Welcome to Kathy Seal's Website and Blog

A "must-read" for all parents who want their children to love learning. Deborah Stipek and Kathy Seal turn research findings into accessible, fun and effective strategies." -- Ted Mitchell, President, California Board of Education and former president, Occidental College

Motivated Minds , Spanish language edition (Ediciones Paidos Iberica)

Books and articles about how to raise happy and successful kids

Kathy also speaks to parents and teachers about motivating kids to learn and about keeping calm in our hypercompetitive world. See our Contact page for more information.



Parental anxiety is peaking today because of the hypercompetition in our children's world. So parents are constantly faced with this dilemma: you don't want to apply pressure -- yet what might happen to your child if she doesn't take Soccer for Toddlers – or that extra SAT prep course? Instead of critically shaking our fingers at parents,Pressured Parents, Stressed-out Kids show them how to relieve that pressure, by staying highly involved with their children, while encouraging their autonomy. That in turn will allow the child's intrinsic motivation to flourish, leading to high achievement.

Praise for Pressured Parents, Stressed-out Kids :
“Dr. Wendy Grolnick and Kathy Seal have done stressed-out parents a great service, and I wish I had had this book when my kids were little! They take on the ‘pressure cooker’ environment our children face—and how we inadvertently contribute to it—and show how to let kids live and learn at their own pace. I wish all parents could read this book!”

—Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, PhD, H. Rodney Sharp Professor, School of Education, University of Delaware, and award-winning writer of Einstein Never Used Flash Cards and How Babies Talk

"This is a first rate book. Even we sports fans who think competition can be good for kids have to admit that this book illuminates those moments when beating the other kid, or besting the family down the block, is distinctly unhealthy. The advice it offers to parents who feel real pain at such moments, who don't know how to control their own longing to succeed through their children, is the most sensible I have ever read."

-- Jay Mathews, Washington Post, and author of Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America.

Books and Articles

Books and Articles
Saying No to Kids in a Yes Culture
Why Limits are Good for Kids
Marketing of Colleges Increases Family Stress
A Better Way to Choose a College
Pay to Learn Shortchanges Kids
What the research tells us