Practical solutions, humor, and audience interaction make for an enjoyable seminar. 

Jim delivers workshops and presentations for parents of elementary, middle and high school students. 

100% Positive Parent

To be a 100% positive parent, you need to be a proactive parent. Proactive means being a step ahead of your children and moving in a positive direction. Hear the stories of proactive parents who are dealing with concerns over schoolwork, chores, and family.

• Discover 5 steps that not only motivate children but build their self-esteem at the same time.

• Learn how to make changes in behavior without using criticism.

• Get information on how to encourage super traits with a superhero's closet.

• Find out why most chores given to children do not result in an increase in responsibility and what you can do to turn chores into a responsibility building experience.

• Learn how to use low-tech and high tech methods for encouraging super traits in kids.

Successful methods used by parents, teachers, coaches, as well as recent research have been condensed into this state of the art system for inspiring, motivating and influencing children. Practical solutions, humor, and audience interaction make for an enjoyable seminar. Material in this seminar is based on Jim's book, No More Nagging, Nit-picking, and Nudging.

COMMUNICATION: HOW TO GET INSIDE KIDS' HEADS SO YOU CAN BE HEARD 

Successful methods used by parents, teachers, coaches, as well as recent research have been condensed into this state of the art system for inspiring, motivating, and influencing children. Practical examples, humor, and audience interaction make for an enjoyable seminar.

• Secrets for getting inside kids’ heads so you can be heard

• What to do when they won't talk

• What to do when they call you a geek

• How to stay calm when communicating

• The push-button technique for establishing rapport

This seminar is packed with communication solutions for simplifying the job of being a positive parent. Jim's presentations are 50% inspiration and 50% method. The inspiration will energize you, while his methods provide you with concrete do-it-now steps.

Attitude Assembly

Success is 90% attitude and 10% experience. Extensive research is being done on the kind of environment it takes to develop a super attitude in children. A "super attitude" goes way beyond what we normally think of as a "good attitude." Popular books like Emotional Intelligence and The Optimistic Child stress the importance of being proactive in teaching this vital character trait. Discover practical techniques you can use as a parent, teacher, or coach to help children develop the kind of attitude that makes them winners in school, relationships, and athletics.

You will learn:

• How body language affects your child's attitude and 5 ways to improve that language

• How to provide 4 vital ingredients necessary for a super attitude

• How to encourage children to use "attitude building vocabulary" and steer clear of specific words and phrases that are "attitude killers"

• How to use the latest research findings on optimism to consciously teach this trait to your children

• 3 quick techniques to change an attitude

Even if your child already has a great attitude, this class shows you how to take your child to a higher level.

ADVENTURES IN GOAL-SETTING 

While goal-setting is the #1 child empowerment skill, it is often neglected. Only a tiny percentage of children or adults are consistent goal setters. Yet goal setting dramatically improves grades, behavior, athletic performance, and motivation.

This seminar shares goal-setting secrets used by the most successful people in the world. Give your child a head start.

Jim uses stories of his adventures and the individuals he has coached to hook audiences. Swimming with jumbo squid, kayaking through headhunter territory, exploring underwater caves, and being marooned on a deserted island are a few of the adventures he will share. Woven into these stories are powerful goal-setting techniques that turn dreams into reality.

In this class you will:

• Take the first steps towards turning a goal into reality

• Practice a technique for making decisions about which goals to pursue

• Discover a method for overcoming obstacles on the way to your goal

• Learn the secret principle that makes goal-setters successful

HOW YOUR CHILD'S PERSONALITY AFFECTS THEIR LEARNING STYLE

Children may learn, communicate, and make decisions in a style markedly different from their parents. Using techniques based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) and the Murphy-Meisgier Type Indicator® (MMTI) two widely used personality assesment tools we will:

• Identify personality strengths and how they affect learning

• Learn about your own personal preference as well as your child’s

• Look at specific ways to improve communication

• Discover how to improve academic performance by working with your child's strengths

SECRETS OF A SUPER MEMORY

This class adds the fourth R to Readin', 'Ritin', and 'Rithmatic. The fourth R is Remembering. A big chunk of your child’s academic success is based on remembering. From kindergarten to college, tests measure memory. This is a class in "memory literacy"—a universally beneficial skill.

The author of Memory Smart, Jim shares several powerful memory techniques. This class is based on longer programs offered to GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) students. Some of the memory feats these trained students have accomplished include:

• Meeting 10 people at a virtual party and greeting those people a year later by name

• Memorizing 50 states and their capitals in under 2 hours

• Listing the 43 presidents of the United States in order after less than an hour of study

• Learning 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and being able to cite the amendment and give an example after less than 2 hours of study

• Demonstrating super comprehension by listing chapters in a textbook along with major points and examples

These are only a few examples of what you can do with a trained memory. Secrets of a Super Memory is a high-energy class filled with interaction, games, and laughter.

TEACHING CHILDREN OPTIMISM 

Recent research into optimism has shown that people with a high optimistic quotient are more successful in school, sports, and relationships. When these children become adults, their success in their occupations as well as their level of health will also be tied to their optimism. Let’s look at an example of how optimism affects students:

A group of fourth graders were divided into two groups based on their optimistic quotient. One group were optimists, the other group were pessimists. The children were then given a set of problems. Some problems were unsolvable. These were labeled failure problems. Other problems were solvable. These were labeled success problems. When both groups started with solvable problems, they performed equally well. But when students came to the unsolvable problems a major difference occurred. The problem-solving skills of the pessimistic kids plunged to the level of first graders. The optimistic kids stayed at the fourth grade level. In the face of failure, pessimistic children lack the staying power of their optimistic classmates.

In research done at Penn State University and West Point, students who rose above what their SAT scores, high school grades, and achievement tests indicated were above average in their optimistic quotient.

Children with a high optimistic quotient:

• Have increased staying power in the face of failure

• Perform better in sports

• Do better in school than their SAT scores and achievement tests would suggest

• Have more satisfying relationships with parents and friends

• Shrug off bad moods and depression more readily

• Are healthier

 YOU CAN TEACH A CHILD HOW TO BE OPTIMISTIC!

This class is packed with specific "do-able" skills that show you how to raise a child's optimism quotient.

• Discover the single most important factor in shaping your child's level of optimism

• Take a self-test to find out the major differences between optimists and pessimists

• Find out what you can do to consciously improve your child’s attitude

• Play the ABCDE game for developing optimistic children

• Take home a FREE copy of the game that teaches optimism

There is more to optimism than simply saying, "The optimist sees the doughnut and the pessimist sees the hole." Even if your child has a high optimistic quotient, discover how you can strengthen this powerful trait.