Eps 679: Executive Function in High School

When your kiddo comes home with something hard, what happens in you? In this episode, life and parenting coach Emily Ricks joins me to talk about holding space for your teen. We look at the two fear-driven reactions most of us reach for, shutting it down or coddling, and the warm middle ground Emily calls cuddling. We also talk about what to do when the door has closed and your teen isn't bringing you anything, and where repair can begin. Guest bio Emily Ricks is a life and parenting coach who helps moms of teenagers create more connection with their teens by becoming more intentional around their own thoughts, feelings, and responses. She is the mom of four, with more than 20 years of parenting and hundreds of one-on-one coaching sessions behind her. She hosts the Parenting Teens podcast, where she shares practical tools to help moms create more peace in their homes and feel more joy along the way. Find more info and show notes at https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-680-holding-space-for-our-teens-with-emily-ricks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If your high schooler waits until the night before and pulls it off, or doesn't, this is for you. In part two of my series on executive function in high school, we look at what's happening in the teen brain and why the last-minute kiddo deserves a closer look. I walk you through repairing a homework dynamic that's worn thin, then handing over the wheel so your teen's systems become their own before they launch, including for kiddos with ADHD. For more info and show notes, go to https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-679-executive-function-in-high-school/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your middle schooler can remember every word of a song they heard twice and still have no idea how long the science project will take. That's development. In this solo show, I dig into executive function in middle school, the brain's air traffic control system, and why the skills middle school leans on hardest are the last ones to develop. Ages 10 to 15 bring a rapid burst of growth, and our ADHD kiddos get there on a later timeline. For more information and show notes go to: https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-678-executive-function-middle-school/ Also, thank you to our current sponsor, HeyPolo. Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://heypolo.com/JOYFUL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use code JOYFUL for 70% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If your house doesn't look like the ones in the parenting posts, this one's for you. Dr. Scott Sells has spent 30 years with families parenting an out of control teenager. We talk about where typical teen behavior ends and extreme begins, and how we can unknowingly feed our kiddo's anxiety. Scott walks us through his 30-day positive teen report and why he has parents do dress rehearsals. We cover when it's time to call in a professional. Guest bio Dr. Scott Sells is the founder of two evidence-based treatment models, Parenting with Love and Limits and Family Systems Trauma, used by therapists across the U.S. and Europe. He holds a PhD and an MSW from Florida State, has taught social work at the university level, and is the author of three books, including Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager, which has sold more than 100,000 copies and is now out in a revised edition. He has spent 30 years with families at the hardest end of this work. He lives in Montana with his wife and twin sons. Find him at https://extremeteen.com/. Find more info and show notes at https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-677-out-of-control-teenager/ Also, thank you to our current sponsor, HeyPolo. Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://heypolo.com/JOYFUL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use code JOYFUL for 70% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Positive Discipline has been the book so many of us reach for since 1981, and now there’s a new edition. My guest Amber Traina, granddaughter of Dr. Jane Nelsen, worked alongside Jane on the revision and the new chapter on technology. We talk about why kind and firm sits at the heart of it and the difference between niceness and kindness. Amber shares the tech audit and why connection is what brings our teens to us when they mess up. Find more info and show notes at: https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-676-positive-discipline-today Also, thank you to our current sponsor, HeyPolo. Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://heypolo.com/JOYFUL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use code JOYFUL for 70% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's that time of year... The grade portal shows a pile of missing assignments, and taking the phone away feels like the only leverage you have. In this solo show I start in that moment with a teen who's behind in school, then work outward through the intentional ecosystem. We look at how your house runs and how connected you and your teen are, then at what you make those grades mean. I cover mistaken goals, executive functioning, natural consequences, and when to get help. For more info and show notes go to: https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-675-when-teen-grades-start-slipping Join the Living Joyful Courage Membership program now to take advantage of 30% off and the 6 week PD for parents of teens class. Go to ⁠www.besproutable.com/ljc ⁠and use code PODCAST30 at checkout. Also, thank you to our current sponsor, HeyPolo. Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://heypolo.com/JOYFUL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use code JOYFUL for 70% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can do everything right and someone in your life can still make it hard. In this episode, I talk with Amy Armstrong, LISW-S, founder of the Center for Family Resolution, about co-parenting boundaries and staying grounded when another person's reactivity pulls you off center. Amy shares her own story of chronic conflict, why trying to understand a difficult person rarely brings the control we hope for, and her working definition of a boundary: what you are willing and able to do. We also talk about why doing more is often a fight-or-flight reaction, how to protect kids from conflict without pretending everything is fine, and when teens get a voice in parenting plans. Amy put together a free kit for Joyful Courage listeners, with co-parenting communication scripts, a five-minute nervous system reset, and a guide for boundaries that aren't working: podcast.thecenterforfamilyresolution.com/courage Find Amy at the Center for Family Resolution and on TikTok at Amy Armstrong Conflict Free. Learn more about this episode, sign up for our newsletter and find support for parents of kids of all ages at https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-674-co-parenting-boundaries-with-amy-armstrong Join the Living Joyful Courage Membership program now to take advantage of 30% off and the 6 week PD for parents of teens class. Go to www.besproutable.com/ljc and use code PODCAST30 at checkout. Also, thank you to our current sponsor, HeyPolo. Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://heypolo.com/JOYFUL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use code JOYFUL for 70% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Stuart Slavin has spent decades studying what pressure does to young people, and what he found flips the usual conversation. When he cut class time and letter grades at a medical school, depression and anxiety dropped by 80% and board scores went up. A few things from our conversation: → Teen mental health started declining long before smartphones→ The average teen in his research sleeps six and a half hours→ Maladaptive perfectionism is skyrocketing, in our kids and in us→ "Pressure not to disappoint my parents" ranks higher than direct pressure from parents→ Aim for the college your kiddo will graduate from For more info and show notes go to https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/teen-achievement-pressure-stuart-slavin/ Also, thank you to our current sponsor, HeyPolo. Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to ⁠⁠⁠https://heypolo.com/JOYFUL⁠⁠⁠ and use code JOYFUL for 70% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three weeks ago I told you about the text I got in an Atlanta hotel room. Today I share what happened after I got home, what I tried, and what finally shifted. This is the third show in the series, and the one the others were building toward. We look at all four ecosystem questions at once, the narrative I didn't know I was holding, and the anchor word practice I still use. It's also the last time I'll tell this story. For more info and show notes go to https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-672-letting-go-of-the-story/ Immersion Week starts Monday, 9/21!! Get in there - www.besproutable.com/immersion Also, thank you to our current sponsor, HeyPolo. Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to ⁠⁠https://heypolo.com/JOYFUL⁠⁠ and use code JOYFUL for 70% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every parent of a teen has asked some version of this: Is this normal teenage behavior, or is something actually wrong? This week I go under your teen's closed door, attitude, screens, and secrecy. What's driving all of it is belonging, significance, and the private logic your kiddo is writing in real time. I share four questions that tell you where the trouble actually lives, honest signs that it's more than a season, and a three-step practice you can use tonight. For more show notes and info go to https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-671-is-this-normal-teenage-behavior/ Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to https://heypolo.com/joyful or use code JOYFUL and get 70% off your first year! To sign up for my Fall Immersion week, go to: www.besproutable.com/immersion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices