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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.

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

Children do not develop on their own - they only develop within relationships.

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)

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

Criticism is not a motivator.

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.

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

Simple rules adhered to when children are young can prevent more serious problems later.

It is what we say and do when we're angry that creates the very model our children will follow when dealing with their own frustrations.

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Brain Fact # 10

Brain Plasticity

Dr. Pascual-Leone was asked “How does plasticity work in the brain? How fast do changes occur?

“There are different steps in neuroplasticity. One is a very rapid expansion of brain matter, which can be seen in about 1 week (for instance when someone is learning how to play a difficult finger sequence on a piano). This expansion results from the fact that the “wires” that connect the neurons responsible for that specific fingering allow more information to pass through. Such expansion can be seen only during the practice time. When practice is over a shrinkage is observed. If the learning behaviour is repeated over and over again, then new connections are established. In other words, the brain can accommodate more traffic and if this level of traffic is maintained it can expand the size of the “network”.

 

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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

“He is a wealth of knowledge coupled with first hand experience.”

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