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As busy parents, it’s essential that we learn effective strategies to help our children navigate the different stages they go through and the challenges that arise at each stage. Whether our children are in kindergarten or about to enter middle school, we must help them to handle any difficulties they may encounter. 

Ashley Bartley, M.Ed., NCC, is a school counselor, author, and curriculum writer. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia and her M.Ed. in School Counseling from the College of William & Mary. She is the creator of Counselor Station, where she develops curriculum and resources for busy school counselors. Ashley lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and three young boys.

In today’s episode, Ashley and I discuss how you can help your child with time management and how to establish routines in your home to make mornings go more smoothly. Ashley also shares helpful strategies for children experiencing separation anxiety and helping your child with a transition to middle school.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The main ways parents can help their students utilize the school counselor
• How to handle when a child is having an issue with another child at school
• How parents can help their children with time management
• What parents can do to prepare their child and themselves for the transition to middle school
• Strategies to help ease childrens’ worries and fears about going to kindergarten
• How to establish a morning routine to make things a little easier
• What school counselors help students with and when they might meet with them

Resources:

• Counselor Station website
• Ashely’s Instagram: @counselorstation 
• Ashley’s Facebook
• Ashley’s TpT Store
• Books by Ashley
• Atomic Habits, by James Clear

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Questions: 

What are the main things that parents go to you for? What about your job is like under utilized? What could we be using you more for?

How do you handle when a child is having an issue with a particular child? Do you meet with them separately or together?

Are there any certain education requirements for the position of a school counselor? Does it vary school to school or district to district?

How can we be helping our children with their time management?

Should we be focusing on time management even with our littler ones, like an elementary school? Is there anything that’s maybe on the easier side that we can kind of start them off with to get them geared up to handle their time a little bit better?

How can parents prepare themselves and their child for the transition to middle school?

What are some strategies that parents can use to help ease a child’s worries and fears going into kindergarten and that separation anxiety they might experience?

How do we establish a routine in the mornings to make life just a tiny bit easier for us? 

As the counselor, do you meet with kids, just if they are having issues or asking to meet with you? Or do you meet with specific groups, just based on things that you want them to know or to teach them or give them tools or anything?