A new workshop being offered free at the Brandon Township Library aims to stop the arguing between parents and children.
‘Love & Logic? will be taught in a month-long series of Saturday workshops. The first workshop is from 9:30 a.m.-noon Feb. 26.
Linda Hoogterp, an Ortonville resident who has a master’s degree in social work and is a specialist in psychotherapy and neurofeedback, will lead the workshop. She says the Love & Logic parenting style is a tool to help parents disengage from arguing and put the problem back on the child.
‘It teaches a lot of problem-solving skills,? Hoogterp said. ‘A child comes as a clean slate. They don’t know how to problem solve and if you do it for them, how will they ever learn??
Hoogterp recently attended a Love & Logic workshop in Colorado with Brandon Community Education Director June Wuopio. Using funds from a PACT Grant, a pilot grant from the United Way of Oakland County, they purchased Love & Logic parenting materials, including books, videos and tapes, because they believe it is a need in the Brandon district and is an effective program.
The Love & Logic theory of parenting is based on a set of principles that need to be applied, Hoogterp says. The founders of the program are Jim Fay and Foster Kline, who discovered that if kids are just given a set of rules they are resentful. However, if the rules are combined with empathy and choices, less friction results.
Hoogterp cites common problems between parents and children and demonstrates how they are handled using Love & Logic.
‘If a child is not doing homework, whose problem is it?? she asked. ‘The child’s or the parent’s? If a parent worries over the child’s problem, why should he worry about it??
Hoogterp said the key is to put the problem on the child and get them thinking about how to solve their own problems instead of having the parent do it for them.
‘Love & Logic has a lot of theory as well as practical applications,? Hoogterp said, noting the program works well for children of all ages, from 9 months to 19 years of age. ‘I guarantee parents will go home from the workshops with skills they can apply to address arguing, chores, responsibility for their own actions and choices.?
For details on the workshops or to RSVP, call Anne Rosenthal at (248) 681-9192.