Dear Highlights Podcast

In this episode, Highlights talks with Dr. Madeline Levine, author of Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World, about the many challenges of raising children today. Listen in as we discuss:

● What grown-ups can do about kids’ increasing sense of fatalism about their lives
● Why we should treat school-age kids the same way we treat kids learning to walk
● How long-term thinking can ease our stress about day-to-day parenting decisions

Juliana Urtubey, 2021 Teacher of the Year, joins us this week for a candid conversation about her experiences in the classroom. Listen in as we discuss:
● Why we shouldn’t fixate on “learning loss” during the pandemic
● The magic questions that can get your child to tell you more about their day
● How we can help every kid love school

Celebrate Grandparents’ Day by joining our conversation with Stanford Children’s Health’s Nancy Sanchez and Marilyn Swarts, who share tips from their class on grandparenting. Listen in to learn:

● When they realized a class on grandparenting was needed
● Why social media is often the first conflict between grandparents and parents
● What grandparents can do to be welcomed into their grandchildren’s lives

This episode contains sensitive content about the sexual abuse of children and may be upsetting to some listeners. Tune in for an open, honest discussion about:
  ●How children tell us something is wrong without words
  ●What we should ask of children’s schools, camps, and sports teams
  ●What adults can do to help children who have experienced abuse

For local resources, support, and information about sexual abuse, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or visit online.rainn.org to receive support via confidential online chat.

With the new delta variant of COVID-19 on the rise, this school year is kicking off with much more uncertainty than anyone expected. The Ohio State University’s Dr. Barbara Boone joins us this week to share insights from her research on family-school relationships, and offer tips on how adults can support the kids in their lives and help them work through big feelings about the new school year. Listen in as host Christine French Cully and Dr. Boone discuss:

●How to establish a strong line of communication between school and home
●Remembering that while teachers are doing heroic work, they’re still human
●The importance of taking time to really lean in and listen to what kids have to say

Two million American kids don’t eat meat. Does your child want to join team vegetarian? Whether they’re inspired by a love of animals, concern for the environment, or committed pickiness, what’s a caregiver to do when a child wants to cut meat out of their diet? Who should decide what kids eat? And can harmony be found at the dinner table without a grown-up becoming a short-order cook? Our guest, Jennifer Anderson, a registered dietitian and the founder of Kids Eat in Color, joins us this week to offer some professional insight on the topic. Tune in to hear Jennifer’s advice on how food can stop being a battleground, and start being a way to connect.

Helping your school-age child adjust to becoming a big brother or sister can be hard. After all, your child has grown used to your current relationship, whether they have all your attention or share it with an another sibling. And now their world will turn upside down. Are there ways to better prepare your child(ren) for the birth of a sibling? Welcoming a new baby is the subject of this week’s Dear Highlights podcast. Host Christine French Cully talks with New York University Professor of Early Childhood, Erin O’Connor, co-founder of Scientific Mommy--a platform designed to bring together parents, researchers, and teachers around issues of child development--for tips on how best to approach your child about the new baby, when to start an age-appropriate discussion, what should happen on the big day, and living together peacefully once the new baby comes home.

It may be hard to fathom, but children as young as age 8 can have suicidal thoughts, and many parents don’t know when their children are in crisis. In this week’s Dear Highlights podcast and in honor of Mental Health Awareness month, our host Christine French Cully, talks with Dr. John Ackerman, a child clinical psychologist and the Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, about risk factors and treatments for mood disorders and suicide in children, and how to tell if your child is at risk.

Today’s Dear Highlights episode discusses navigating friendships, both the fun and the challenge. Highlights receives more mail about friendship, a vital part of a kid’s social-emotional development, than any other subject. By making and keeping friends, kids learn important life skills, such as getting along with others and resolving conflicts. Positive interactions with friends help build self-esteem and provide kids with a sense of belonging. In contrast, negative interactions with friends, such as being betrayed or feeling hurt by a friend, can dampen their self-confidence. Our guest, child psychologist Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, is the author of Growing Friendships, A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends and of Kid Confidence, Help Your Child Make Friends, Build Resilience and Develop Self Esteem. She provides insight to parents on how to navigate the ups and downs of their child’s friendships and offers actionable advice on the best ways parents can help their child.   

This Dear Highlights episode discusses how the pandemic affected children as their worlds turned upside down, and how parents can nurture optimism in their kids as we move to a new normal. This past year, kids have had to tackle distance learning, face-mask wearing, social distancing, and more. With that, many children were worried about parents who were front-line workers or about the health of their elderly grandparents. One recurring theme was the anxiety that kids felt due to the pandemic. Now that the world is beginning to open up, how will kids feel about the future?  Additionally, how can the parents who love them best guide them to have a sense of optimism? Our guest, educational psychologist Michele Borba, EdD, author of the new book, Thrivers, and TODAY show contributor, offers sound, realistic advice to parents, teachers, and advocates for children about helping children thrive.