About the program

A universal parenting program for parents of children aged 3 to 10 years old. It aims to promote the development of emotional competence and prevent behaviour problems in young children by improving parents’ own emotional competence and teaching them emotion coaching skills. 

Program structure

Tuning in to Kids is delivered in 6 x 2-hour weekly sessions by facilitators following a structured manual. The manual includes a range of resources, including handouts for parents (also on USB), and a USB demonstrating parenting skills. It is also possible to adapt the delivery of this program. 

Facilitator training

Completion of the Tuning in to Kids Facilitator Training is required in order to become a certified facilitator.

Training blends lecture-style and experiential learning modules and provides trainees with the concepts of Emotional Intelligence and Emotion Coaching, equipping them to deliver the Tuning in to Kids program. 

Online and in-person training is offered regularly throughout the year.

An In-Service Model of training is also available for organisations who are looking to train larger groups of people. For this service, contact the Tuning in to Kids organisation. 

Cost

2-day training course (in-person) or 3-session training course (online), program manual and ongoing supervision: $940.50 per person

The cost for in-service training will depend on the size of the group and travel-related requirements. You can find out more by contacting the Tuning in to Kids organisation.  

Certified Tuning in to Kids facilitators can attend a one-off training session to deliver the Dads Tuning in to Kids program. The session costs $478.50 per person.  

Evaluation and effectiveness

Tuning in to kids has undergone several studies and evaluations for various intervention groups. This includes a randomised control trial undertaken by Havighurst and colleagues (2013) with parents of children aged between 4 and 5 years old. There were 31 participants in the intervention group and 23 participants in a treatment as usual comparison group.  

The results indicated that parents in the program had greater empathy and better emotion discourse with their children compared to those in the comparison group. Children of parents in the program also showed a greater knowledge of emotions compared to those in the comparison group. Participants in both groups had improved emotion regulation, reduced emotional dismissiveness and child behaviour problems at 3 and 9 months after baseline.  

A full list and summary of the research is available on the Tuning in to Kids website.

Reference

Havighurst, S.S., Wilson, K.R., Harley, A.E., Kehoe, C., Efron, D., & Prior, M.R., (2013) "Tuning into Kids": reducing young children's behaviour problems using an emotion coaching parenting program. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 44(2):247-64.