Overcoming Learning Difficulties

If your child has learning difficulties that are holding them back from reaching their potential, I recommend that you visit:http://www.learningrx.com .

The company specializes in helping you determine what may be holding your child back from being successful in school. Specially trained instructors then help “train the brain” to improve: auditory processing, logic and reasoning, word attack, working memory, divided attention, long-term memory, planning, processing speed, selective attention and visual processing.

Work/Family Balance

Have you taken the Family Life Balance exercise? What areas of your family life are you content with? What areas need attention? Click here to participate.

Have you considered developing a family mission statement that can guide you in the everyday choices that you make? Stephen Covey's book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families", provides lots of details on how to get started.

Parent coaching is a wonderful solution for help in achieving work/family balance so you can focus quickly on areas that will bring you relief.

Toni also offers a two-part private class called:

Over Scheduled? 3 Steps You Can Take Now to Improve Your Work/Family Balance

If you’re feeling torn in many different directions, riddled by guilt or rarely have time for yourself sign up now! This two-part session will help you examine your life and how happy you are with your current choices. Tools for assessing balance will be provided along with steps you can take to live the life you want! JUST $40 for both sessions, a $60 savings! This "class" will be done privately, so you can register at your convenience. To register: Send an e-mail to toni@familiesfirstcoaching.com or call 612-810-8687 with any questions.

Sibling Rivalry

Hands down, the best book available for this topic is "Siblings Without Rivalry" by Adele Faber and Elaine Maglish. Filled with excellent suggestions, case studies and cartoons to illustrate the points, this book is certain to help ease tension in the home. To order the book, call 1-800-944-8584.

Toni also runs a six-week telephone class based on the valuable principles recommended in this book. That way, you can ask questions, share concerns and get support while you implement strategies that are right for your family. Click here to see the latest Class Schedule.

One of the suggestions offered in the book is to allow children to express feelings of anger and rage to you that they feel toward a sibling. So, for instance, your child might say to you " I HATE SAM!!! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!!! HE WRECKED THE ROBOT I BUILT!! A typical parent response might be, "Oh, John, it's not nice to hate your brother. He didn't mean it. And please don't ever say you're going to kill him..."

Instead, you might try saying to John, "Boy, you're really furious with your brother!" and then let him vent until his anger subsides. This approach acknowledges his feelings, provides him with a healthy outlet for venting and ultimately deescalates the intense anger he feels.

It's normal for siblings to get angry with each other and it's far more healthy for the children to know that you're a safe outlet for them to express their feelings than to make them pretend that everything's fine.

Conflict Management

Have you ever tried keeping a brief daily log of arguments or conflicts that erupt in your family? You might want to try it for a week. Through this process, you'll gain valuable information.

You might try using an outline such as this: Time of Day Argument Occurred? Who was Involved? What Happened Right Before the Eruption? Warning Signs/Body Language? Trigger? What was Said? How did it Escalate? Underlying Feelings? (Ie. Rejection? Unmet Need? Difference in Values? Disrespected? Devalued?) What Could I Have Done Differently to Prevent or to Intercede? And What Did I Do Well?

Armed with objective data, you can look for patterns and take concrete action to address the problem.

Click here for individual coaching to help you develop strategies to resolve the conflicts.

Click here for a parent support group.

Chores

Do you know what quality is the best predictor of a young adult's success? IQ? Parenting style? Gender? Motivation?

Believe it or not, a recent analysis at the University of Minnesota by Marty Rossman found that a child's participation in household chores was the most important factor in predicting that a young adult would finish school, be on a career path, stay drug and alcohol free and have meaningful relationships!

See Services page for Toni's next class on "How to Win the Chore Wars and Find Peace in the Family."

 

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