Bringing out the Best in your Children
60 minutes

Most parents agree that they want to bring out the best in their children. We want them to be confident, cooperative and considerate of others. We want them to try their best and persevere and be able to deal with set backs.
This workshop will teach you ways of helping your children feel good about themselves so that their confidence, motivation and behaviour improve. Confident children are happy children who are willing to try new things and do their best. They develop a positive ’can-do’ attitude and look for solutions. We will show you practical techniques that you can use to help your children become the best they can be.

This seminar is also available in a 90 minute version where the content is similar but themes are developed more extensively.

Communicating with Teenagers
60 minutes

Parents are often bewildered by the changes in their children when they become teenagers. A previously rational, communicative, loving child can turn overnight into a grunting, irrational, human being who wants to have nothing to do with his parents. When children enter adolescence communication between parent and teen can often turn to shouting, criticising and sarcasm. Having open channels of communication with teens is vital for a parent to be able to help their teens through turbulent waters and preserve a positive relationship with them.

Teenagers and Boundaries
60 minutes

Parents of teenagers sometimes find that the old ways of enforcing boundaries stop working. They can feel that their authority is dwindling and yet they still need to provide guidance and boundaries for their teenagers. This seminar will cover what is appropriate and normal behaviour for teenagers, how to be positive and firm with a teenager, how to establish and enforce boundaries and what are appropriate consequences for teens.

Dealing with change, uncertainty and bad news
60 minutes

Children often have difficulties coping with change. For some children these could be everyday minor transitions such as moving from one task to another or from one environment to another such as home to school. Or the changes they face may be much more significant such as dealing with bereavement or illness, moving house or school or the addition to the family of a new baby. Whatever the change children often need help dealing with a multitude of feelings which they frequently don’t understand. The seminar will cover what is appropriate and normal behaviour for children dealing with change, how to encourage children to identify express and manage their feelings and how to prepare successfully for anticipated change.

Dealing with toddler tantrums
60 minutes

Does your toddler throw tantrums over seemingly minor incidents? Do you sometimes wonder who is in charge? Do you feel at a loss as to how to deal with your children’s behaviour? Developing effective strategies for dealing with tantrums and misbehaviour in the under fives establishes positive parental authority and fosters a relationship based on mutual respect as they get older.
This seminar will cover why toddlers have tantrums and ways to remain calm, support your children and help them recover from tantrums.

Why can't you buy me one?
60 minutes

Bringing up children in a materialistic world is often a big challenge for parents. We want them to be appreciative and value their possessions. We know they have so much yet it is difficult not to spoil them at times. Many parents report that they find the pestering wearing and that it is difficult to refuse the children. Parents often feel resentful and worry that the children are becoming demanding and spoilt.
This talk explores how to strike the balance between rewarding your children and not over-indulging them. We show you how to help your children earn their treats and absorb the kind of values that will set them up for life.

How to get Kids to Follow Instructions
60 minutes

Does it drive you mad when your children don’t listen to, ignore or defy you? Do you find yourself repeating things over and over again only to wind up shouting at and threatening your children? Do you sometimes feel as if you are talking to a brick wall? Do you wonder what happened to respect (and when did you turn into your mother/father)? Children learn to tune us out when we nag, remind, lecture and criticise. This seminar will cover why children don’t listen and what parents can do to encourage children to listen and to follow instructions.

Friendships
60 minutes

Do your children sometimes experience difficulties with friends? Have they been teased, called names, been left out of games, or excluded from ‘clubs’? Do you wish your children were a bit more assertive or had better social skills? Are you worried about the crowd your children are hanging out with?
This seminar will cover how to build up children’s sense of self worth so that they are not subject to undue peer pressure, can be assertive and project confidence without arrogance. We look at how to develop communication and other social skills for making and keeping friends and how to help children deal with upsets around friendships.

Staying Calm, Being Positive
60 minutes

Would you like to be able to stay calm and be positive with your children but just don’t know how that can be possible in some situations? Parents usually want to be positive and in control but can find it difficult to keep their cool when children are being rude, demanding or refusing to do what they’re asked. This seminar will cover why children behave the way they do, strategies for dealing effectively with misbehaviour and techniques for keeping calm in the face of provocative behaviour.

Preparing Children for Starting School
60 minutes

Starting school for the first time can be a stressful time for some children and for their parents. Anxiety may be manifested in demanding or regressive behaviours, behaving badly or being uncooperative at home, or even physical symptoms. They may be clingy or crying when dropped off in the morning which tugs at a parent’s heart strings and can make it difficult to focus on their own working day. In this seminar we look at how parents can prepare their children for school by building up their confidence and giving them strategies to help them be successful and have a happy time at school. We address how parents can effectively respond to any upset or anxiety their children may experience.

