Tools for

Parents Toolshop® Certification

So you want to be a Parents Toolshop® Leader?

It’s important that all our Leaders provide consistently top-quality services, despite the diverse education, training, and life experience individuals in the field may bring to their role.

Therefore, our Leader Certification Training and Supervision process provides instructor screening, preparation, training, mentoring, monitoring, supervision, and ongoing support that meets the following criteria:

  • Assures consistent quality programming by using a multi-step training process. Trainers get to practice, demonstrate mastery of skills, and meet performance standards before moving to the next level.

  • Teaches a wide variety of critical skills that parenting educators need to master, including effective parenting, group facilitation, ethics, marketing, program development and evaluation.

  • Can be completed as an on-line, self-directed course with personalized support. (Live in-person training is available when 4+ people want trained at the same time and a training location is provided.)

  • Is non-exclusive. Instructors can provide training as non-profit employees, private practice professionals, or part of the Parents Toolshop® trainer team.

Are you in the right place?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, review the chart below to find out if our Leader Certification is a good fit.

Our Leader Certification

IS NOT for you if...

IS for you if...

You want to call yourself a parenting expert without any education or experience
You are ready and willing to learn. We train all of our leaders in the core competencies that all parent coaches and educators need.

You want a cookie-cutter curriculum-in-a-box that you can buy and follow with no training.

You want research-based content to stand out from a crowd of “passionate parents” out there sharing their opinions
You want a reputable, proveneffective parenting program you can “run with” and do whatever you want with.
You trust our process. Our standardized best practices ensure you get onsistently positive results
You want a parenting program that offers a white label license to simply add your business name, branding, and name to “make it yours”.

You want to become part of our Toolshop® community. Our name means a lot to us because we have spent years perfecting our content and how to use it to get the best results.

Of course you can add research-based information, your personal stories of how you used and applied the skills you are coaching/teaching, and deliver our materials with your personal flair and style.

We like to say you are “married” to the content, but “engaged” to the delivery

You are looking for a quick way to make lots of money.
You’re willing and ready to learn. We provide the tools, resources and strategies, but it’s up to you to learn and implement them to find your own clients and speaking engagements through your current employer, your own private practice, or by joining our leader team.
You want someone else to do all your marketing, deliver gigs on a silver platter, and then “hire” you with a guaranteed pay rate.

You are ready to work hard. We always deliver what we promise. We are responsible to you by providing the knowledge, tools, and support you need to succeed.

It’s up to you to apply it all as directed. You will need to self-initiate and think outside the box to get the results you want.

We are proud of the work we’ve done, and we want you to be proud of your own success too. We aren’t going to do all of the work for you. In the end, YOU are responsible for your own success!

Pass that Screening?

Ready to learn more?

Our relationships with our Leaders are...

Important. Win-Win. For life!
We are in this for the long haul with our Leaders. We provide lifetime access to our resources support for active certifications. Because of that, we are looking for individuals interested in a long-term relationship with us as well.

Our long-term success is dependent on yours. While our certification requires a financial commitment, we aren’t interested in a quick buck.

We have spent years and a lot of dollars creating our tools and resources to be able to turn around and offer a proven-effective opportunity for success to others.

We are committed to showing up for our Leaders with our time and resources – for life!

We will fulfill our commitment to teaching you how to be successful and effective; it's your responsibility to fulfill your commitment to implement what you learn.

5 ways we commit to being research-based

Whether a program is “research-based” is an important factor for anyone who’s serious about becoming a professional parenting educator. The benefits of a “research-based” curriculum is that you can be confident about it being the right fit for your intended audience and any special needs they have.

It’s also important to those who fund parent education programs and services.

While there isn’t one singular way to define “evidence-based”, “research-based”, or “informed”, the National Parenting Education Network (NPEN) defines it as such:

“Curriculum whose program outcomes have been studied through the use of experimental design evaluation research. A program is evidence-supported/based if it is based on theory and has undergone scientific evaluation to provide outcomes and evidence that the program is effective in changing parental practice. When implemented exactly as designed and recommended, an educational program should obtain the same objectives.”

