Excellence in Mentoring
February 10, 2021
Seedling
Navigating Tough Conversations

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....

read more
How to Be An Ally – Training Recap

How to Be An Ally – Training Recap

As mentors, we are often matched with mentees who have different lived experiences than our own. By using empathy and youth-centered approaches to mentoring, we can build our allyship skills. To do this, we must first understand what it means to be an ally. It’s...

read more
Setting Goals in Mentoring

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...

read more
Let’s Grow Together

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...

read more
The Seedling Mentor Portal

The Seedling Mentor Portal

Using the Mentor Portal is a requirement for mentoring with Seedling.  Your Mentor Director sent you a link when you had your first visit. If you no longer have the link, simply ask your Mentor Director to resend it to you; they’ll be happy to do so. You can sign in...

read more
Seedling Nurturing

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...

read more
A Primer on Pronouns and Gender Identity

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...

read more
Managing Stress

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...

read more
Where Do We Go From Here?

Where Do We Go From Here?

As vaccines become more available and the world takes a few shy steps towards normalcy, we can’t help but think: “where do we go from here?” What has this past year meant for our mentees? And how do we move forward? Below are thoughts to consider as you begin thinking...

read more
Transitions: Tips for Mentors

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...

read more
Thinking Ahead

Thinking Ahead

As the Spring semester marches on, we can probably all agree that this school year has been like no other.  Most kids have not stepped foot into the classroom and will likely end the school year remotely.  Where does that leave us for the 2021-2022 school...

read more
It’s Important

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...

read more
Ready, Set, Goals!

Ready, Set, Goals!

It is heartwarming to finally reconnect with our mentees this school year.  The feeling that bubbles up when we see  their name appear in the waiting room is nothing short of delightful.   Seeing their face and hearing how they are doing feels like...

read more
Talking About Current Events

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...

read more
Fighting Racism Through Mindfulness

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...

read more
Reconnections

Reconnections

Your Impact on your mentee is bigger than you think! They still giggle when they think of that funny thing you said, still smile when they think of the compliment you gave them.  Your impact has made them think twice, your support has made their day! Your...

read more
Somatic Experiencing and Mentoring

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...

read more
The Holidays and Practicing Gratitude

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...

read more
Talking about Incarceration

Talking about Incarceration

Have you ever considered what it might be like for your mentee to have communication with their incarcerated or deported parent?  Maybe it is only through letters, an infrequent phone call, or on rare occasions talking on a phone while looking at one another...

read more
Mentoring and the Art of Validation

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!...

read more
Politics Anyone?

Politics Anyone?

Presidential elections always come with a bit of apprehension, but this year’s upcoming election carries significantly more heated rhetoric and tension. In recent years, psychologists and child experts have repeatedly documented how political discourse has had a...

read more
Talking With Your Mentee About Being Online

Talking With Your Mentee About Being Online

Mentoring online provides you the unique opportunity to reconnect with your mentee virtually, but also to facilitate a conversation with them about their online experiences. A conversation with your mentee doesn’t have to revolve exclusively around internet safety,...

read more
Encouraging a Growth Mindset

Encouraging a Growth Mindset

Mindset describes the way people view ability and talent.  In her research and work on the mindset of psychological traits, Psychologist Carol S. Dweck identified 2 types of mindsets, fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset believed their intelligence and...

read more
Mentoring & Social Justice

Mentoring & Social Justice

Seedling Mentoring is a journey that encourages persistence in acquiring new information and skills.  Learning to promote social justice, to understand institutional oppression, and how to dismantle implicit biases and racism prepares mentors to be an upstander for...

read more
Solidifying Mentor & Mentee Connections

Solidifying Mentor & Mentee Connections

In the midst of the holiday season, mentors might wonder how the health of their relationships with their mentees may fair over the time that they don’t meet. Mentoring expert Jean Rhodes (2017) says that “it’s important to consider [a child’s] capacity for...

read more
Talking To Mentees About Politics

Talking To Mentees About Politics

In today’s political climate, mentors might be wondering if talking about politics with their mentee is a good idea. Let’s face it, we may have reservations about discussing politics, considering the difficulty in even bringing it up, or the fear of not explaining how...

read more
Attachment and Mentoring

Attachment and Mentoring

Attachment is described by psychologists as an “enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space.” Though attachment is a term used mostly in infancy, its presence and importance can be seen throughout the lifespan. For children who...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest