Maureen Healy

Students today face many challenges whether it’s the bully on the bus to struggling how to read, as examples. Life isn’t always easy for them. Equipping our students with science-backed ideas and strategies to help them bounce back from everyday challenges to great adversity is fostering their resilience. Sharing the latest scientific research we identify what K-8 students need to improve their level of resilience, and form a resilient mindset. Of course, we want our students to progress academically, but also socially and emotionally, which requires a hefty dose of resilience.

Participants will enjoy a lively discussion (no questions are off the table!), the clarity of the 3 R’s of Student Resilience, and a handout of science-backed strategies that can help bring resilience-building into the K-8 classroom, school and community. Author and educator, Maureen Healy, has written a well-regarded resilience curriculum for K-8 students, as well as helped schools nationwide foster student resilience.

Understanding children’s emotional health and how to help children build emotional regulation, and intelligence is the focus of this program. Participants gain a completely fresh perspective, and tools to nurture emotional health in themselves, as well as their students and families.

Audience takeaways: 

• Clear definition of children’s emotional health. 
• Receive the “7 Essential Lessons” of how emotions work. 
• Science-based strategies that build emotional awareness, and self-regulation. Different emotions like anger and sadness are considered, as well as strategies in effectively handling them specifically. Different types of children discussed too (the perfectionist, stubborn child, intense and/or creative child, and so forth). 
• Scripts (things to say) that help children slow down, stop, and make better choices.
• An understanding of the “big picture” of emotional health, and resilience development.

elping students successfully transition from elementary to middle school takes skill, insight, and savvy SEL strategies. The “mean girl” syndrome, bullying, and peer pressure are real. Being able to connect and center tweens while they have tricky and tough decisions isn’t easy – but with a proven approach middle school can be a bridge to students’ best selves.  

Audience takeaways: 

• Emotional and social development stages in middle school. 
• Scripts (things to say) when common and tricky middle school scenarios arise (online or in-person). Guiding students to their own “ah-ha” experiences.
• The role of Identity Formation and what that means today. 
• Skills of resilience, character, and connection are for every tween, but especially the highly sensitive and creative child. 
• Helping tweens make smart choices with their digital footprint is covered (all social media included).

Resilience is a skill that children can learn to develop regardless of their circumstances. Being able to understand the science of childhood resilience, as well as the ideas and skills that help students get unstuck from problems, as well as form a resilient mindset can be game changing for the home or classroom.

Audience takeaways: 

• Resilience and emotional health are learnable skills.
• Understanding the resilience equation (3 elements of resilience) can help every child, parent, and teacher build resilience, as well as restore it after its broken.
• Framework for incorporating resilience-building ideas, and strategies for elementary and middle school. Strategies by grade are shared. 
• A clear understanding of the science of childhood resilience, as well as how to help children bounce back after experiencing a small to epic situation.