There are a ton of apps out there that claim to be the solution to what ails you, your child, or both. There are apps for parenting toddlers, parenting elementary school children, parenting teenagers, parenting while traveling, and even apps for parenting yourself.
While there are some amazing options out there that help to support positive parenting, many of these apps only promote one way of being a parent and fail to be truly applicable to all the different circumstances that come up with raising kids.
- Research Supporting Positive Discipline
- Impact of positive discipline in the learning process
- Positive Discipline as a Part of Effective Classroom Management
However, there are some wonderful options for those looking for some support in their quest for positive parenting—and I’ve found five of them. Each is unique in its own way, so let’s take a look at what each one has to offer!
1. Parent Lab
Parent Lab is a science-based program that gives new parents the tools they need to become more confident and effective parents. It was created with the help of experts in child development and cognitive science, and it has been tested and validated by thousands of participants. Every aspect of Parent Lab’s content is backed by research, so parents have the reassurance that they’re learning information that’s been proven to be effective.
Parent Lab offers courses for every stage of parenting, from newborns to teenagers. They have courses for expecting parents, partners of parents-to-be, new parents, and experienced parents who want to improve their skills. The courses are available online, so you can work through them at your own pace from wherever you are—no need to find childcare or get a babysitter so you can go to a class on a weekday evening!
The site offers everything from the basics of baby sleep and potty training to overcoming more serious issues like attention deficit disorder and anxiety. They take a holistic approach to child development and have designed our programs to help kids grow into healthy adults. The content is based on the latest research studies in child psychology, and also draws on anecdotal evidence from an online community of users who provide their own experiences with parenting and learning.
In Parent Lab, you’ll find:
- New articles added daily on topics ranging from play to discipline to nutrition
- Videos on topics such as “How To Talk To Kids About The Election”
- Tips on sleep, nutrition, exercise and learning
- Studies that help you understand why kids do what they do
- Expert advice from child development professors and pediatricians
- Tips from experts on how to be a better parent
The program is organized into 3 levels of increasing difficulty: Parenting Basics, Beyond Basics and Advanced Parenting. Each level consists of a series of modules that focus on different aspects of building a positive relationship with your child. The program also includes a parent community where parents can discuss parenting topics, seek advice from other members, share notes and connect with professionals in the field.
➡ How to Introduce New Words to Your Child During Playtime?
The Parent Lab website offers an extensive library of content that can be tailored according to the age of a child (0-9 years old). When using the Parent Lab website, a parent answers questions about his or her child, such as “Is your child able to concentrate on one task at a time?” or “Does your child like to try new things?”. Then, based on responses to these questions, a personalized report is generated that outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the child’s development.
The website also offers many webinars for parents on topics such as “Understanding Your Child’s Brain” or “Understanding Your Child’s Temperament.” Each webinar features a leading expert in the field. These experts talk about different aspects of children’s development from a developmental psychology perspective and provide practical advice for dealing with specific issues related to parenting.
2. Positive Parenting Solutions
McCready’s course is based on positive reinforcement and eliminating negativity from your life, and its first step is based on setting yourself up for success by creating a “Yelling Jar”—an empty jar that you fill with every time you lose your temper at your children. This simple act can be incredibly effective if practiced consistently, as it forces parents to record just how often they are losing their cool with their kids—and then it gives them an incentive to stop doing so.
The course concentrates on seven key principles that have been proven to work time and time again:
- Take responsibility for your own actions
- Be intentional about what you say
- Be present with your children
- Don’t introduce distractions during interaction time
- Focus on your emotional connection with your child
- Follow routines & rituals
- Learn from mistakes and have fun!
- Let go when kids are ready to leave home
McCready’s core belief is that discipline and behavior issues stem not necessarily from misbehavior, but rather from feelings of stress and powerlessness in children. She contends that if you can help children develop self-discipline and self-worth, you can help them achieve more in their lives.
In her online program, she teaches parents how to deal with common behavior problems such as defiance and whining in children by helping them understand what’s really going on in the child’s life and how they can encourage their child’s natural positive tendencies to grow and develop.
