Parenting Teens: The Biggest Job We’ll Ever Have Podcast

“The more vulnerability that I share with my children, the closer we become.”  Luc Levensohn, Hyde Alumni Parent

Luc’s daughter was dealing with anxiety in high school, mostly caused by self-applied pressure to achieve in a school culture very focused on achievement.

When Luc and his family found Hyde, he learned a lot about the need for a different kind of communication with his daughter – one based on unconditional love but that ...

Focus on yourself.

Pieter Wolters and Ank Stuyfzand are proud of their son’s character and growth; they are also proud of their own growth as parents.

In our series of interviews with Hyde Alumni Parents, I usually ask the question “What was working in your parenting before you got to Hyde?”

Ank Stuyfzand and Pieter Wolters had several answers:

What’s Your Parenting Style?

Hyde Alumni Parent, Kate Carey, says hers was “Why am I the only one who sees clearly?  I’m a victim and I’ve got some resentment.” She describes her husband’s style as “sometimes pampering, sometimes fury.” Both are very descriptive!

Whatever your parenting style, you’ll enjoy this brief but sincere conversation with Kate, who realized in their first experience – the interview – that Hyde was the place...

Podcast 103: Jeff and Melissa Burroughs: Their daughter brought them back to Hyde…

“I didn’t really want my daughter to go away to school…” Jeff Burroughs, former assistant Head of Hyde School, and Hyde Alumni Parent.

As former teachers and administrators at The Hyde School, both Jeff and Melissa Burroughs knew well what the program was like for students and parents. Yet when they found themselves in The Biggest Job Family progra...

“Tell My Story.” - Ryan Reid

Jason (Jay) Reid is doing just that; telling his son, Ryan’s story. Ryan took his life when he was 14, leaving two Post-It Notes: one was the passcode to his computer; the second said “Tell My Story.”

In this podcast we hear from a very brave father who misses his son, wishes he’d been more vulnerable, wishes he’d listened differently.  “We need to change the conversation around mental health,” says ...

Who would want to do that – crash their career? But it’s the subtitle of the book, Ditch the Gatekeepers and Be Your Own Credential, that brings sense to the title; and it’s a new book written by Isaac Morehouse, a man who likes to call himself radically practical.

Isaac has some pretty radical views on education, careers, and freedom; he believes that if college is a four-year social experience, it seems really overpriced. And “...

“Kids can’t identify with our achievements.”  Joe Gauld, Founder, Hyde School

It’s our 100th podcast!  And our very special guest is Joe Gauld, founder of The Hyde School in Bath, ME. I asked Joe to be the guest on our 100th show because it all started with him.

He founded Hyde School to prepare kids for life; after five years, he realized that unless he also reached their parents, he wasn’t helping kids in the best way possibl...

“Nothing is for sure when it comes to our kids; we do the best we know with what we have at the time.”  -  Dan Scott

Dan Scott is the author of Caught In Between: Engage Your Preteens Before They Check Out; he is also a pastor and writer for Orange Books and speaks to teens and parents about child and adolescent development.   He has written several devotionals for kids and believes that faith is as important on Wednesday as it...

“It’s About Effort, Not IQ” – Title of Chapter 10: The Sport of School, by Christian Buck

There are so many great quotes and teachings in The Sport of School: How to Help Student-Athletes Improve their Grades for High School, College, and Beyond!  that it was hard to choose the one that would catch your eye and make you want to listen to this podcast.  Here are a few more:

We talk today with Ron Lieber, author of The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money. What parent wouldn’t want that?

“It’s hard for parents to talk to their kids about money,” says Ron; “they are not dispassionate about money, and not calm and rational about their kids.” His book gives great advice for parents on all things about kids and money, and the connection between money and valu...

“Parents need to listen to their teen. Support them in becoming who they want to be, not who you want them to be.”  Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD

Marilyn Price-Mitchell is a developmental psychologist, who works as a researcher and writer. For the last decade she’s focused efforts on studying how parents, educators and mentors nurture positive strengths in children.

In her free e-book “Reframing Success,” she lists eight attributes ...

Would you, as a parent, buy your kid’s way into college?

Signe Wilkinson, cartoon du jour TOON14, Admissions Scam

"Here at Hyde School, we want kids to do the honorable thing without thinking about it." Malcolm Gauld, Director, The Hyde Institute

Malcolm has been a teacher, coach and head of school at Hyde School; he is currently Director of The Hyde Institute, an organization established to take Hyde’s unique approach to ...

“You can’t take the struggle out of parenting – it’s built in. The real question is, how much are we willing to challenge ourselves?”

This quote from When Kids Call the Shots: How to Seize Control from Your Darling Bully  - and Enjoy Being a Parent Again by Sean Glover, is just one of many wise things about parenting you will hear in this interview.

Sean is a psychotherapist, speaker, and author with 25 years’ experience working w...

“Listen, listen, listen.” – Chris Guidera, Hyde Alumni Parent

Chris Guidera, husband of Ali di Groot who was on the show last week, had similar words as his wife about his parenting: “I thought I had all the answers,” he admits; “and I learned that I needed to listen more. The family I grew up in  - somebody was always talking; nobody listened.”

Chris thought he was doing it differently than how he was raised, but learned he wasn’t...

“Before we went to Hyde, I was parenting from a very angry place.” Ali de Groot, Hyde Alumni Parent

Ali embraced the parenting program, once she realized what was being asked of her, and says that her parenting changed drastically. “We didn’t have to keep saying things like, do your homework, do your homework. 

The parent training taught me to just, one by one, let go of my attachments to all the outcomes and to focus on myself. I ...

Eric Karlan, Creative Commons license, image has been cropped

“What Do I Need to Know About You?”  is Eric Karlan’s favorite question to students.

Eric Karlan is co-owner of an organization called Ivy Experience, which helps students prepare for ACT and SAT testing, write college essays and complete college applications.

Don’t let the name of his company fool you into thinking that he only helps students interested in Ivy League S...

"As my children know from early on what I told them repeatedly… the two most important possessions a person has is their word and their integrity."

Dr. Bruce E. Berger, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Emeritus School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University.

A tumultuous divorce and custody battle led Bruce to seek a school that would give his son structure, stability and an academic education that was character-ba...

Can students achieve more by doing less in college?

“YES!” says Kyle Winey, college productivity expert, in his book, Hackiversity: The Secrets to Achieving More by Doing Less in College. 

When I read the title of this book, my first thought was, “Is this guy going to tell kids and parents that you really don’t have to study in college?” What I found out was the opposite.  Kyle’s recommendations are:

“I learned that I had to be consistently patient and patiently consistent in my parenting.” 

Dennis Cavalli, Hyde Alumni Parent

Dennis and Claire Cavalli went through The Biggest Job Parent program almost ten years ago at Hyde School, but they are still using what they learned.

“I was just going through the motions of living my life,” says Claire; “I was doing what I thought I should do, or what the books said.”

In this is podcast,...