welcome image

Don't wait for him to turn 10 before you reveal that you are not in fact the hired help whose job it is to clean up after him.

We should not medicate the boys so they fit the school; we should change the school to fit the boy. (Leonard Sax, M.D. Ph.D)

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

Children mimic well. They catch what they see better than they follow what they hear.

The mistake that Sharon and I both made is we never set any boundaries.  (Ozzy Osbourne)

Criticism is not a motivator.

Good parenting requires sacrifice. Childhood lasts for only a few brief years , but it should be given priority while it is passing before your eyes

Being a parent of a teenager can cure a person of narcissism.

Some hope their children will be like sponges soaking up the truth and wisdom imparted by their parents. However appealing this philosophy might be, it seldom seems to catch on with their children.

If there is no relationship - nothing else matters !

Learn more.

Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you to the skills, techniques and strategies to assess and manage a wide range of behaviour problems (eg. aggression, destruction. noncompliance, swearing, school problems, tantrums, sibling quarreling, etc.). You will learn how to determine the underlying causes of the inappropriate behaviours, develop logical interventions and establish a monitoring system to evaluate progress. Suitable for parents, teachers, daycare, social workers. (6 hours)

Lick Your Kids

 
“Lick Your Kids” (figuratively not literally) (2 hours)
First the bad news – if you have kids you can really mess them up.
Now the good news – you also have the opportunity to help them become great.
There are 3 powerful forces influencing your child’s development
1.    nature        = his genetic code
2.    nurture       = what you (mom & dad) do
3.    free will     = your child’s independent decisions
You can’t change his genetic code and once your child becomes a certain age you can’t force your will on him, but you always have complete control of your responses to him.
This workshop is filled with sanity saving strategies that provide ideas on how to
effectively respond to:
            – temper tantrums                              – sibling quibbling
            – noncompliance                                – lying
            – setting boundaries                          – stealing
            – breaking curfew                               – allowances
            – using rewards                                  – time out
            – homework hassles                          – messy rooms
            – testing & manipulation                    -much more

A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain



 

A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain with fewer kilometres on it. It is a brain that has not fully developed. It is a work in progress and has stymied parents for centuries. Modern neuroscience is now explaining biological reasons why:

1. teens can seem so mature one minute and so maddening the next

2. some struggle and some bloom

3. they engage in risky behaviour (drinking, drugs, sex, etc.)

4. they can’t get out of bed before noon on Saturday

5. he / she won’t talk to you anymore

6. they slam doors

Science is tiptoeing on the edge of understanding the teenage brain and the science is changing fast. Understanding the teen brain can lead to smoother relationships between parents and their kids.

 

Reading Rescue

Can you read these?

1. Msot of the wrdos in tihs scetenne are slelped icnrceorlty and yet you are slitl albe to raed it wtuhot mcuh ducfltiify.

2. thewordsinthissentenceareallspelledcorrectlybutitisprobablymoredifficulttoreadthansentencenumberone.

The sentences you just read illustrate what a complex skill reading actually is. You did not use your phonics skills or your whole language skills to read the sentences because most of the words do not conform to the “rules”. And yet you were able to read it by using a set of skills that were not directly taught to you.

Your brain has mastered the skill of reading to such an extent that you are able to pick up subtle clues from the combination of letters and spaces and context and length of word, etc. to make sense of something that actually makes no sense.

Most children are able to learn the basic individual skills of reading in the conventional manner taught in our schools and begin to assimilate the more obscure skills on their own and become proficient readers as you have done. There are however, a significant % of children who for a variety of reasons, have been unable to grasp these skills and consequently have great difficulty in learning to read.

“Reading Rescue” has been developed to assist those children whose “special” learning needs are not being met by regular classroom experiences.

Taming a Toddler

 

 

Most parents of newborns manage pretty well in the first year but as soon as the negative, stubborn, self-centered, unreasonable toddler appears, many parents wonder what has hit them. This workshop explores what constitutes normal toddler development and behaviour, common parental concerns and how to deal with those concerns.




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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

Learn more

+ Lick Your Kids

  “Lick Your Kids” (figuratively not literally) (2 hours) First […]

Learn more

+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

Learn more

+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

Learn more

+ Taming a Toddler

Many parents wonder what hit them when their sweet little baby turns into an unreasonable toddler – ideas for dealing with mealtime, bedtime, temper tanturms, toilet training, noncompliance, etc.

Learn more

See more of our workshops


Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

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Parents' Comments

“Rick’s approach is so logical. He helped us clearly define the problem, analyze what has happened and select the best strategy. We now feel empowered to do something positive for our kid”

(A.N. – Tillsonburg)