Parenting classes are available online to help through difficult times, divorce or separation, or to just make a good parent even better! You don’t need to have a big dramatic event going on with your children to benefit from new parenting techniques. Many parents enroll in classes to learn what to expect from different stages of childhood growth in the future, to improve an already solid parenting style or just to feel more confident in their roles.

Parenting education classes can contribute to ongoing self-improvement as the family expands, evolves and grows up. A high quality course will teach caregivers a number of vitally important tips to creating a happy, well-balanced family. Course topics include techniques for best managing your own stress, angry feelings and emotions. It’s important that as adults we take responsibility for our own behavior and not take these emotions out on the family. Learning different steps to take to manage stress will help in daily life and to improve your relationship with your children. Classes also discuss ways to be a good role model for our kids. They are watching how we react to situations and learning both good and bad habits.

If you are looking for new ideas for boundary setting ideas, as the kids get older, or what rewards and consequences are appropriate for different stages of childhood, look no further. Child growth and developmental issues are discussed as well as how to use positive discipline techniques to get a wayward child back on track.

And, of course no class is complete without a section on how to effectively communicate with the kids. Knowing the dos and don’ts of what to say as well as different conflict resolution approaches will help stabilize any potential issues that arise. In any healthy family, it’s important for everyone to be able to express their feelings openly so no one is harboring any resentment or internalizing problems.

The easiest, most convenient and educational way to take parenting classes these days is to take them online. Look for a class that is designed by a licensed and practicing family therapist and specialist in the field. This will insure that the content is based on the most up-to-date available evidence for successful parenting. Online classes are a relaxed, self-paced way to learn the material in the comfort of your own home. There is nothing to download or print out. All the material is on the computer screen in front of you and can be accessed at any time of the day or night. This alleviates any worry about having to miss work or family time to go to a classroom across town.

A 4 or 10 hour online parenting class is designed to be a simple, effective tool for all caregivers. Participants do not need sophisticated computer skills. The instructions are easy to read and follow. The client simply scrolls through the course material on any computer device that is connected to the Internet.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to be experiencing turmoil in the family to benefit from learning new parenting techniques. Online parenting classes are perfect for any caregiver interested in the ongoing improvement of their own skills!

We have clients call in all the time expressing their frustration with their ex-spouse. Specifically, the ex has primary custody of the kids and spends a majority of that time telling the kids how their father doesn’t love them, or isn’t interested or is just a bad person. This is a red flag maneuver that no divorced parent should pull. If you want to raise happy, well-balanced, and confident children through a divorce situation, therapists agree that parents should set a high bar and be good role model. No matter how hard it is to keep these angry feelings inside, tell them to your friends or therapist in confidence, not to the kids! Top parenting tips for parents to take to heart during and after divorce include:

1) Don’t share the details of your angry feelings towards your ex with your kids.

Doing this feeds your child’s anxiety and makes them feel insecure. They don’t want to have to take sides.

2) Don’t use your child as a go between.

Communicating through the kids just causes them unnecessary stress. Be the grownup and call or email your ex when the kids are not within earshot to work out any issues.

3) Don’t pressure your kids for information about their weekend with dad or mom.

If you grill them, it will make them worry about your reaction. If you must know, ask them general questions in a friendly and relaxed manner.

4) Be a role model.

Your kids are taking your lead. If you explain to them that everything will be fine and that both parents love them equally, they will feel more stable.

Often times parents who have already gone through a divorce and have established custody plans, decide that it’s really not working out. The bottom line is that they would like to try and gain more custody. Attorneys often advise in these situations that their clients take parenting classes to show the judge their good intentions. These clients like to take a 16 hour advanced co-parenting class online for a variety of reasons. First of all, devoting 16 hours of your life (rather than a standard 4 hour class) shows the judge that you are serious about your intentions of self-improvement. Furthermore, taking the class online gives more flexibility and convenience for your own busy schedule. Lastly, online classes are affordable and save you additional money in gas and parking costs that you would incur getting to a classroom.

Online co-parenting classes provide clients with cutting edge data and information on what parenting styles work best, how to show empathy and improve your listening skills, and to best set limits and rewards. Classes can be accessed from any web-based computer device whenever it fits into your schedule. You can login and out of the class at any time of the day or night, and as many times as you wish. It’s a completely self-paced learning experience. At the end of the course, a certificate of completion is issued to show to the judge that you took this step. Parents find it is a convenient, highly educational and successful way to show the judge that their heart is in the right place.

To help your child cope with your pending divorce consider their point of view. It’s in everyone’s best interest if as an adult, you put aside your own feelings of bitterness and anger towards your ex-spouse, and focus solely on what your child is going through. Divorce can be a very sad, stressful, uncertain and confusing time. Parents can help their kids by providing comfort, stability and a positive outlook.

Consider what your child is thinking:

1) Why are they always fighting? Is it my fault? It makes me feel guilty.

2) I don’t want to take sides. I wish they would stop saying bad things about each other.

3) Please don’t fight in front of me. Be grown-ups and speak nicely to each other. Work out your problems when I’m not within earshot.

4) I don’t want to be the go between. Speak directly with each other, not through me.

5) Please tell me the truth so I know what’s going on. When I’m not in the loop, I feel like I have no say and that you don’t care about me. It makes me feel insecure.

6) Tell me what the new schedule will be so I’m not caught off guard. Lay out the entire month for me so I can understand whom I will be with and when.

7) Listen to what I have to say! Let me talk and be honest without getting mad at me.

8) Reassure me that you both love me and will both be in my life. I’m worried I will lose the parent I’m not living with.

