“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”
-Benjamin Franklin
Children are amazingly complicated and need to be addressed as individuals. Successful parents are intentional parents. We often pull from what we were presented with when it comes to parenting. What worked for you may not be working for your child. During our sessions we will learn to address your child’s specific skills deficits as well as your own. Modeling/turning ourselves into who we want our children to be is often the key to successful parenting.
This is a critical stage in your child’s development. Your most important job as a parent it to be your child’s frontal lobes while theirs develop. Building a positive relationship is the key to developing your child’s frontal lobes. Relationships are the cornerstone of children’s ability to develop social and self-regulation skills. Learn how to be your child’s mentor and not just a warden and you will help your child form secure relationships in their adult life. A child’s early brain development creates the lattice work for more advanced skills to build upon in adolescence and young adult development.
Success in parenting is not a short-term project. Parents must learn to work as a unified front in order to parent effectively. Having a shared vision about the goals and techniques of parenting can reduce friction among parents and help children form secure relationships. We will learn how to parent with intentionality while using a plan that consists of structure, boundaries and consistency to achieve desired outcomes.
Learning different discipline techniques can help you understand, reinforce and/or extinguish a variety of behaviors. A behavior problem can be more accurately described as a skills deficit. Discipline literally means "to teach" and it has a healthy balance of "firm but kind" practices. Together we will explore discipline techniques that model to our children more of what we want them to learn rather than what we do not want them to learn. We will understand what is age-appropriate behavior in order to minimize the emotions of parenting and maximize the results.
Separation or divorce can be difficult for the entire family. You will learn how to put the best interest of your child first while setting aside your differences during the difficult situations of separation or divorce to ensure a healthy outcome for your child. When children are young, they only function within relationships. Often their behavior is a result of the functionality or dysfunctionality of the relationships they are in.
As an early childhood consultant, I worked closely with schools and understand how they work. Together we can discover the root of your child's undesired behaviors and create a plan to address them.
During these sessions we will prepare for what could be the most challenging time of your life.... parenting! Having your expectations in line with reality before having a child can greatly reduce the stressors of parenting. You will be a more effective parent by simply knowing what to expect and having a plan in place before you become parents. You will learn how to "swim with the current" by understanding the opportunities that are presented to you during early childhood development.
Most of what we call behavior problems is more accurately described as simply undeveloped immature executive skills/frontal lobes. Below is a list of important areas of development for your child’s frontal lobes.
