Changing the world... one boy at a time.

Hi, I'm Rachel Sklar

Creator of The Boy Mom Method, Founder of Sklar Parenting, Parent Coach & Speaker

 This is my Story

Parenting can be tough, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the demands of raising kids. I know this firsthand because despite my years of experience working with children, I was blindsided by how hard it was when I became a parent myself.

Before having kids, I had spent years as a camp counselor, and a preschool teaching assistant, and worked with kids with Cerebral Palsy in Israel. I even specialized in Children and Family Services when I got my Master's Degree in Social Work at Berkeley, and wrote my thesis on the effectiveness of parent education. I interned at the Juvenile Probation Department and eventually worked in the county foster care department helping parents with tough kids.

But when my first son was born, none of the tips and tricks I'd used (and taught others) worked. And all of the excitement and joy disappeared. I didn't know at the time that my son was highly sensitive, and when my second son came along, I was even more confused because he was (and still is) AWEsomely persistent, determined, and motivated by his own pure will - and not by what I had to say.

I tried all sorts of parenting books, classes, and consultants, but none of them seemed to work for us.

I felt like a failure as a parent and didn't know where to turn.

That's when I discovered the Parent Coaching Institute at Seattle Pacific University. I enrolled in their program to become a parent coach, but secretly I hoped it would also give me a second chance at parenting.

About halfway through the program, I had a realization: I was resisting my son as much as he was resisting me. I was expecting him to be someone he was not - and he was only 2.

I made the decision to shift my parenting approach, but I wasn't exactly sure what to shift it to. That was uncomfortable. But it was better than the alternative.

I started to accept that traditional strategies were for traditional kids, and that wasn't us. We needed something a lot more customized.

Slowly, I started to figure out a custom approach by focusing on my kids' strengths, my core values, and the conditions that helped us thrive, rather than focusing on the problems and the things about my children I didn't understand (or like). That's when things started to shift.

I realized that parenting, which had taken me to my lowest low, could also take me to my highest high.

It wasn't easy. And it wasn't overnight.

In fact, we're still a work in progress, but we enjoy the process and we have a clear, custom approach for each kid. And when we work it, it works.

I share this story with you because I want you to know that you're not alone in your struggles as a parent.

Whether you're dealing with challenging behavior, communication issues, or just feeling overwhelmed, there is a way to overcome it.

You can develop a customized approach that works for your family and your unique situation. And if I can do it, I know you can too.

So if you're tired of trying a bunch of parenting strategies that just don't seem to work, I invite you to join me in exploring a different approach.

I offer a number of different ways to work with me, from a home study course called The Boy Mom Method, to ongoing group coaching, at private coaching, I can help you transform your approach to parenting and transform your child's behavior for the long term.

You can start by exploring the different options below!