I have 4 children who are grown up now. In fact, I have 6 grandchildren on whom I dote. I have so much to be grateful for and want very much to make sure they all know how much I love them and support them.
Since becoming a mother, I have experienced what it is to be the mom in a two parent family, to be the mom through the troubled times of a divorce and to be a single parent of 4 children. I have been a stay at home mom for many years (I had 4 children under 6 years old), and I have been a working mom. I have been a mom who is studying at University and I have been a mom who remarried.
The rich tapestry of my ‘mom’ experiences has helped me to understand how all these different situations impacted on my parenting and gave me tremendous insights into the world as perceived by children as they face different ‘family situations’. More importantly, my experiences caused me to ‘think’ about my parenting and the impact on my children.
Two things stood out to me:
- It's not about being the ‘perfect’ parent (is there such a thing?)
- It is about making sure your kids learn to value themselves, respect themselves and to be encouraged by their own belief in themselves.
Whilst studying to be a teacher I found myself drawn to researching the psychological aspects of child development. I found that understanding the developmental processes of human development to be so compelling as it shows us how humans are motivated and at which ages or stages certain characteristics develop and this understanding formed the basis for my teaching.
I always applied the principle....that in order for a child to achieve, they have to first believe they can achieve. So as a teacher, I always tried to employ all the means available to me to instil in children an intrinsic belief in their own ability.
As a result of this, I have found many of the children I have taught to stay in contact with me as they grow older, despite very large distances. I always hoped to be that teacher that ‘really made a difference’ to every child that I taught.
I couldn’t help but feel that sometimes even well-meaning parents unconsciously ‘un-did’ my hard work at building up the self-image of their child. As a teacher I was fairly powerless to help those parents see how they were undermining their children’s confidence daily, preventing them from experiencing feelings of self-esteem and confidence.
I decided to study the art of ‘coaching’ initially to help ignite children’s confidence in themselves. My coaching soon grew into workshops for children and a wonderful program I called The Permission To Shine Program in which I showed children a view of themselves they had not seen before. I helped them see themselves in a different way and gave them a vocabulary so they could think about themselves and communicate to others about themselves. I empowered them.
Parents loved the results of these workshops so much that they asked me to share the processes that I used with them so they could carry on inspiring their children themselves, every day.
Today, the Permission To Shine Program is actually delivered to Parents more than to children.
Now, thanks to the advancement of the internet I am able to bring the Permission To Shine Program to parents all around the world.
Parents also now access my services for individual private coaching sessions to help them with specific patterns of behaviour their child is experiencing.
I am so grateful to be able to reach so many parents while their children are young enough to benefit.
I coach via the internet now using Skype to speak with my clients.
If you would like to receive coaching from me
- Put ‘Private Coaching’ in the subject line.
- Be sure to tell me a little bit about your family, such as are you married, single, divorced, how many children. Don’t go into too much detail in the email as I will contact you for more detailed information once we establish an appointment.
- Make sure you include your contact details, your skype phone number and best numbers to reach you on. Where two parents wish to be coached at the same time we meet in an online conference room.
To Engage me as a Speaker:
I travel to various destinations around the world to speak at conferences and events, predominantly in the US, Australia, China and the UK. I speak to very large and very small audiences. My delivery can be adapted to suit the needs of the organization ranging from very minimal audience participation to a very interactive and participatory session. If you wish for a keynote speaker who can facilitate break-out sessions for large audiences then you will like what I have to offer.
I speak to audiences of parents of different origins, religions and professions. I speak to everyone from the stay-at-home mom or dad to the career professional who is also a parent. I speak to grandparents, caregivers and organizations that play a role in facilitating support to parents or in place of parents.
If you would like to engage me as a guest speaker at your conference or event:
- Put ‘Guest Speaker’ in the subject line.
- Be sure to outline the necessary details of the event.
- Please include your contact details.
Workshops for Parents:
If you would like to arrange for me to facilitate a workshop or series of workshops for your organization then please contact me to discuss. The Permission To Shine Program for helping parents bring out their children’s confidence is by far the most sought after program, however I do deliver workshops on other topics of importance to parents, such as ‘How to Speak so children listen’, ‘The Parent-Child Relationship’, ‘The Happiness Factor’.
If you would like to engage me for a workshop:
- Put Parents Workshop in the subject line
- Be sure to let me know the details of the group I would be workshopping
- Please include your contact details
Children’s Workshops:
I conduct the Permission To Shine Program for Children in several different countries. Please feel free to contact me regarding the possibility of holding a workshop for your school, church or organization. The Permission To Shine Program is suitable for children of all ages, however when done in a workshop setting I prefer to keep in mind the developmental differences between children of vastly different ages.
For that reason I conduct workshops in the following age groups:
- 3-5 year olds
- 5-8 year olds
- 9-12 year olds
Please contact me to discuss facilitating a children’s workshop for you:
- Put Children’s Workshop in the subject line
- Be sure to tell me about your organization, your objectives and how many children you are referring to.
- Please include your contact details.
To have me interview you:
I also interview experts and concerned/interested parties who have something meaningful to contribute to my clients and I feature them in the members area of my website. If you feel you have information, skills or a product that would greatly benefit parents and children you could contact me to arrange an interview so you can be featured on the Highly Successful Kids site. This way I am able to offer my clients a greater service and exclusivity that comes with membership.
- Put ‘Interview’ in the subject line
- Be sure to tell me about your organization, publication, site or product and why you feel my clients would benefit from what you have to offer.
- Please include your contact details.
To Interview Me:
I am available to be interviewed for your magazine, publication, radio/TV show or website. I believe it is important to get my message out there to parents all around the world. I am open to sharing my expertise with your clients.
To arrange to interview me or to simply receive press release information then please contact me:
- Put Interview Vicki in the subject line
- Please include the details of your organization, publication, audience and whatever objectives or guidelines you have relating to the topic of the interview.
- Please include the contact details of your organization
Online:
- You can follow me on Twitter at : http://twitter.com/vickijardine
- You can join me on Facebook at: http://facebook.com
- You can see my lense on Squidoo at: http:/squidoo.com/parentingcommunities
- Talkback to me on my blog at: http://talkbacktovickijardine.com