Life Compass

Resources for Parents & Educators

Resources for Parents

In addition to the new Montrose podcast and LCI blog, LCI hosts professional development and events for parents inside and outside the Montrose community including the LifeCompass Speaker Series at Montrose School, monthly “Coffee and Conversations” to address current parenting challengings, and “Habits of Mind” parenting workshops.

Visit the LifeCompass Blog: Practical wisdom for today’s parents and educators

3 Ways to Help Students Develop Their Focus Muscles

The Power of a Family Story

How Families Can Make Time for Reflection

What Teens Need from Parents

Too Busy? How to Improve Your Relationship with Time

Why I Want to Be a “Good Enough” Parent

The Power of Compassionate Self-Talk

Bounce Back: Learning How to Build Resilience

Read more parenting ideas from Deborah Farmer Kris, LifeCompass Institute Associate Director.

Featured in the Washington Post

A tale of two temperaments: Same parents, different kids.

What’s mentionable is manageable: Why parents should help children name their fears.

Our brains benefit from sleep. Here’s why, and how parents can help teens get plenty of it.

Featured in PBS Kids for Parents

Why Reading Aloud to Kids Helps Them Thrive

Choosing Honesty: Tips for Raising Trustworthy Kids

"Let's Find Out!": Three Tips for Raising Curious Kids

The Superhero Solution: How Make-Believe Boosts Kids’ Perseverance

Raising Grateful Kids: Why Giving Thanks Is Good for the Soul

“You Are Brave and Kind”: Helping Your Child Get Ready for the First Day of School

Featured in MindShift, an NPR education blog

How to Help Teenage Girls Reframe Anxiety and Strengthen Resilience

How Self-Compassion Supports Academic Motivation and Emotional Wellness

Helping Young Girls Find Their Voice While Developing Friendships

Being Popular: Why it Consumes Teens and Continues to Affect Adults

Emotional Agility as a Tool to Help Teens Manage Their Feelings

Five Ways to Help Children with ADHD Develop Their Strengths

How to Help Kids Manage Sleep, Schoolwork and Screens

Preschoolers and Praise: What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow?

Resources for Educators

LCI supports Montrose teachers by providing in-house professional development -- including a two-day intellectual retreat each March. Montrose faculty and administrators support LCI’s outreach efforts by presenting at conferences, exploring new initiatives, and sharing their expertise with visitors who come to Montrose to learn from us. LCI also works in partnership with Boston University’s Center for Character and Social Responsibility and the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue to provide training and curriculum resources to public and private school educators.

Professional Development

The following talks and workshops have been delivered at schools, community groups and universities in Boston, New York, Denver, LA, London, Oxford, Pamplona, Rome, Vienna, Tokyo and beyond.

The Power of StoryTelling

Vision & Virtue: Educating Minds & Hearts

Navigating Stress Tests: Practical Wisdom for Parents & Educators

Teaching Habits of Mind that Help Children Thrive

What Girls Need to Lead

The Odyssey of Adolescence

Aristotle for the Modern Educator: Virtue & Practical Wisdom

Why Poetry Matters: Virtue, Vice & Verse

The Schooling of Desire: Literature & the Moral Imagination

Publications

Happiness and Virtue Beyond East and West

Building Character in Schools

Teaching Character Education Through Literature

Great Lives, Vital Lessons

Citizenship and Higher Education

Stress Tests of Character

We all face stress tests of character. In life, challenges are inevitable.

This curriculum resource invites you to explore how you can integrate storytelling in your units and lessons as one tool for helping students develop the strengths they need to meet these challenges.

Coming Spring 2020: Stress Test of Character Curriculum. Click here for a preview and sample lessons!

Montrose Podcast

Deborah Farmer Kris on Habits of Mind
What are the Habits of Mind that can help us learn a new skill, build a new habit, or stop procrastinating? Deborah Farmer Kris, Montrose Teacher and LifeCompass Associate Director, sheds light on these topics and more in this episode of Montrose Podcast.

Karen Bohlin on What Girls Need to Lead
Head of Montrose School Dr. Karen Bohlin talks with parents from Montrose and the wider community about how they can help give young women the habits of mind, heart and character that they need to lead. From the importance of making mistakes, and how to overcome them, to the benefit of making one small change, Dr. Bohlin covers the pitfalls and opportunities that lay wait in any given day of parenting. Most of all, she encourages parents and educators to “teach like coaches” in calling girls to greatness.