Preparing Children for "Secondary" School
60 minutes

Starting secondary school can be a stressful time for some children and for their parents. There are many unfamiliar things for children to get used to and some of them can cause anxiety. Parents may be concerned about issues such as their children’s increasing independence, safety, exposure to smoking and drugs, bullying and academic success. In addition children of this age are very concerned about image and fitting into the crowd. The Seminar will cover what parents can do before the school year begins to prepare for success, how parents can respond to upset or anxiety and how they can build up confidence in their children.

Homework: Making it Stress Free and Motivating Your Child
90 minutes

Most parents agree that they want to bring out the best in their children; they want them to do well at school and be happy. However parents and children can find that homework can be hell! Parents can end up nagging and chivvying and it can be upsetting for both the child and the parent. Both can feel frustrated and resentful. This seminar will help you ensure that homework becomes less time consuming and more positive and productive. The facilitators will show you how to get your children to be more motivated and self-reliant.

How to talk so Children will Listen
90 minutes

Do you find that sometimes your children can be argumentative, uncooperative and won’t listen to you? Many parents find that their children tune them out, have selective deafness or just ignore them. They find themselves repeating and nagging and ultimately shouting to get children to listen.
In this seminar we examine the impact of language on relationships. We will look at how to tailor the way you talk to really improve your children’s confidence and motivation, to encourage them to listen to you and to hear what you really meant to say. It will give you skills to build strong and positive relationships with them.

How to listen so kids will talk
90 minutes

Do you want your children to develop good communication skills and emotional literacy? Children are sometimes reluctant to talk about anything that is bothering them, making it difficult for parents to help. Unexpressed feelings often come out in poor behaviour. When children put their feelings into words parents can respond to this more effectively.
This workshop will give you new skills to enhance your relationship with your children so that they talk to you more about their lives. It demonstrates skills that allow parents to help children to recognise and manage their negative feelings. It also teaches ways to encourage children to be more considerate and thoughtful.

Bringing out the Best in Boys
90 minutes

It can be a tough world out there for boys. They may be under-performing at school, having trouble with organisation or getting into trouble. Some boys’ high energy and excessive competitiveness can be difficult to live with and some are aggressive. Boys typically find it difficult to express or manage their emotions. This talk looks at ways to help parents help their sons become self-assured, cooperative and motivated. We show parents how to help boys channel their high energy constructively and how to manage aggression. We give parents tools for communicating in a style that suits boys and teach techniques for encouraging boys to talk.

Bringing out the Best in your Children
90 minutes

All parents want the very best for their children and they want to see their children be successful and happy. Sometimes we worry that our children don’t seem to be achieving all they are capable of, we worry that they don’t seem to be trying hard, they won’t try new things or they give up too easily. In this seminar we look at ways of motivating our children to do their best and practical ways of setting things up so that children are likely to get things right.

Positive Discipline: Finding Balance
90 minutes

Many parents find disciplining their children one of the hardest aspects of parenting. They may feel they swing from being too lenient to being overly harsh and may not want to repeat patterns from their own childhoods. Parents want to ensure that their children are respectful and cooperative and learn good habits and values and they usually want to find ways of achieving that without being dictatorial or punitive or taking disciplinary action that is ineffective or harmful to the child.
We teach parents ways of achieving a balance so that they can be both positive and firm at the same time and can establish harmony at home whilst maintaining a positive relationship with their children. We address the reasons for inappropriate behaviour, how to encourage good behaviours and how to respond effectively when children don't behave well.

Fostering Self Esteem and Resilience in Children
90 minutes

Strong self-esteem is vital for children to cope with the inevitable knocks of life. This seminar shows you how to improve your children’s self-confidence, nurture independent children and how to encourage them to deal constructively with challenges. This seminar looks at the latest research into self esteem and covers practical strategies for encouraging in children a ‘can do’ attitude, a willingness to take risks and to persevere and an ability to pick themselves up and try again after set backs.

Fostering Harmony between Siblings
90 minutes

Do your children bicker, argue or fight? Do they come to you complaining about each other or telling tales? Parents can find it very upsetting to witness one child being unkind to his/her sibling.
This seminar will give you practical skills to help you reduce friction between your children, help them be more tolerant and considerate of each other and to resolve arguments successfully. This seminar covers the reasons siblings fight, how to foster better relationships between brothers and sisters, when and how parents should intervene in sibling disputes and how to teach children to resolve conflict.