Donna Shea - Social Educator

09/08/2026

Sometimes kids remember to ask… but forget one very important part:

Waiting for the answer. 😊

“Can I have a turn?” — while already reaching for the toy.

“Can I sit here?” — while squeezing into the space.

“Can we play something else?” — while starting to change the game.

This week’s Social Coaching Scoop is about a simple sequence I teach kids all the time:

ASK → WAIT → ACCEPT

Because if we’re already doing what we want while we ask, we haven’t really given the other person a choice. We’ve announced our plan and put a question mark at the end of it. 😉

Also inside this week’s Scoop: a heads-up about a FREE Kindle promotion beginning September 10 for Why Can’t My Child Make Friends?

📬 Read this week’s Scoop:
https://conta.cc/4r8nlAU

Email from Donna Shea Teaching the tiny pause between asking a question and taking action. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-413-1965 ✉ dshea.pete

08/25/2026

🌱 Sometimes growth shows up in the last 30 minutes.

Last Thursday was the final day of our summer program, and it had me thinking about how differently growth can show up for each child.

Some changes are easy to see. Some happen little by little. Some kids listen and watch for a long time before we're able to see what they've been learning.

And some apparently wait until the last 30 minutes of a seven-week summer program to show us. 😊

Kids don't always grow on our schedule. Our job is to keep teaching, encouraging, and creating opportunities to try again.

This week's Social Coaching Scoop is about trusting the process — even when we're still waiting for that pop.

📬 Read this week's Scoop:
https://conta.cc/3U7KNlp

08/18/2026

🎲 Every Game Needs a Place to Be a Beginner

Sometimes kids aren't avoiding a playground game because they don't want to play.

Sometimes they simply haven't had a comfortable place to learn.

This week's Social Coaching Scoop was inspired by a game of UNO—and a reminder that we don't have to change every game or take away competition. But sometimes softening the rules, offering a practice round, or creating a separate learning game gives a child the chance to build the skills they need to eventually join in.

Because you can't get better at something you never have an opportunity to learn. 💚

📬 Read this week's Social Coaching Scoop:
https://conta.cc/4ghh010

Email from Donna Shea Sometimes softening the rules gives kids the chance they need to learn the game. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-413-1965

08/11/2026

😂 “I have a complicated password.”

That was the response I got this week when I suggested it might be time to uninstall a whining feature.

And while it gave us a very good laugh, there’s a useful coaching idea underneath it.

Kids can learn to notice a behavior without making that behavior part of who they are. Instead of simply saying, “Stop whining,” we can help them recognize when the feature has turned itself on—and practice what to do instead.

This week’s Social Coaching Scoop is about whining, communication, a little humor...and apparently some very good password security. 😂

📬 Read this week’s Scoop:
https://conta.cc/4xqAlDA

Email from Donna Shea Apparently, this particular feature comes with a complicated password. 😂 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-413-1965 ✉ dshea

08/04/2026

🧠 Turn Off Your Auto-Correct

Have you ever made a tiny mistake while talking—and someone jumps in to correct you before you’ve even had a chance to correct yourself?

This week’s Social Coaching Scoop looks at the human “auto-correct feature” and an important social skill for kids: learning that noticing a mistake doesn’t always mean you need to correct it.

Sometimes a correction is helpful. Sometimes the other person needs a moment to catch it themselves. And sometimes... we can just let it go. 💚

Also inside: fall social groups, individual coaching, workshops, this week’s featured resource, and more.

📬 Read this week’s Scoop:
https://conta.cc/3TsCksy

Email from Donna Shea Not every mistake needs to be corrected—and knowing when to let one go is a social skill. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-

07/28/2026

Every child falls sometimes.

Most scraped knees heal quickly. The bigger opportunity is helping children bounce back emotionally and discover that they really are okay to keep playing.

In this week's Social Coaching Scoop, I'm sharing a simple coaching strategy I call Healing SuperPower—a playful way to help children build resilience after everyday bumps and bruises.

You'll also find:
💚 Updates on our Fall Weekly Social Coaching Groups
📚 This week's Featured Resource: Download Your Patience App
❤️ A Closing Thought to carry into the week

Read this week's Scoop here:
https://conta.cc/44H0GBh

Email from Donna Shea A simple coaching strategy that helps children bounce back after life's little tumbles. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-41

07/21/2026

Choose Your Path.

One of the most common coaching moments I see isn't a big argument—it's the tiny disagreements that grow because neither child wants to let the other have the last word.

This week, I'm sharing one of the simple questions I ask children when those moments happen. It helps them pause, think, and realize they have a choice about what happens next.

Sometimes the strongest social skill isn't having the perfect comeback. It's choosing not to make things worse.

📖 Read this week's Social Coaching Scoop:
https://conta.cc/4wdWCo7

💚 Helping children build friendship skills... one small coaching moment at a time.

Email from Donna Shea Every small disagreement gives children a choice about what happens next. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-413-1965 ✉ dshea

07/14/2026

🧠 Does your child have a Recycle Bin?

One of my favorite coaching tools helps kids learn that they don't have to believe every thought that pops into their heads.

When children say things like, "Nobody likes me," or "I always mess everything up," I don't argue with the thought. Instead, I ask:

"Is that a Keep Thought or a Recycle Bin Thought?"

It's a simple strategy that helps kids recognize that some thoughts deserve to stay...and some are better thrown away.

This week's Social Coaching Scoop shares how you can begin using this idea at home.

🎉 As a special celebration, Ginger & The Green Cape—the children's chapter book that introduces this same coaching strategy—is FREE on Kindle today!

Read this week's Scoop here:
https://conta.cc/4vwcy41

Email from Donna Shea A simple coaching strategy for negative self-talk—plus a free Kindle surprise this week. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 🎉 Special This Week: Celebrate the laun

07/07/2026

What do you see when children are playing?

Most people see laughter, forts, games, and fun.

I see something very different.

I see children practicing courage, learning to wait, recovering from disappointment, reading facial expressions, and discovering how to join a group. Most of those coaching moments last only a few seconds—but over time, they become the child's own inner voice.

This week's Social Coaching Scoop is a behind-the-scenes look at what real-time social coaching looks like on the playground.

I'd love to hear what you notice when you watch children play.

📬 Read this week's Scoop:
https://conta.cc/4ydjlCg

Email from Donna Shea The most important social coaching moments are often the ones no one notices. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-413-1965 ✉ d

06/30/2026

Have you ever said, "That's not what I meant"?

Kids say it all the time—and usually, I believe them.

One of the most important social skills children can learn is understanding the difference between what they intended to communicate and what another person actually experienced.

This week's Social Coaching Scoop shares a simple coaching strategy that helps children build empathy, perspective-taking, and stronger communication—without turning every disagreement into a debate about who's right.

Plus:
☀️ Summer Program updates
🎒 Fall Weekly Group information
💬 Coaching services
📚 Resources for parents and educators

Read this week's Scoop here:
https://conta.cc/3TbcSrd

Email from Donna Shea Helping children close the gap between intent and experience. 📬 Welcome to this week’s Social Coaching Scoop! 📍 657 Hill Road, Boxborough MA 📞 978-413-1965 ✉ dshea.peterpancen