be anything but normal. How can we cope with the stress of all of the uncertainty that dominates our current landscape? We’ve put together a...
Recognizing and Responding to the Effects of Trauma
The National Council for Behavioral Health reports that 70% of adults in the US have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives, that’s 223.4 million people. As Seedling mentors, we must be mindful that many of our mentees have already...
Is It Bullying?
In a recent Washington Post article on parenting, author Braden Bell presented his perspective on why it is important for children (as well as parents and caring adults) to be able to differentiate between mean or unkind behavior and bullying. As a teacher,...
Empathy – Perhaps The Greatest Human Regulator
On Thursday, January 24, 2019, Dr. Bruce Perry and Dr. J. Stuart Ablon spoke to AISD staff, students, and partnering organizations about their current research and work on The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach, a model that has shown great...
Recognizing & Reporting Child Abuse
Knowing the signs and behaviors that indicate something might be wrong in a child’s life is important information for caring adults and mentors, as it is our obligation to keep kids safe from harm and mistreatment. It is up to adults to recognize when something...
Child Abuse & Neglect
It’s hard to imagine someone intentionally hurting a child. Yet KidsHealth.org reports that nearly 1 million children are abused every year in the United States alone. This staggering figure reflects only confirmed cases of child abuse. Kids Health says,...
Ten Ways To Make Mentoring Effective For Kids with ADD/ADHD
Presented By Linda S. Classen, M. Ed., LPC Core Symptoms of ADHD: Poor sustained attention/vigilance to boring/routine tasksImpulsive/ age inappropriate focus/difficulty with self-regulationDiminished rule governed behaviorImmaturityDisorganizationPoor sense of...
What is ADHD
Many mentors have experienced, at one time or another, a mentee who just couldn’t sit still, had endless energy, and lacked the ability to focus. While these behaviors are sometimes associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the disorder...
Building The Six C’s Of Positive Youth Development
CONNECTION Positive bonds with people, including peers, family, school, and community, that provide a sense of structure, safety, and belonging Spend time learning each other’s likes and interests and connect over shared interests or experiences. Follow the child’s...