Are you curious about what happens in a positive parenting workshop? Are you worried that you might miss a session? Or are you concerned that you won't be able to handle the extra load? Read on for answers to your questions!

What happens in a parenting workshop?

Each session starts with a sharing circle, where parents share what tool they tried over the last week, and how it worked for them. They share openly about struggles and successes.

We then learn about a positive discipline concept, and we learn one or two positive discipline tools for you to practice each week. The way we learn is through experiential activities, where parents gain firsthand experience about what it is like to hear common phrases or to be disciplined in traditional ways like yelling, nagging, criticism. Parents begin to understand how our behaviours actually have the opposite effect on our child than we think they will. Parents gain AWARENESS in these sessions, and awareness is the first step in changing our behaviour. Parents are also EQUIPPED with tools to take home to help prevent, handle, and reduce misbehaviour.

The last half hour of the workshop is focused on Parents Helping Parents. One parent will share a challenging situation from the last week, and together we uncover the reason ‘why’ the child is misbehaving, and then use that to brainstorm different strategies, tools, and ideas, that could be used to solve the problem. Parents find this part of the workshop INCREDIBLY helpful because most of the parents are struggling with a similar challenge. Parents learn how to use a number of different tools to prevent and manage the behaviour.

Parents come away from these workshops saying they feel relieved to know they are not alone, that they feel supported, and that they feel equipped with a whole new toolkit they can use.

I am really busy and don’t know if I can make the time to do this. How much extra work outside the workshops is required?

Many of the parents who have completed these workshops are busy working professionals with multiple children. Without doing any extra growth work, they become more AWARE of how their behaviour impacts their child, and the simple, practical tools they learn in the workshop are able to be implemented easily into their daily lives. Even these parents are seeing a BIG difference. 

While I will be giving out a couple of handouts each week, it is not compulsory that you complete these, nor will it impact your learning if you don’t do them. I also encourage parents and teachers to read the book ‘Positive Discipline’ by Jane Nelsen for deeper understanding, but it is not a requirement to do this.

As a mom to 3 small children sometimes it feels impossible to do it all - work, wife, mother, manage a house, and be NICE when things get super hard with the kids. Positive Parenting with Rebecca was such a refreshing experience. Sacrificing the one night a week for 7 weeks (with my partner!) was well worth the investment of time. Because our children are worth it. The community built with other parents allowed us all to take a big sigh of relief that we are not alone in our struggles.

- Theresa, Mom of 3, Business Owner