Here is how we commit to being "research-based" in all areas of our practice:

What our Parent Educators think about Parents Toolshop®

Carolina Perez is a San Diego teacher, parent, and foster parent who shared this report after teaching her first Parents Toolshop® class after getting certified in 2023. Here is her experience, the parents’ and how different both are from most parent educators’ experiences.

My first class was SO good. They loved it! They didn’t want to leave! There were laughs, there were tears, and I’ve already received a text from a mom saying she used what she learned the same night and couldn’t believe her tween son’s response. I couldn’t sleep I was on such a high. I was helping kids, because I was helping their parents. They felt safe, they felt supported and they didn’t leave with a lot of theory. They left with written down plans for the week.

Ready to get started??

START HERE

First, have you LEARNED the UB®?

First things first, are you familiar with the Parents Toolshop® teachings and the Universal Blueprint® GPS System?

It’s important that you know, agree with, and believe in the value of what we teach, because you’ll be teaching it!

If the answer is no, or you’re feeling a little rusty now’s the time to brush up on your background knowledge.

Grab your FREE copy of the 7 Keys to Building a Healthy Family ebook. It will give you an overview of this one-of-a-kind program.

Already done your homework? Move on to Step One!

Step One

COMPLETE PRE-REQUISITE COURSES

If you haven’t already, the first step to becoming a certified Parents Toolshop®  trainer is to complete the Advanced Online T.I.P.S. Course. This is the course you will teach, so it’s important you have taken it and had the experience you can to create for your students.

We have a special discounted bundle package specifically for potential leaders that includes all the T.I.P.S. (Tools for Improving Parenting Success) programs you will be teaching and resources you are most likely to recommend. You’ll get a checklist that walks you through each step of each course.

  1. First, you’ll complete the Introductory T.I.P.S. class, a 2-hour video of a live interactive preview workshop that is a blast to teach and will get people waiting in line to sign up for your full length class.
  2. Next, you’ll complete Basic T.I.P.S. which involves reading the most recent, shorter book The NeXt GenerationZ Parents Toolshop®: The Universal Blueprint® Guide to Parenting Success (GPS) and completing some review questions.
  3. Then, you’ll Complete Advanced T.I.P.S. which involves reading the original The Parent’s Toolshop® book, because it’s the most complete and in-depth teachings, which instructors need to know. You’ll also watch videos of a live class, experiencing what the parents experience and completing a study-guide with practice opportunities. (This course has been approved for 30 hours of Continuing Education Units for Ohio Social Workers (OCSWMFT Provider #RSX012201) and Certified Family Life Educators through the National Council on Family Relations.)
  4. Lastly, you’ll watch several Done4U webinars that apply the Universal Blueprint® GPS system to the most common parenting challenges and use the interactive Choose Your Own Solution Hintbook to plan PASRR Effective Response Formula to 5 challenges you can choose.

Once you complete this course you will receive lifetime access to all current and future Parents Toolshop® resources as long as you remain an Active PTLeader!

Check out the TIPS4Leaders FREE Preview to review the steps required to complete the course and apply for certification.

Step Two

READ STANDARDS & PRACTICES AND APPLY

While everyone receives the same Group Facilitator training, your license will determine how you use it.

License categories are:

  • Non-profit Agency Staff & Volunteers only coach/teach clients they serve through their job for their regular salary and there is no fee for the class/services and no profit made from the program.
  • Parents Toolshop® Team Members train for and through our company because they don’t have their own business and don’t want to incur the  time and expense of starting one.
  • Independent Provider Franchise Licensees can offer Parents Toolshop® programs through their existing business for a profit. It is not a white label license to put your name as the author or your brand on our program.

