Thrivers: Helping Your Kids Build the Qualities to Shine and Thrive 

Are your kids stressed out by the pressures in our competitive society? Do they worry about grades or test scores? If so, is all that stress worth it? This week’s Mom Enough guest, Dr. Michele Borba, offers a research-based perspective on the factors that are most likely to help kids thrive in school and life – and experience less anxiety at the same time.   Michele has been an educator, educational psychologist and parent for forty years, earning international accolades for her groundbreaking work on parenting, bullying prevention and character development. But in recent years, she’s become increasingly worried about the emotional wellbeing of young people from all backgrounds, particularly the high levels of stress, anxiety and depression so many kids experience. So, she set out to interview hundreds of kids and parents, as well as to consult with top researchers studying factors that illuminate why some kids thrive even in stressful times.   The result is Michele’s latest book, Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Some Kids Shine, which she discusses with Marti & Erin in this week’s episode of Mom Enough. Her findings challenge the relentless, competitive emphasis on perfect grades and test scores (a “pretty package” as one teen said), noting that such high pressure often undermines focus, learning and emotional health. Most importantly, Michele’s findings highlight instead character traits that can be taught from an early age: self-confidence, empathy, self-control, integrity, curiosity, perseverance (or grit) and optimism. And there is a multiplier effect when those traits work together. Don’t miss this powerful, practical message for parents and anyone who works with or cares about children.     HOW WILL SUPPORT YOUR CHILD TO THRIVE? This week’s guest, Michele Borba, talks about practical ways to model and teach seven key character traits to your children. What stood out for you about her discussion of these traits and ways to teach them? If you were to come up with a family motto (highlighting who you want to be or how you want to be remembered), as Dr. Borba suggests, what would it be?   WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THRIVERS OR DR. MICHELE BORBA? ❉ CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES: WHAT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT SCIENCE TELLS US ABOUT HELPING ADOLESCENTS THRIVE. As parents, we often roll our eyes at the thought of our children becoming adolescents. How will we (and our children) survive this difficult period of development? But well-known author Dr. Laurence Steinberg has spent decades studying adolescents and has arrived at a much more positive view of what he terms The Age of Opportunity (the title of his latest book). He joins Marti & Erin for a rich and hopeful discussion of how recent research on adolescent brain development can inform the ways we guide our teens to a healthy, happy, productive adulthood.   ❉ DIVORCE AND CHILDREN: HELPING CHILDREN THRIVE DURING AND AFTER DIVORCE. When parents divorce, children typically experience a wide range of feelings, including loss, sadness, fear, anger and anxiety. These feelings come out in different ways, depending on age, personality and circumstances.