welcome image

The teenage years require a delicate balance between the young person's need to gain independence, and the parent's need to retain authority.

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

Hurt people hurt people.

Relationships matter:  change comes through forming trusting relationships. People, not programs change people.

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 it  was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called "labour".

You cannot reason with someone who is being unreasonable.

The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice. (Peggy O'Mara)

Removing a child from a traumatic environment does not remove the trauma from the child's memory.

Parenting style matters - a lot!

Learn more.

Neural Plasticity of the Prepubescent Brain

A normal 5 year old child has little difficulty learning and fluently speaking a foreign language. Learning new physical skills such as riding a bike or skiing can be achieved with relative ease during early childhood. After puberty , acquiring new skills will probably not be as easy because the areas of the brain associated with these types of skills becomes more rigid, not as plastic.

The “post pubescent” brain, undergoes a rewiring of its circuitry that makes it possible to perform more abstract thinking skills and an ability to consider alternative viewpoints. This rewiring of the brain is not complete until the mid to late 20’s. A young child’s brain is better able to learn some types of skills than an older brain while the older brain is better able to perform more complex adult type thinking. There is no better time to begin music lessons than before puberty. It only gets harder once the brain has developed past those early years.

Back to Top

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

Archive


Parents' Comments

“You have changed our life! Thanks, it needed changing!”

(T.N. – London)