➡ Fun & Easy Paper Crafts for Kids
➡ Fun Summer Craft Ideas for Kids
With more than 40 parenting skills, the full version of this app is designed to help parents raise strong, resilient children that can thrive in the world. Everything from setting limits and boundaries for kids to handling discipline problems is covered in detail in these Positive Parenting Skills.
Some of these skills include:
Active Listening: Active listening is a highly effective parenting skill that helps us connect with our children so they know they are being understood. With active listening we are able-to really listen to what they are saying and open ourselves up so they can feel heard themselves. Studies have shown that active listening increases trust between parents and kids, which is a key factor in creating a positive parent-child relationship. This puts them on the path toward positive communication skills as they get older.
Giving Feedback: Positive feedback can help children learn new behaviors and believe in themselves as capable people. It helps them see their strengths and encourages them to try new things.
➡ Best Parenting advice – Good Parenting Tips and Guide for Parenting
With Positive Parenting Solutions online training program, you’ll learn how to parent the way experts do—with the exact same techniques Amy uses in her private practice and with the members of her acclaimed social-skills group.
With this seven-step approach, you’ll be able to guide your children toward responsible and respectful behavior in any situation: at home, at school, at a public event, or out on the town. You’ll get to know how your kids tick and what’s going on in their heads so you can best meet their needs and steer them away from frustration, defiance, and worse. And when they’re uncooperative instead of cooperative, you’ll have a ready arsenal of tried-and-true techniques that will defuse tension and bring them back into line.
3. The Happy Child Parenting App
The Happy Child Parenting App is a mobile app which allows parents to have a more meaningful relationship with their children by facilitating higher quality interactions. The app has several features, including:
- An Encyclopedia of Children’s Emotions: The app offers a visual and interactive guide to the emotions commonly experienced by children at different ages. Parents can scroll through lists of emotions, and explore definitions and additional information about each one.
- A Calming Toolkit: The app offers tools for parents to help children cope with difficult emotions. For example, the app includes tips on how to help a child who is upset because his friend won’t let him play with her toy.
- Parenting Journal: The app encourages parents to reflect on their own parenting style and methods. Once a week, the app prompts users to write about any positive or negative experiences with their children in order to track progress over time.
The Happy Child Parenting App is the first app based on the new parenting model, which is to develop solid communication skills from birth onwards. This model focuses on building a connection with the child and providing the tools for a good relationship.
The Happy Child app addresses these concerns by giving parents access to the most up-to-date, science-based information so they can learn what’s really important and find ways to put this knowledge into practice in their own lives.
Rather than being overwhelmed by the thousands of options available, The Happy Child app offers short lessons that are easy to understand and can be implemented immediately after reading them. It also helps manage information overload by providing a one-stop place for all the information you might need about child development and parenting; you don’t have to search for a dozen different websites and apps in order to get all the information.
It brings together years of groundbreaking research and findings to provide a simple, easy-to-use experience for parents of any age. The Happy Child has received an unprecedented amount of positive feedback from satisfied users worldwide, who are grateful for the ease of use and the powerful positive impact it’s had on their lives.
There are several different sections of the app that have been broken up by age group, including one for infants and toddlers, ones for preschoolers, elementary school children, and teenagers. These sections provide guidance for parents on important issues such as feeding children healthy foods and encouraging them to get enough sleep. All of the information is delivered in short videos that are easy to understand and implement into your daily life. There is also a section that allows you to keep track of all the things you’ve implemented in order to create a personalized plan based on your child’s needs and your family’s lifestyle.
The app covers many different subjects like emotional intelligence, empathy, self-esteem, mindfulness, sleep habits, nutrition, positive reinforcement techniques and communication skills.
The app is free with no in-app purchases—just open it up and begin using it right away!
4. Joon
Joon is a video game that makes routine tasks fun for kids (ages 6 – 12). In the game, you play as Joon, a character who is trying to grow flowers in his garden. You can collect points by watering your flowers every day and keep track of which ones you’ve watered with the flower journal. You can also earn points by doing other things like brushing your teeth or getting dressed in the morning. With Joon, your child gets to earn points for all the things they should be doing anyway—with the added benefit of being fun to do!
