I am pleased to announce an online meeting for all interested parents with Michael Thompson, Ph.D.

“The Psychological Challenges of Sequestering and Online Learning: A Special Presentation for BFS Parents”

7:00 PM next Thursday, April 9, 2020

Dr. Thompson is a consultant, author and psychologist specializing in children and families. He is the supervising psychologist for the Belmont Hill School and has worked in more than seven hundred schools across the United States, as well as in international schools in Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia.  I have known Michael for years, having first worked with him at Moses Brown School.  He is the real deal – a talented and experienced school psychologist, an accomplished author and speaker, and a generous person – with a special balance of wisdom, skills, empathy, and understanding. FYI – he will conduct a similar presentation with the faculty earlier next Thursday, and he is doing all of this for us without a fee.

He is the co-author of the New York Times best-selling book, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys (Ballantine Books, 1999). He is the author of Speaking of Boys: Answers to the Most-Asked Questions about Raising Sons (Ballantine, 2000), and co-author (with Catherine O’Neill Grace and Larry Cohen, Ph.D.) of Best Friends/Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children (Ballantine, 2001) and Mom, They’re Teasing Me: Helping Your Child Solve Social Problems (Ballantine, 2002.) About Best Friends, Worst Enemies the Publishers Weekly review declared, “Not since Dr. Spock and Penelope Leach has there been such a sensitive and practical guide to raising healthy children.” The Pressured Child: Helping Your Child Achieve Success in School and in Life (with Teresa Barker, Ballantine, 2004) was written to help parents understand the complex journey of children through school, from Kindergarten through senior year. His third book on the psychology of boys, entitled, It’s a Boy!: Understanding Your Son’s Development from Birth to Eighteen, was published in 2008. It focuses on the importance of undirected, free play in the lives of boys. Dr. Thompson’s newest book, Homesick and Happy: How Time Away From Parents Can Help a Child Grow, was published by Ballantine Books in May of 2012.

A dedicated speaker and traveler, Michael Thompson has appeared on The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC 20/20, CBS 60 Minutes, The Early Show and Good Morning America. He has been quoted in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Time and U.S. News and World Report and has been a guest on NPR’s “Morning Edition” with Susan Stamberg, “Talk of the Nation” with Ray Suarez and the Diane Rhem Show. He wrote, narrated and hosted a two-hour PBS documentary entitled “Raising Cain” that was broadcast nationally in 2006.  Dr. Thompson is a past member of the American Camping Association and is on the Advisory Board of Parent Magazine. Dr. Thompson lives in Arlington, Massachusetts. 

A special link to this presentation has been sent to parents (and, thank you, parents, for your forgiveness for this “repost,” that informs many others about what we are doing).

More about Michael Thompson at http://michaelthompson-phd.com/