Parenting Resources

Supporting the Transition to Kindergarten

Is your little transitioning to Kindergarten?  Here are some tips and resources for parents/caregivers to help ease the transition.

Transitioning to High School...

Here are some tips for parents, caregivers and teens to help make the transition to High School.

Middle School Transitions...Updated for 2022!

Tri-Town Council (TTC)  has assembled helpful info, tips and resources to support  you and your tween’s transition  into Middle School. We hope these articles and resources will offer information and help ease concerns as your child (and you) transition to this new phase of growth!

Resources for Parents/Guardians
of High School Graduates

Parents and guardians of high school graduates, new horizons await you and your grad! Whatever your child’s next chapter is - college and/or work, military service, or a gap year - we offer some resources to help you support them during this novel, interesting, and exciting phase of their lives.

Youth Health and Safety Guide

This guide contains information and resources to support YOU in supporting youth. Articles about youth mental health, prevention resources, communication tips and much more.  With articles featuring Tri-Town's own Charise Rohm Nulsen, Stephanie Meegan and Masconomet's Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA).

Executive Function Skills Parent Questionnaire

Use this parent questionnaire that accompanies the article "Help Your Child Tackle Long-Term School Projects" on p. 17 of TTC's Youth Health and Safety Guide to gain a sense of which of your child's executive function skills need attention.

Parent Toolkit

Parent Toolkit is a one-stop resource developed with parents in mind. It’s produced by NBC News Learn and supported by Pearson and includes information about almost every aspect of your child’s development, because they're all connected. 

Let Kids be Bored (Occasionally)

As parents we worry about a child who is slunked in the living room, watching television on a sunny day, complaining “There’s nothing to do.” In fact, the experience of being bored for a time may be exactly what the child needs “to do”.

Screenagers

To be effective in influencing your children on this issue, begin by committing to have many short, calm and caring conversations.

 How Is Your Child Smart? 

 Boost your child's success by understanding his learning style. 

When Role Models Fall

Talking to boys about heroes gone bad.

Prom Safety, 2022

Adolescence is a time of growth, change, memorable experiences, and risk.  Communication is key to helping your teen make good decisions and keep them safe. With upcoming prom season, this is a good time for parents and caring adults to talk with teens about how to celebrate safely.  Tri-Town Council has put together a list of information and resources to support parents/caregivers in talking with their kids about celebrating these milestones safely. 

Five Mistakes Every Kid Should be Allowed to Make 

As parents our first inclination is to rush in and save our children when something goes wrong in their lives, or to shield them and prevent whatever the “bad” thing is from happening in the first place. Sadly, we all learn better through making our own mistakes. Sometimes watching the inevitable really does hurt us as parents more than it hurts them. 

Understanding the Boy Code

As parents, caregivers, teachers and mentors of boys we all hope and want the best for the next generation of men. However, recent research has shown that boys are not being given the best, and as a result, are falling behind. How are we letting boys down? 

Tips on Teaching Teens To Deal With Stress

Learning how to deal with stress is a part of growing up, but your teen will need your help.

Top 15 Parenting Mistakes

 #15 Your job is not to be cool or to be their friend. Your job is to be a parent; this means that sometimes you may not be cool in their eyes. It is age and stage appropriate that your kids hate you at times. If and when they do, we have to feel OK about this ---- meaning we may not like it, but we cannot take it personally. 

Helping Boys Regulate Emotions at Home

Learning to self-regulate emotions is a fundamental task of growing up. A by who can stay calmly focused and alert can better integrate information coming in from outside and inside, and then choose where to direct his thoughts and actions.

The Drug-Like Effect of Screen Time on the Teenage Brain

Teenagers today have never known a world without the internet, which may be why half of all adolescents say they’re addicted to their digital devices.

Middle School Transition

TTC has assembled some info, tips and resources on youth empowerment to help you and your tween transition seamlessly into Middle School.

High School GraduationTransition

Here are some useful resources as you navigate through the many important conversations you are having with your graduate as they move on to the next steps in their (and your) lives.

Teen Cell Phone Contract

Set healthy boundaries for teen cell phone use.

Real Parents, Real Talk About Kids And Screens

We live in a world of screens. And in this digital age — with so many devices and distraction — it's one of the things parents worry about most: How much time should their kids spend staring at their phones and computers? What's the right balance between privacy and self-discovery?

Are You a Distracted Parent?

In Highlights Magazine’s annual State of the Kid Survey, a nationally representative sample of 6- to 12- year olds were asked, “Are your parents ever distracted when you are trying to talk to them?” 62 percent of children said yes, and, when asked, “What distracts them?” - the most frequently mentioned distractor was cell phones (28%) followed by siblings (25%) and work (16%).