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Adolescence can be the cruelest place on earth. It can really be heartless.  ( Tori Amos)

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

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

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

You cannot reason with someone who is being unreasonable.

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

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)

Children mimic well. They catch what they see better than they follow what they hear.

There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

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

Learn more.

Toilet Training (part 1)

 

 

“I am a grown man with a university degree. I consider myself to be mature, well adjusted and able to exist adequately in our modern society . As such, I never would have believed the exhilaration and pride  I experienced when my son did his first “slam dunk” in the potty” (a parent of a toddler)

Often times parents get in too much of a hurry to toilet train their child resulting in frustration on their part as well as their child.

Seldom is a child ready to begin toilet training before 18 months old and a significant percentage  are still not ready at thirty months. The neural pathways and the designated muscular groups must be sufficiently developed to exercise  the control necessary for toilet training.

Once these systems are sufficiently mature, the development is controlled by:

  1. the child’s will to comply
  2. his / her determination to defy
  3. the skill and cunning of the trainer

Many toilet training difficulties are really non-problems. Subsequent posts will outline a toilet training procedure that may be helpful.

What parents need most are ideas because with ideas we get options.Rick Harper has been providing ideas to parents for over 40 years.

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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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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

“We were so naive. We thought our son’s poor behaviour was just a phase he was passing through. Thankfully you led us ‘out of the wilderness'”

(N.S. – London)