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"Cutting" is a visible sign to the world that you are hurting.

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

Don't wait for him to turn 10 before you reveal that you are not in fact the hired help whose job it is to clean up after him.

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

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

Wouldn't it be nice if children would simply listen and learn.

Setting limits teaches your children valuable skills they will use the rest of their lives. One day, they will report to a job where their ability to follow rules will dictate their success.

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

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

If it  was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called "labour".

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Moms Are Special

    The following was sent to me by a friend and I do not know where it originated. Questions were asked to young children and  their answers are delightful. 1. Why did God make moms? To help us out of there when we were born. 2. How did God make mothers? God made my mom just the same like He made me. He just used bigger parts. 3. What ingredients are mothers made of? […]

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Upcoming Workshop – “A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain”

        I will be presenting a 3 hour workshop entitled “A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain” at the Woodstock campus of Fanshawe College on Oct 21, 2013 (6:30-9:30) “A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain with fewer kilometres on it. It is a brain that has not fully developed. It is a work in progress and has confused parents for  centuries. Modern science is now explaining biological reasons : […]

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Balancing Punishments and Reinforcement

        If a child doesn’t know how to read: – we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to swim: – we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to multiply: – we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to behave: – we punish. There is something wrong with this picture! Rick Harper of Behavioural Management Systems  has been helping parents find the right balance between “teaching” and “punishment” for over […]

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My Kid Won’t Go to Sleep!

        I frequently receive phone calls from parents who tell me their child will not go to sleep. Typically these are parents of children under 4 years old who tell me their child does not fall asleep readily at night and/or wakes repeatedly during the night. The parents are tired, frustrated and often angry. Their own relationship has become tense and they are wondering whether there is something wrong with their child […]

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Foster Parent Training

    It was my pleasure recently to have had the opportunity of speaking to a group of foster parents from Carpe Diem Residential Treatment Homes in the Hamilton/Ancaster, Ontario area. Approximately 20 foster parents and staff participated in the workshop “A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain” and they learned that modern science can now explain biological reasons for some of the worrisome behaviours we see in our teens. The invention of those marvelous […]

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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

“Our daughter was the joy of our life until she turned 13, then all hell broke loose. Rick helped us understand what was happening to her and we made some adjustments that helped us get through it. She’s now in University and doing well.”

(D.A. – St. Thomas)