Do you find yourself yelling at your child? Losing patience? Being less kind or understanding than you’d like? Frustrated with your child’s lack of logic? You’re not alone—those are all common experiences for parents of young kids.

As adorable as they are, young children are not always easy to be around—hence the reputation for the “terrible twos,” “threenagers,” and so on. It’s a good thing they give such great cuddles, though, am I right? 😉

As the mother of a 4-year old boy, I’m always looking for ways to strengthen communication with my child either through books or online courses. I know that better communication can make our daily interactions easier for both of us. 

After trying a few online courses out there for parents, I wanted to share my favourites. 

Keep reading to discover my top picks!

Top 5 Parenting Courses

1. Positive Parenting Solutions

Positive Parenting Solutions was created by Amy McCready.

Positive Parenting Solutions is an online course that follows a systematic 7-step process for developing a healthy parenting style and to create more harmonious parent-child interactions.

The teaching is all done through short online videos. For more information you can see our complete review here: Positive Parenting Solutions review.

What I Like About Positive Parenting Solutions

I liked the positive approach of the course along with the depth of information provided. It takes you all the way from toddler to teen years, and even provides “focus sessions” on hot topics like mealtimes and morning routines.  

Positive Parenting Solutions Customer Review

2. 1-2-3 Magic Parenting

The 1-2-3 Magic approach focuses on giving parents the tools to implement effective timeouts for inappropriate behavior.  

What I Like About 1-2-3 Magic  

The timeout approach is effective, simple, and helps parents stay calm during tense situations!  

1-2-3 Magic Customer Review

3. How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen

This book comes from the highly praised “How to Talk So Kids Will Listen” series and helps reduce misbehavior through positive communication rather than punishment.

What I Like About How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen

I like that the methods in this book gives practical ways of building the parent-child relationship so that they want to cooperate with you — not just because they’re scared of negative consequences. 

How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen Customer Review

4. Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing – on Coursera

The Everyday Parenting short course by Yale on Coursera helps parents understand the psychology behind child behavior and how you can shape it.

See our review on the Coursera platform in general here: Coursera review.

What I Like About Everyday Parenting

I like that it’s based on scientific research and conducted by a reputable university. It also gives hands-on skills which can be applied with your child. 

Everyday Parenting Customer Review

5. Neuroscience for Parents: How to Raise Amazing Kids – on Udemy

This Udemy course Neuroscience for Parents is by psychologist Gregory Caremans, and helps parents understand the brain science behind the “terrible twos” phase, what punishments do to the brain, and more. 

What I Like About Neuroscience for Parents

I like that this course gives parents a good scientific understanding of the “why” behind child behavior and also suggests effective tools for managing behavioral challenges.

Neuroscience for Parents Customer Review

Which is the Best Parenting Course?

In my opinion Amy McCready’s Positive Parenting Solutions is the best parenting courses. If you’re looking for easy ways to stop yelling and help your child listen to you, you’ll certainly find much to appreciate here.

Her bitesize video lessons do a great job of giving loving parents real, actionable tools to make life with toddlers and children of all ages easier.

I could picture this course being useful for whole families, even for grandparents, babysitters, or other caregivers.

It would be a fun couples activity to take the course together, do the homework separately, and then discuss each lesson. This would be a great way to get on the same page, if you have a partner or co-parent.

I would definitely recommend the course to any parent especially at the affordable price point when using the monthly payment option, and with the ease of access via the website or app.

Amy McCready’s ideas are practical, useful strategies you can easily and quickly implement to have a more harmonious home life. Here’s to a happier life with your little one!

Educational Toddler Toy Subscriptions 

If you’re looking for Montessori toys for your toddler that help promote development and independence, you can check out our Monti Kids review. They specially curate Montessori toys to suit your child’s current developmental stage. Plus, they conveniently send you the items every 3 months!