Lesson Category: Toddlers & PreSchoolers

Common challenges in the potty learning process are getting to the potty in time, using a potty away from home, and using a potty when with friends. After this class you will know what to do to support your child so they can pee just about anywhere!

You began potty learning when you and your child showed signs of being ready. You may have had great early progress and then it stalled. Potty learning involves reminders and support for a year or more and can feel like a never-ending chore. If you feel discouraged, solutions offered in this class will help you recognize how much potty learning progress there has been and how to get more of it.

Lost interest in potty after a few good weeks.

It can be discouraging when your child’s potty learning successes seem to disappear. It may be that your young child is trying to gain mastery by innovating – doing it in new ways that you may not approve of. After watching this class, you will be able to help your child learn that using the potty is important and respond to those “forgetful moments” with calm.

Wondering when your child will get out of diapers at night?  Frustrated by your child’s lack of motivation to be dry during naps?  A few suggestions in how you can set the stage for success might make the difference! In this SOS class, you will learn how to help your child stay dry when asleep. 

Your older child was so excited about the new baby. But now that your baby has arrived, he is uncooperative and sometimes acts like a baby, himself. Meanwhile, you're trying to control your youngest as she starts to throw tantrums and learns the word "no." This scenario is all too common, but there are simple tools you can use to increase your children's compliance and decrease your stress.

Participants will be able to: 

●Recognize the importance of family climate

●Apply tips that encourage kindness

●Create routines to prevent and respond to challenging behaviors

We want our children to live healthy, happy lives with strong connections and a positive sense of self. Conversation is a pathway to developing and sustaining a healthy and trusting relationship with your child and for having a positive impact on how they see themselves.

After this class you will be able to:

• Start conversations that matter
• Define self-esteem
• Recognize the importance of self-esteem for children with autism and ADHD
• Apply practical strategies to strengthen your child’s self-esteem

In this class, you will learn how to support your babies and toddlers throughout the day with positive routines. 

• Learn about the inborn drives that support young children to learn family routines
• Recognize clear answers to the questions, What’s my job as a parent?  How do I create routines that work?
• Apply simple, practical strategies to increase cooperation and strengthen your positive connection with your child

It has been said that perfectionism is a trait that makes life an endless report card on accomplishments or appearances. The tendency toward perfectionism has increased significantly among young people over the past 30 years. It can be associated with depression, anxiety, eating disorders and even suicide. The needs to feel accepted and to be cared about tend to drive perfectionism and without treatment, may get worse over time. 

Perfectionists strive for flawlessness in themselves and/or in others. If you’re wondering whether you have these tendencies, the chances are that you do to one degree or another. After this class you will be able to:

• Define and recognize traits of perfectionism in self and/or child
• Recognize problems associated with perfectionism
• Apply action steps to reduce perfectionism in yourself and/or your child

Human beings are built to reflect each other’s emotions. When children display intense feelings and behaviors, our brains naturally reflect those. We start to feel stressed, angry, fearful, or overwhelmed, just like our kids. The most helpful thing we can do is to develop a brain calming practice and make it part of our daily routine. Participants in this class will be able to:

• Recognize how strongly the way you handle stress affects your child’s behavior
• Apply specific brain calming strategies to stay calm and think clearly during challenging times
• Learn four different techniques to calm the brain to begin to pick the one that will work for you

Each of us grows up in a unique family and when we come together as a couple, we don’t usually talk about our parenting beliefs until children are actually on the scene. The more intentional parents are about sharing their stories and values with each other, the more likely it is that you can agree on parenting approaches.  

Mothers often parent in ways that are different from fathers and those differences can be helpful to children, but only if you recognize the strengths of each other’s approaches.. “Marshmallows” often join with “Generals” because in some ways they need each other. But over time your differences can become more dramatic and problematic.  

This class will provide concrete tools to conduct productive conversations and respectfully reach some agreements to avoid conflict and decrease the polarization of parenting styles.