The table below better defines the differences, so you can determine which license type is the right fit for you.

As a...

I represent...

Advisor/Coach

Trainer/GF

An Agency

Agency Advisor

You provide 1:1 coaching and the other services Advisors are trained to provide, but only through your agency, as a volunteer or employee.

Agency Trainer

You provide Toolshop® programs only through your agency. Examples: an agency offers programs to their clients. These might be open to the public.

Myself

Independent Advisor

You provide 1:1coaching and the other services Advisors are trained to offer, but only through your own private company.

Independent Trainer

You provide Toolshop® programs only through your private company. These may be open to the public.

RTITI Team

RTITI Advisor

You provide 1:1 coaching and the other Advisor services for a particular RT Expert’s niche, exclusively through RTITI. You can offer local or online coaching, representing RTITI and if RTITI gets a request for coaching it can pass it to you.

RTITI Trainer

You provide existing Toolshop® programs exclusively through RTITI. Example: You can set up classes in your area, representing RTITI, and if RTITI gets a request from your area it can pass it on to you.

Step Three

ADVISOR/COACH CERTIFICATION

Complete this quick 5-module training that contains 7 hours of audios & videos for  observation and real-life practice.  You will learn how to conduct four types of coaching:

  1. Group Coaching
  2. Personalized Problem Solving using the UB®
  3. 1:1 Coaching
  4. Strategy Sessions

Once completed you can be any or all of the following:

  1. Private Parent Coach
  2. Group Coach
  3. Content Contributor
  4. Facebook Group Moderator
 
(This course has been approved for 12 hours of Continuing Education Units for Certified Family Life Educators through the National Council on Family Relations.)

Step Four

GROUP FACILITATOR CERTIFICATION

Ready to teach the Parents Tooshop® courses? To get the consistent results that are our quality standard, you must do more than be handed a curriculum.

This group facilitator training unlike any other in the world, because you learn how to use and model the Universal Blueprint® system and its tools while teaching it to groups. This takes your group facilitation skills to a whole new level, so you can guide your students to new depths of learning by creating a transformational experience for them.

This comprehensive training not only prepares you to be a great speaker but also addresses each aspect of building a thriving speaking practice offering both live and online workshops and classes featuring the Parents Toolshop® materials.

  • Module 1: Ethics, Standards & Practices ~ Cultural Sensitivity
  • Modules 2-4: Teaching/Modeling the Universal Blueprint® – Chapters 1-15
  • Module 5: Group Facilitator Reporting & Skill Assessments
  • Module 6: Getting Started & Growing Your Parent’s Toolshop® Programs

Each lesson in this 6-module training includes:

  • 1-2 hour video of a live Group Facilitator Training to watch
  • A study guide to fill out, to capture the key points and details.
  • 3 coaching sessions with your certification liaison, at the beginning, middle and end of the training, to process what you learned.
  • A practice presentation to put what you learned into action.
The final assignment is to present one solo program on part of the curriculum to parents in your community. The participants’ evaluations will qualify you to get your trainer license and show your competence to train this amazing curriculum, which will boost your confidence to get started.
 
(This course has been approved for 15 hours of Continuing Education Units for Ohio Social Workers (OCSWMFT Provider #RSX012201) and Certified Family Life Educators through the National Council on Family Relations.)

Step Five

MAINTAIN AN ACTIVE LICENSE

Woohoo! Once you are a certified trainer with an active license, all that’s left is to maintain your license on an annual basis.

This Includes:

  • Documenting the use of your certification
  • Performance evaluations and skills assessments
  • Engagement and communication with Parents Toolshop®
  • Continuing education in the parenting field

Questions?

We get it, this is a big commitment and we want to make sure this is the right fit for you too.

Feel free to schedule a strategy session with Jody or another member of our Standards & Practices Committee.

We recommend first completing the free Tips4Leaders Preview prior to scheduling, to make the most of your time together.