9) I need to hear that this new living arrangement will work out and that I’ll still have both parents in my life.

10) If I’m old enough, provide me with technology so I can contact either parent when I want to.

When parents are going through a divorce, most court systems across the country now require that parents take co-parenting classes to help them work through the emotions and logistics of this restructuring. Co-parenting classes teach parents how to deal with their own stress as well as understand the pressure their child is feeling. They help parents to effectively communicate with each other in a civil manner and how to work on setting up a new co-parenting plan and lifestyle.

Online co-parenting classes can often be taken to fulfill these court obligations as well as to gain strong new skills in parenting. Taking a 6 hour online co-parenting course rather than in a classroom is highly beneficial for most busy caregivers. Online courses enable the parent to stay at home and learn from any Internet based computer device. This alleviates the need to miss work, school or family time to go to a classroom. With all the turmoil of change, parents find that their kids are often more needy during this time and it’s hard for them to get away. Online co-parenting classes become available on your computer screen as soon as you enroll. Then the classes can be taken at any time of the day or night, and at any pace you would like to go. This means they can be taken while the kids are napping, doing homework, or at night after they’ve gone to bed. There’s no need to pay for a babysitter or spend time away from them to fulfill this requirement. At the end of the class a Certificate of Completion is sent to you. This documentation proves to the judge that you successfully completed the class.

Take an online co-parenting class to get a better understanding of what your child is going through during divorce and what you can do to help.

If you are in the process of either adopting or becoming a foster parent, online parenting classes are a great way to fulfill your educational needs. Most social service agencies will require potential parents take a parenting program. Taking foster care and adoption classes online, can benefit new parents in a variety of ways.

Online parenting classes provide new parents with the curriculum they need to be a successful caregiver. This includes:

1) How to protect and enhance the child’s emotional development

2) Avoiding typical parenting mistakes

3) How to deal with anger and stress

4) Managing stress through life changes, and how it can sometimes be a positive response

5) How to be a strong role model for new children

6) Why empathy is so important

7) Understanding neglect

8) How to improve empathetic listening and communication skills

9) The best ways to properly reward and punish

10) Positive discipline techniques

11) How to build self-esteem

12) Conflict resolution approaches

13) Assertive Communication

14) Learning about different parenting styles and what is best for you

15) Foster care and adoption dynamics and challenges

When you choose an online parenting class, be sure to check the credentials of the “expert” running the program. There are a number of choices out there, but just going with the lowest price isn’t the best direction to take if you are looking for a quality course. Check to make sure that the class is designed and developed by a licensed and practicing family therapist and parent instructor. Furthermore, clients should have the confidence to know that the class has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and a customer service number and email. If you have any questions while taking the class, it’s important that you can get a hold of real person in a timely manner.

The course you choose should also come with a free Certificate of Completion. The certificate documents the number of hours you took and that you successfully completed the course. This is what caregivers will need to show to social services to prove the requirement was completed.

The great thing about taking this course online rather than in a traditional classroom is that once you enroll, the class becomes immediately available to you on any Internet connected computer device. You don’t have to try and fit your busy schedule into an instructor’s timetable. Classes can be accessed online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can enter and exit the class whenever you would like and the computer program holds your last spot. You can take the class all in one sitting to get it done in one day, or over a period of weeks. It’s completely self-paced.

The goal of a parenting class for foster care or adoption is to refresh skills, and learn new ones. This way of learning also provides students with the most up to date research and information. Don’t waste your precious time going weekly to an in-person that is using an old, dated workbook. Take a cutting edge online parenting class today!

My husband and I divorced when our kids were little. They don’t really remember us together as a family and are used to spending summers and holidays at dad’s and the rest of the year with me. Their father lives in another state because of his job in the military, so they rarely see him outside of those prescheduled times. Things have been fairly harmonious over the past couple of years, but now that the kids are getting older, they are beginning to voice that they don’t want to spend their entire vacation at their dad’s. They miss their friends, their stuff and me. I’ve explained to them that their dad loves them and this is the way it has to be. Well, during their last visit over Christmas break, they apparently were sitting around sulking about being away from home. He had spent a lot of time trying to plan a really nice break for them and was offended. He vented at them with an angry outburst that scared the living daylights out of them. My older daughter immediately called me and said she was afraid. I know that kids can be overly dramatic, but since I wasn’t there to access the situation, the only thing I knew to do was to call Child’s Protective Services. Social services made a house call the next day and have advised that their dad should take some parenting classes.

I was a bit shocked since he’s been co-raising them for years without trouble, but now that I got us into this, I felt like the least I could do was find a good class for him to take. He works a lot of hours and his schedule changes from week to week. I did some research and found high quality classes online. I asked social services if he could fulfill this requirement by taking a class from his computer instead of in a classroom so he wouldn’t have to miss work to attend a class. They took a look at www.onlineparentclass.com and have agreed to allow it.

The great thing about taking an online parenting course is that once you enroll, they are available on any Internet based computer device 24/7. He can enter and exit the class whenever he has free time and the computer program will hold his last spot. He can take the class at his own pace, and at the end he will receive a Certificate of Completion that proves to social services that he fulfilled their mandate.

I know he’s annoyed about having to jump through this hoop, but I think he’ll get a lot out of it. The goal is to help parents create a stable and supportive family life by encouraging positive, healthy behavior. He’ll learn more about what behavior to expect from the kids during the different ages and stages they will go through. It’s actually really age appropriate that our middle schooler didn’t want to leave her friends during winter break this year, so he really shouldn’t take it personally.

I’m sorry that events escalated, but I know that learning news skills in listening, communication and stress management will go far. Everyone will benefit from this educational experience.