"How to Talk so Kids Can Learn" Workshop

For Who ?

The How to Talk so Kids Can Learn workshop is for adults who are looking for respectful tools to promote the autonomy of children and teens, encourage self-discipline and stimulate a love of learning. The concrete tools this workshop offers are intended for teachers and other learning professionals. It is also suitable for parents with children who have challenges in school.

It provides the educational community (teachers, educational staff, parents, babysitters, psychologists, speech therapists, etc.) with adult-child communication skills in the school context.

It also aims to encourage partnership between adults who work with children and their parents, in order to help children and young people solve problems that arise at home and at school.

Topics covered in Part 1

  • How to Deal with Feelings That Interfere with Learning

  • Seven Skills That Invite Kids to Cooperate

  • The Pitfalls of Punishment and Alternatives That Lead to Self-discipline
  • Solving Problems Together: Four Steps That Encourage Creativity and Commitment

  • The Power of Descriptive Praise : Words That Motivate

  • The Parent–Teacher Partnership

The standard format for Part 1 is a cycle of 6 meetings, 2 to 3 hours each. Different formats can be proposed depending on the workshop leader who will intervene, the context or if it is self-managed.

Topics covered in Part 2

  • How to help when children have hostile feelings towards each other
  • The perils of comparison
  • Dealing with fights between children
  • Problem-solving to help children resolve their conflicts
  • Encouraging children’s autonomy
  • Freeing children from labels and roles

The standard format for Part 1 is a cycle of 6 meetings, 2 to 3 hours each. Different formats can be proposed depending on the workshop leader who will intervene, the context or if it is self-managed.

For more information, consult the F.A.Q.

Download the flyer HERE (coming soon)

More details on the page “How to Talk” for Pros

 

Buy the Workshop Material

“How to talk” approach: Articles, studies and references

The “How to talk” approach has been around for over 40 year. Numerous studies were conducted by Mireille Joussemet and Geneviève Mageau, from the University of Montreal, and international colleagues. Here is a selection of their scientific papers.

The following paper presents the results comparing parents who participated to the How-to program to a waitlist condition on parenting.
How-to Parenting Program : A randomized controlled trial evaluating its impact on parenting. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (2022).

Read

This one presents the method of their study.
How to talk so kids will listen & listen so kids will talk: a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of the French How-to Parenting Program on children’s mental health compared to a wait-list control group.

Read
This one is the results of their first study, which did not include a control group. It shows that parenting and child mental health improves following program participation.
Promoting optimal parenting and children’s mental health: A preliminary evaluation of the How-to Parenting Program. Journal of Child and Family Studies.
Read

The following is also the results of their first study, which did not include a control group, where it shows that parenting and child mental health improves following program participation.

How-to-Parenting-Program: Change in parenting and child mental health over one year. Journal of Child and Family Studies.

Read

Participant Testimonials

“The first meeting on acknowledging feelings was a real revelation. A big thank you to the workshop leader:
her knowledge and insights, her adaptability to our problems, her listening… made it possible to make
“ideal” concepts possible in real life.”

Florence

Participant Testimonials

“The best thing that I took away from these meetings is that it is possible, thanks to re-evaluating our professional practice, to improve the atmosphere in the classes and to make our work less painful. This workshop brought a new vision on my way of teaching. It’s a shame that it is not mandatory for all teachers!”

V.

Participant Testimonials

“I liked that we began to work with the “human” that we are: imperfect, steeped in good intentions but plagued by many ways of thinking that turn out to be counterproductive! The “simplicity” of the message. Thank you for putting simple words on such important things. I have the strong impression that these are paths that can change lives! More dialogue, trust, understanding, happiness!”

Johanne

Clics

Participant Testimonials

“The readings give examples of situations in which we can find ourselves, sometimes outside the classroom, and during which we can put these skills into practice. They are for me similar to listening to the lived experiences of each other when we tried to apply these skills. This workshop gave me tools to try to manage certain situations of our daily life with the students (acknowledge and express my feelings). I realized that the “natural” efforts I was making and the energy put into it would sometimes not succeed because there were missing links in the process. I now have another way of looking at punishment that we apply on a daily basis.”

I.

Clics

Participant Testimonials

“With my students, I feel much better about managing my relationship with them and the relationships between them. I don’t doubt for a moment the contributions of last year’s internship as well as all the other steps taken. I’m happy because I was recently inspected and I sincerely believe that the inspector was “amazed” by my course (…) In his report, he speaks of my “kindness towards the students”, “my humanist values” and full of relatively laudatory things. This recognition gives me a taste for the profession and for many things.”

A.

Clics
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen (Workshop)
Siblings Without Rivalry (Workshop)
Frequently Asked Questions