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"The thing that impresses me most about North America is the way parents obey their children"    (King Edward VII , 1841-1910)

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.

Children fare better when expectations on them are clear and firm.

Hurt people hurt people.

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

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

It's more effective to reward your child for being "good" (appropriate) than to punish him for being "bad" (inappropriate).

"Rules without relationship leads to rebellion" (Josh McDowell)

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

Whining and crying are employed by kids for the purpose of getting something. If it works, then it was worth the effort and will be repeated.

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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.

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

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

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+ Lick Your Kids

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

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

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

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ 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.

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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

“We were so naive. We thought our son’s poor behaviour was just a phase he was passing through. Thankfully you led us ‘out of the wilderness'”

(N.S. – London)