As a parent, are any of these situations familiar to you?

• Your child is doing well at grade level. Her teachers love her work and may have even recommended her for advanced programs. But it feels like she doesn’t feel good about communicating all that is in her head. You don’t trust that she has received the kind of encouragement at her school that would truly help her blossom.

• Your child is in middle or high school. He used to love reading and ideas, but now you see that slipping away. You’ve tried many different things to help him with writing but you haven’t found someone who could handle his needs without judgment and really help him. You’ve felt powerless and began to question yourself. It feels like time is running out. You miss the boy you knew in him when he was younger — happy, pursuing his own ideas.

• Your child writes fairly well, when she puts her mind to it — but she’s not writing as much, or as well, as she could be. You’re not sure if there is anything “wrong” per se. She is doing ok with her classwork and her teachers have not raised any flags, but you have a feeling that she could be more engaged. You’ve wondered if there’s something going on — but don’t know what to do. Are you crazy in thinking that she should be getting more from school? What level of writing skill does she really need to be ready for college and adult life?

If you are nodding your head because any of these feel like you, I am very familiar with your concern. Since 2003, I have helped families like yours. It is my great privilege to help:

• Children whose talents in writing and reading are not being fully nurtured at school
• Children who excel in math and science but struggle with writing
• Children with learning differences who struggle to stay motivated to do their writing homework

I also help young adults who want to undergo in-depth writing projects like research for The Concord Review.

My approach works best when, as a parent:

• You care about education and achievement not only for the external rewards but also for their own sake.

You value how education transforms not only a person’s external life but also their internal life. You understand that learning goes on as long as we live, and that a person’s experiences with learning in childhood form attitudes for a lifetime, and that these attitudes are central to a person’s sense of well-being and happiness.

• You care about creating an atmosphere of worth for your child.

You understand that the world responds to skills and competencies, and that it also responds to confidence and genuine engagement. Every child has strengths they can rest on while they explore new terrain. You care about your child finding authentic achievement — achievement that comes from a sense of well-being alongside engaged focus and commitment.

• You value creating new foundations over “band-aid” fixes.

When things are worth doing, they are worth doing fully and well. You want your child to take the time and effort that it takes to internalize learning and make it truly theirs. You understand that all children relate emotionally to learning, and that, especially for children who have been struggling for a long time, the path to engaging with writing more fully will necessarily involve an emotional healing process.

• You care about the world of ideas, and you want your child to thrive in that world.

In the past safety may have come from deferring to someone else’s ideas and following a strict set of rules…but that’s not the world we live in today. Today’s economy and culture favors individuals who can think for themselves, build off the ideas of others, and articulate their vision. You want your child’s writing skills to go hand-in-hand with their creative thinking.

If you resonate with these values, I invite you to learn more about how my services work.