Trish BIO
Educators’ and parenting coach, Patricia Wilkinson, is coauthor of Readers’ Choice winner Brain Stages: How to Raise Smart, Confident Kids and Have Fun Doing It.
Trish taught all the grades, preschool through sixth, over 23 years and is the mother of two children. By the time she and her husband had their own family, she had worked with kids for 14 years and figured raising children would be a breeze.
Ha! How naïve can you get?
Trish had to get creative to support their twice-exceptional children in growing into successful adults. Through in-depth study of the latest research, experts’ advice, and trial and error, Trish found key communication strategies and care practices to boost their kids’ brain development and influence the people they’ve become.
She has also found that these techniques and tools have helped hundreds of students in the classroom as well as the parents and families that she has coached.
Trish’s Bachelor of Arts degree in recreation from California State University, Long Beach and graduate work at Cal States, Los Angeles and Chico, to earn a teaching credential and Language Development Specialist certification, were a great start. But the real wins came through raising and educating kids in the spirit of FUN and play—troubleshooting, searching for resources, and trying new things.
Jacqueline Frischknecht, PhD contributed her extensive study of how brains develop, function, and learn to Brain Stages. Sadly, she passed away before they finished writing the book, so Trish continued to pore over brain research as it was published (Trish has become a total science nerd).
Today, Trish coaches educators, parents, and caregivers, and she works with mental health professionals, to help children and youth grow into the smart, confident, well-adjusted, socially adept humans they deserve to become.
Trish believes, with the right tools, any educator can enjoy teaching successful students. And any parent can raise well-adjusted, successful children—even in our complicated world.