ABOUT
Persistently assisting parents
to create more ease,
with less effort
I’ve Got You Covered!
I am so grateful to bring a wide-range of career experiences to my present work. I have been a middle school and high school classroom teacher, an elementary reading specialist, and a school district administrator directing reading and language arts programs, K-8. I have taught at Seattle Pacific University and the University of Washington in teacher training and graduate programs.
I have studied extensively or have been certified in those areas I’m most passionate about: psycholinguistics and literacy, personality and learning styles, intrinsic motivation, systems thinking, positive psychology, transformational leadership, Appreciative Inquiry, media/digital literacy, impact of screen overuse on development, and brain-compatible practices in teaching, learning, and parenting.
Join Me on the
Leading-Edge
“Life is about creating things.” I heard Bob Dylan say this on a documentary and I wholeheartedly agree. Moving from Imagination to Invention thrills me, and fulfills me. To get me started, tell me it can’t be done!
My books plow new territory. Screen Smarts: A Family Guide to Media Literacy (1995) pioneered the idea of, “family media literacy.” In Parenting Well in a Media Age: Keeping Our Kids Human (2005) I introduced 5 essentials for human thriving in a tech-world. Patterns Over Time (2023) is the first compilation of 60 years of research regarding the impact of screen overuse on 15 areas of child and teen development.
Consulting work energizes me when I am part of assembling something that has never existed before. In 1992 I initiated the first national conference on media literacy in the US, which for the first time, brought together media artists, tech folk and child development specialists. That started much needed conversations that continue to this day. So do the ripple effects of the innovative organizations I advised over the last two decades. I so enjoyed writing the first media literacy curriculum for Head Start, ages, 2-4. We can’t start early enough.
In 2000 I invented the parent coaching profession when I developed the Parent Coach Certification® Training Program and the Parent Coaching Institute. PCI—the first of its kind and still the only one-year, graduate-level parent coach training program. To date over 1,000 heart-centered, dedicated practitioners are PCI Certified Parent Coaches® throughout the US and 30 countries. They are re-imagining parent support—just as I had imagined over two decades ago.
The Personal Stuff
I live north of Seattle in a poster city for the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I enjoy the trails and get out in nature as much as possible. Mindfulness practices, along with Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong keep me at my growth edge. My two wonderful sons are self-actualized adults, in fulfilling careers, each partnered with a strong woman.
Growing up, they didn’t have it easy as their father and I divorced and there were several rocky years. Thankfully, I found the love of my life who was also a magnificent stepfather. Unfortunately, he died in 2023. Losing him has changed me permanently, of course. I now know for sure that we are not our bodies. And that every moment on this plane of existence is most precious. Losing him has deepened my drive to lessen others’ burdens; to do what I can to help others live and love as fully as possible.
