Heading back to school with confidence

As our kids return to school, the excitement of reuniting with friends often comes mixed with anxieties about past conflicts and evolving social dynamics. It's normal for daughters to worry about questions like:

• "Is my friend still mad about that huge mix-up we had last year? I hope it’s not weird between us now."
• "Did my friends hang out a lot without me this summer? What if they’re not that into me anymore?"
• "What if I don’t have any classes or even lunch with my friends? That would totally suck."
• "Are my friends still caught up in all that drama from last year? I really don’t want to deal with more of them hating on each other."

These concerns can transform into nighttime worries, making it difficult for girls to sleep and start the school year with confidence.

To help manage these fears, it's crucial we teach our daughters how to control negative thoughts. Understanding the 9 Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) and how to counteract them with insightful questions can shift their perspective from anxious and distorted to more grounded and realistic. This mental shift helps them embrace the school year with optimism and an openness to new opportunities for growth, learning, and friendships. You can download our 9 Automatic Negative Thoughts poster to help your daughter. Download now.

Encourage your daughter to approach this school year with an open heart and mind, ready to reconnect with old friends and eager to make new ones. Together, we can support them in turning these challenges into stepping stones for personal development and stronger relationships.

Learning from Real Experiences

Knowing how to set and maintain boundaries will help your daughter in this new school year. Learning these skills helps create a foundation for healthy interactions and prevents misunderstandings and conflicts.

This week in The Survive & Thrive in Middle School Course, a middle school girl shared her struggles with setting boundaries: "Everything becomes so difficult when I try to make boundaries with my friends because they get angry, start drama, and gossip about me."

Many of us can relate to her experience. Setting boundaries is a vital skill, yet it can be particularly challenging for girls and women who fear being perceived as mean or unkind. Balancing being assertive while remaining compassionate is challenging but crucial.

In Survive & Thrive in Middle School Course, we address this topic with specific lessons:

For Parents: A video lesson entitled, The Boundaries Your Daughter Needs video lesson with an accompanying Boundary Setting Workbook for Parents. This workbook includes an easy-to-learn method for setting boundaries and role-play scenarios you and your daughter can practice to help her gain the confidence she needs to set boundaries.

For Daughters: A video lesson on Boundaries is included, along with a 17-page Boundary-Setting Workbook, to empower your daughter to set boundaries confidently and ensure she feels safe and respected in her relationships.

I’m thrilled that our course participants can ask questions and receive support. Realizing they are not alone is profoundly impactful.

If you and your daughter want access to this course, click the Special Back-To-School Coupon.

We’re excited to invite your daughter to join The Brave Girl Tribe as our guest in our vibrant online community for girls in 5th to 8th grade. It promises to be an inspiring session, and we’d love for your daughter to participate!

Just click here to register, and we’ll send you the Zoom link. Our call starts at 7 PM EST / 6 PM CST / 4 PM PST on most Sundays. Joining is easy, and turning on the camera is entirely optional. We hope to see her there! 

Let's talk about how we can support your daughter together.

Schedule a chat with me today. Click Here!

Explore More Resources on The Brave Girl Project Website

Discover a variety of tools and resources tailored for you and your daughter on our courses page at The Brave Girl Project website. Dive in to find additional support that could be instrumental in navigating back-to-school challenges. Take a look and see what else might be helpful for you both! Click here to access our tools and resources page.

Warmly,

Laura Hayes
Founder of The Brave Girl Project
Life Coach for Tween & Teen Girls
www.TheBraveGirlProject.com
[email protected]
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