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

The quickest way to change your child’s behaviour is to first change your own.

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.

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

"Unexpressed feeling never die. They are buried alive and come back later in ugly ways." (Stephen Covey)

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.

Hurt people hurt people.

Early intervention is always better than crisis management - but it is never too late to do the right thing.

Parenting style matters - a lot!

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

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Reading Rescue – theory Part 2

My blog entry on November 23 presented a paragraph to read that broke all the rules for reading. You did not use your phonics skills or your whole language skills to read the passage as none of them conformed to the rules of reading. and yet you were able to read it by using a set of skills that were not taught to you.

Your brain has mastered the skill of reading to such an extent that you are able to pick up suble clues from the combination of letters and spaces and context and length of words etc. to make sense of something that actually makes no sense.

Your reading speed probably slowed down as you read this passage as your brain had to process something that it normally does not have to process. During “normal” reading, when you encounter a “new” word, your brain automatically slows down and searches for a skill that will decode the word for you. If it is a complex combination of letters you will probably attempt to use your phonics skills to decode it:

eg. Chargoggagooggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamogg   – a lake in Massachusetts

 

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

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

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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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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

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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

“Our psychiatrist recommended Rick to help us sort out behaviour management issues for our autistic son. He was an invaluable help.”

(C.C. – Sarnia)