National Center for Youth Issues

Looking for a few great books to add to your shelf this summer?

Our June Book Sale is here, and these featured titles are just $8 each for a limited time.

Whether you're supporting healthy habits, building character, or creating meaningful conversations with children, there's something here to spark discussion and learning.

Shop the sale:
NCYI.org/sale

June is here, bringing opportunities to celebrate, reflect, and support students in meaningful ways.

From National Safety Month and Pride Month to Children's Day, Juneteenth, Father's Day, and the first day of summer, June offers plenty of opportunities for conversations about identity, belonging, safety, history, family, and community.

Whether you're planning summer programs, preparing for the next school year, or looking for meaningful ways to connect with students and families, these key dates can help guide your month.

Good values don't just happen. They are taught, modeled, practiced, and reinforced over and over in the ordinary moments of an ordinary day.

Children are not born knowing how to be kind when it's hard, how to stand up for someone who is treated unfairly, or how to sit with someone else's pain and let it matter. Those are learned skills. And the adults in their lives are the ones doing the teaching, whether they realize it or not.

This is both the weight and the privilege of the work. Every conversation about fairness, every moment of genuine empathy you model, every time you name what integrity looks like in real life, you are building something in that child that will outlast any lesson plan.

Character doesn't develop by accident. It develops because someone decided it was worth teaching.

The goal isn’t to fix the feeling or rush past it. It’s to communicate one simple truth: you are not alone in this moment, and this moment is safe.

Sometimes children don’t need immediate solutions or more instructions. They need calm, steady presence. Simple phrases like these can help reduce pressure, create emotional safety, and open the door for connection.

Small words matter — especially in anxious moments.

Are you looking for a ready-to-use small group counseling curriculum to help PK-3 students overcome separation anxiety and build confidence and independence at school?

The 30-Minute Groups: Separation Anxiety workbook will equip you with everything you need to do just that! Teach essential coping skills and SEL strategies in flexible 30-minute lessons for small group or classroom instruction in grades PK-3. It’s adaptable, requires minimal prep time, and is rooted in evidence-informed strategies that empower students to navigate transitions, manage big feelings, and face their fears with courage.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Six Complete Lessons with ASCA® standards
• Comprehensive Action Plan
• Permission and Completion Letters to send to caregivers
• Attendance Logs
• Pre- and Post-Assessments for program effectiveness
• Results Report to share with interested parties
• Downloadable resources and templates

Topics include goodbye rituals, morning routines, coping skills, and overcoming fears. The lessons and questions in this thoughtfully crafted resource are designed to help students understand and manage their emotions, learn calming techniques, and develop tools they can use to separate confidently from their caregivers and engage fully in school life.

Use the 30-Minute Groups: Separation Anxiety workbook to help provide a strong foundation for students to build independence, resilience, and confidence!

ncyi.org/30minutegroups

After a busy school year, summer can start to feel like another thing we’re supposed to “get right.”
Make memories. Be productive. Rest. Travel. Recharge. Make every moment count.

But meaningful summers don’t always come from packed schedules or perfect plans. Sometimes they grow from slower mornings, evening walks, backyard movie nights, quiet conversations, creativity, laughter, and simply having room to breathe again.

In our newest blog, we’re exploring simple ways educators, parents, families, and caregivers can slow down, reconnect, and enjoy summer in ways that feel meaningful to them.

Read here: ncyi.org/slow-down-and-reconnect-this-summer/

Memorial Day is more than a long weekend. It is a day to pause and honor the men and women who gave everything in service to others, and to hold space for the families and communities still carrying the weight of that loss.

For educators and counselors, this day is also a reminder that grief looks different for everyone. Some students come from military families who know this kind of loss personally and intimately. A little extra gentleness, a little more awareness of who might be carrying something heavier today, can go a long way.

We are grateful. We remember. We honor. 🇺🇸

Behavior is always communication. When a child's actions don't make sense, it's rarely because there is no reason. It's because we haven't seen the full story yet.

The anger, the withdrawal, the tears, the bravado — these are not the problem. They are the signal. And when we slow down enough to go behind them, to watch and wonder rather than react and redirect, children will show us exactly what they need.

Our job isn't always to have the answer. Sometimes it's simply to stay curious long enough for the story to emerge. 💙

Big emotions can feel overwhelming for kids, especially when frustration builds faster than they know how to handle. 💥

Soda Pop Head helps children recognize the signs of anger, understand what’s happening inside their bodies, and learn simple strategies to calm down before they “blow their top.”

Through Lester’s story, kids learn that anger itself isn’t bad — but learning how to manage it matters. Perfect for classrooms, counseling offices, and home conversations about self-regulation and coping skills.

ncyi.org/product/sodapophead/

Some of the heaviest things we carry aren't circumstances. They are beliefs we absorbed somewhere along the way and never stopped to question.

For educators and counselors who spend their days helping others unlearn limiting beliefs, these six are worth turning inward. Worth examining honestly.

The idea that rest has to be earned. That discomfort means something is wrong. That mistakes are something to be ashamed of rather than learned from.

These are not truths. They are patterns. And the same grace you extend to your students every single day? You are allowed to extend it to yourself too. 💜