To make sure Joon is a reliable reminder and tracker, it syncs with a calendar so your child can always check up on their progress. Parents can also set chores and goals for their kids to achieve and track their progress, making sure their children are growing into responsible and independent young adults.
Missing schoolwork and chores is a major problem for kids with ADHD—the app offers an incentive to complete homework and other tasks by turning them into quests that earn points towards rewards like playing games or watching videos online.
➡ The Best Co Parenting App for shared Parenting
Joon teaches children how to play responsibly and make good choices by giving them the opportunity to choose between “right” or “wrong” actions in quests—when they make the right choice, they will earn more points than if they’d done something wrong. This provides an opportunity for parents to have conversations about right versus wrong in real life, which can help children develop moral reasoning skills.
Joon is available on iOS and Android devices, as well as online at joonapp.io.
Positive Parenting Methods Can Create a Happier Household
Positive parenting techniques can create a happier household, both for the children and for the parents themselves. With so many methods out there, it may be hard to discern which are truly effective and worth investing time in. Here are some common positive parenting methods that have been shown to have positive results.
The best-known positive parenting technique is “time-out.” Time-out involves taking a child out of whatever situation they are in and placing them in timeout for a specified period of time. The child is expected to sit or stand quietly during the time-out period, but no further instructions are given.
The purpose is to give the child time away from whatever situation they were in to cool down from their behavior. The length of the time-out depends on the age and severity of the behavior—for example, a toddler who throws food might be sent to timeout for one minute, whereas an older child who breaks something might be sent to timeout for five minutes.
Parents are encouraged to use timeouts sparingly—for example, only once or twice a day at most—and with good reason: research has shown that overusing timeouts can make children more aggressive in the long term.
Time-ins are another popular positive parenting technique. Time-ins involve giving your child a set amount of your time every day to do whatever they want, as long as it’s something that you approve of.
These are great because they give kids the freedom to pursue their own interests and keep them engaged in activities that will help them grow into creative, responsible adults.
One of the best things you can do for a child’s happiness is to treat them with fairness. When children feel like they’re being singled out or treated unfairly by their parents, they start to see the world as a place where it doesn’t matter how much effort or love they put in, because in the end everything is unfair. That kind of outlook leads to depression, anxiety and poor social skills.
But when children feel like they’re being treated fairly by their parents, they’re more likely to trust other people in the world, lead happier lives and have better social skills. It might seem impossible to always come up with an evenhanded way of enforcing rules when tempers are running high.
What is the goal of positive parenting?
Let’s be honest: no one is perfect. We all get stressed and angry, and there are probably moments when we could benefit from a little more positivity in our daily lives. Positivity is directly related to our mental health, and positive parents help ensure that their children grow up in an environment where they can learn the skills needed to succeed not just in school, but in life.
Positive parenting is based on the belief that we should be working with our children, not against them. Children need guidance and support from above, but they also need freedom to explore the world, make mistakes, and take responsibility for their own actions.
Positive parenting is about raising children to be happy, healthy and responsible adults by supporting the child’s healthy growth and inner spirit. Such parents go beyond communicating their expectations, but practice what they preach by being positive role models for their children to emulate.
Positive parents are loving, supportive, firm, consistent and involved. They set boundaries that guide their children in making the right choices while encouraging them to take responsibility for their actions. They communicate clearly and honestly with their kids while treating them with respect. They don’t just tell kids what they should do (or not do), but make sure they understand why the rules are in place. Their actions speak louder than words.
Positive parents are active participants in their children’s lives, taking an interest in all aspects of them—school work and social activities, hobbies and sports, friends and family. They encourage life-long learning by fostering a love of learning in each child from a young age and setting appropriate limits on what is healthy or unsafe behavior. They make learning fun so that it is an enjoyable part of the daily experience of childhood. Positive parents help build self-esteem through praise, encouragement and building self-confidence in each child through respectful guidance.
Parvinder Singh is a seasoned IT developer and network engineer with over 5 years of experience. He is also a skilled tech columnist, offering insights on the latest trends and developments in the tech industry.