by Linda Park
As the out-breath of summer with all of its exuberance gives way to a drawing-in of the breath, this is the time when conversations turn to the topic of transitions. Autumn is near, and many families are getting ready for the new school year. As a parent, teacher and administrator at a K-12 Waldorf school, I hear from many parents of school-aged children expressing how much they are looking forward to a little more structure and the regularity of the school year routine.
Transitions are not always easy. Change, the anticipation of new encounters, unexpected challenges and growth may all be exciting, as well as a source of unease and apprehension. I am reminded that it takes a lot of inner and outer forces to bring ourselves to engage with the unfamiliar, especially for children and teenagers in their own context.
There is a lot for young ones to navigate: a new classroom and classmates, perhaps a new teacher or even a new school — a lot of unknowns related to new experiences that are yet to come. There is no doubt that learning and discovery can be exciting in the most joyful sense. At the same time, we as adults know that there will also be challenges along the way.
What is it that helps us face adversity, persevere through challenges, bounce back from setbacks, and weather the difficulties and hardships we encounter along the way? What allows our inner fortitude to persevere and not lose hope or trust? Most importantly, how do we stay resilient and support our children to do the same?
The plethora of research and studies on the science of resilience gives us a wide range of understanding and approaches to consider. In one example, a physician specializing in adolescent medicine and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine coined the “7 C’s of Resilience”: competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control. These capacities provide a framework for supporting children and youth as they develop the ability to recognize and respond to stressful and toxic circumstances in ways that strengthen their resilience in everyday life. It is helpful to keep the 7 C’s in mind when supporting children and one another.
I’d like to offer a simple suggestion for approaching another school year and all the unknowns and challenges that come with living, learning and growing: that we embrace failure as an opportunity to learn, grow and develop resilience.
Failure can offer us something deeper than success. In the face of adversity and challenge, we strengthen our capacity to approach problems creatively, to avoid taking setbacks personally, to try again, and to remain engaged. This might be understood as a practice of return — the very practice of resilience. We return, we try again, and we keep striving.
It must also be recognized that determination and inner resolve do not exist on their own; they are rooted in stable and healthy relationships. Our relationships with children, and the relationships teachers develop with their students, are central to how children encounter and learn from failure.
The role of adults is to lovingly stand beside — not always with — children and adolescents as they make successive attempts at whatever they undertake, experiencing both failure and success. This creates fertile ground for experimentation and wonder, encouraging an experience of the world that is not governed by judgment, but instead cultivates openness and continued engagement, even when fear or uncertainty arises. When parents can be present to these experiences and the thoughts that arise from them, they also strengthen children’s ability to do the same.
Our greatest learnings may come from our most difficult encounters. Each opportunity to practice with new verve helps develop our capacity for flexibility, spiritedness and the fortitude to remain interested and engaged in the world. In turn, this can cultivate a deeper sense of meaning in our lives — and meaningfulness is an important foundation for resilience and health.
Knowing and doing, however, are two different things. Consider finding a few minutes each day to be mindful and intentionally practice one or two aspects of resilience. Even a few minutes of such practice can go a long way.
Linda Park is an FHC Board Member and a teacher and an administrator at a Waldorf School in New York’s Hudson Valley. She is a parent of a high school junior who has been in Waldorf education since her early garden years. They have eight chickens and live close to a number of beloved biodynamic farms.
This post was originally published in the Fall 2026 Newsletter