The parenting series that changes lives

This series of five seminars will help parents in your community develop the skills, behaviors, and routines to raise calm and capable children who are far more likely to be successful in school and in life. We believe it is the most effective parent learning series to be found anywhere, with results that make participants excited about sharing what they’ve learned. It was recently selected to be the parent education curriculum for the Michigan State University Extension Service.

These workshops change lives.

The most frequent responses from participants include:
 If you work at the things that were taught in this course you not only improve your child’s outcomes, you improve your everyday family life.
 This course needs to be mandatory for all expecting parents and for anyone who advises parents.
 A true blessing.
 I came to learn how to manage my 6 year old and this has opened my eyes that it needs to start within myself.
 It is truly life changing

Guiding Principles is designed to be delivered in five 2 ½ hour sessions. Each session would ideally include a healthy snack for participants, available childcare, and follow-up learning activities for parents. The seminars are geared for those caring for children two to twelve years of age but will benefit parents, grandparents and guardians of children of all ages.
Guiding Principles includes the option to train local facilitators who can offer on-going training in your community. A facilitator guide, video training materials for facilitators, and the use of short videos during each session make it possible to develop a strong team of parent educators who can offer this series in your community for years to come. A simple survey can be used to track parent learning outcomes and changes in behavior that are occurring in the home.

Session topics focus on the five guiding principles for highly successful parenting.
• Develop a few high-quality family routines
• Help children develop emotional control
• Be the calm assertive parent
• Establish clear rules and strong relationships
• Allow children to make great mistakes

Session One: Developing Family Routines
This session will include a discussion of the goals of this program, which include helping parents/guardians enjoy the experience of being a parent, and helping our children become responsible and successful men and women. This session will focus on building the consistent patterns of routine behaviors in the home. Daily routines including morning, dinner, chores, homework, access to video time, and bedtime will be addressed. Participants will begin the process of building a network of parent partners who can help each other along the way.
Expected Outcomes:
 Parent/guardians will recognize the importance of high-value family routines.
 Parent/guardians will develop specific plans for the routines they want to develop in their homes.
 Parents will develop parent support networks with other workshop participants.

Session Two: Developing Emotional Control.
The importance of helping children feel safe and connected in their family, and to develop patterns of self-regulation and caring for others is the focus of this session. Parents/guardians will learn skills to neutralize their children’s attempts to argue with responsible adults and to establish thinking time routines in the home. Specific techniques will be shared, modeled and practiced.
Expected Outcomes:
 Increase positive parent-child interaction in the home.
 Develop family routines that allow children to practice self-calming, focusing, persisting, and delayed gratification.
 Parent/guardians will learn specific techniques to avoid being drawn into arguments with their children.
 Parent/guardians will learn specific techniques to establish a thinking time routine in the home.
 Parent/guardians will further develop a support group among workshop participants.

Session Three: The Calm Assertive Parent
This session will focus on teaching parents to be calm, assertive authority figures in their home, and to develop the five patterns which predict long-term success for their children. Techniques to deliver consequences without anger will be discussed, including delaying consequences and using more encouragements than discouragements.
Expected Outcomes:
 Parent/guardians will recognize the importance of adult authority over food choices in the home.
 Parent/guardians will recognize the importance of children contributing to the family by doing chores within the home.
 Parent/guardians will recognize the importance of parenting consistency in the home.
 Parent/guardians will recognize the importance of using routines in the home.
 Parent/guardians will develop a support group among workshop participants.

Session Four: Rules and Relationships
Parents/guardians will learn to give consequences without anger, and to be able to set firm limits while also building positive relationships with their children. We will consider the use of choices, enforceable statements, and learn to help children learn to solve their own problems.
Expected Outcomes:
 Parent/guardians will learn to use choices when appropriate.
 Parent/guardians will learn to use enforceable statements.
 Parent/guardians will recognize the importance consequences without anger.
 Increase positive parent-child interaction in the home.
 Parent/guardians will develop a support group among workshop participants.

Session Five: Great Mistakes and Resilience
This session will focus on the importance of allowing children to learn from mistakes, and encourage parents to value situations that help children learn to take responsibility for their own success.
Expected Outcomes:
 Parent/guardians will recognize the importance of struggle for their children.
 Parent/guardians will develop skills and confidence to allow their children to live with the consequences of their actions.
 Parents/guardians will understand the value of learning the hard way.
 Increase positive parent-child interaction in the home.
 Parent/guardians will develop a support group among workshop participants.

To bring high-quality parent learning to your community, or to train a corps of trainers to use Guiding Principles for Highly Successful Parenting, contact Dr. Bob Sornson at the Early Learning Foundation. Bob@earlylearningfoundation.com.

Bob is an award-winning author and international consultant, and is the founder of the Early Learning Foundation. He works internationally with parent organizations, school districts, and universities. Dr. Sornson’s workshops and keynote presentations are known for his storytelling, interactive style, and calls to action. Bob is the author of The Juice Box Bully, Stand in My Shoes: Kids Learning about Empathy, Over-Tested and Under-Prepared: Using Competency Based Learning to Transform Our Schools, Essential Math Skills, Creating Classrooms Where Teachers Love to Teach, Meeting the Challenge: Using Love and Logic to Help Children Develop Attention and Behavior Skills, The PreK-3 Essential Skill Inventories, and many other books.

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