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Parents are the external regulator for kids who cannot regulate themselves.

The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

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

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

If there is no relationship - nothing else matters !

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)

You cannot reason with someone who is being unreasonable.

The best inheritance  parents can give their children is a few minutes of their time each day.

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

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

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Reading Rescue – the sequence – steps 4 , 5, 6

Step # 4 Use the Blending Book to introduce the long vowel sound “a” with the silent “e”. Add the other long vowel sounds with silent “e” at an appropriate pace. Step # 5 Introduce the consonant blends (eg. “br”, “cl”, “sm”, etc.) and the digraphs (eg. “ch”, “th”, etc.) Step # 6 Once the child is able to blend the sounds in a automatic way, replace the Blending Books with flash cards. While you […]

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Reading Rescue – the sequence – step 2 & 3

Step 2 Once the child can match and produce the correct sounds for the letters in grouping # 1, introduce the short sound “a” from list 2. Step 3 The blending od sounds together is frequently a problem for some children. A Blending Book is used to address this problem. The child is shown a page with the letter “m” in view and asked to say that sound and hold it for a long time […]

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Reading Rescue – the sequence -step 1

The initial skill required in reading is to be able to match a specific sound with a letter. Example: “m” says ___________ “s” says ____________ Reading Rescue uses Cue Cards to help children make the connection between letter and sound. On one side of the Cue Card is a printed letter and on the other side is a picture of an object that begins with that letter. Simple games are used to teach the sound […]

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Reading Rescue – theory part 3

Most children are able to learn the basic individual skills needed for reading in the conventional manner 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. Meanwhile most of their peers are “getting it”. Reading […]

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Now Try To Read This!

Theparagraphyoureadafewpostingsagowasprobablyeasiertoreadthanthisoneeventhoughthespellingofeach wordiscorrectthereasonthisoneismoredifficulttoreadisbecausetheothercluesweuseinreadingsuchassize ofwordinitialandfinalsoundspunctuationandcontextcannotbeeasilyseenbyyourbrainwhenallthelettersandwordsarejust jammedtogetherreadingclearlyisacomplexskillthismayevengiveyouaheadachekeepreadingandyouwillbeable toreadthetranslationwithanytrouble Translation: The paragraph you read a few postings ago was probably easier to read than this one even though the spelling of each word is correct. The reason this is more difficult to read is because the other clues we use in reading such as size of word, initial and final sounds , punctuation and context cannot be easily seen by your brain when all the letters and words are […]

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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

“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)