Active Parenting Publishers...innovators of video-based education programs

Active Parenting Publishers, Inc., was founded in 1980 by Dr. Michael H. Popkin, a former child and family therapist and Coordinator of Child and Family Services for Northside Community Mental Health Centers in Atlanta, Georgia.

APP delivers quality education programs for parents, children and teachers to schools, hospitals, social services organizations, churches and the corporate market. The Active Parenting model is heavily based upon the theories of Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs (click here for more about Adlerian Psychology as it applies to Active Parenting).

The most popular program is Active Parenting Now, for parents of children ages five to twelve. Active Parenting Publishers is recognized as an innovator in the educational market and is committed to our mission of developing human potential through our programs.

APP operates out of Kennesaw, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Our products are distributed throughout the US as well as in Canada, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Sweden.

Pioneers of the world's first video-based parenting education program

The first three years of the company were devoted to research and development, as Dr. Popkin’s vision of integrating video and group discussion into advanced education programs evolved.

In June 1983, Active Parenting incorporated and introduced the Active Parenting Discussion Program (APDP), the world’s first video-based parenting education program. Delivered in just six 2-hour sessions, the program was a huge success. As a result, the company was ranked in the 242 spot on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies for the five-year period ending in 1989.


Effective tools for the schools, social services, organizations, churches and corporations

Following the success of APDP, Active Parenting Publishers went on to produce its revised version, Active Parenting Today (revised again in 2002 and released under the name Active Parenting Now). This was followed by:

• Active Parenting of Teens
• Free the Horses: A Self-Esteem Adventure
• Windows: Healing and Helping through Loss
• Active Teaching
• Parents on Board: Building Academic Success through Parent Involvement
• 1,2,3,4 Parents!
• Active Parenting Today on CD ROM
• ¡1,2,3,4 Padres!
• Padres Activos de Hoy
• Cooperative Parenting and Divorce
• Families in Action for Parents and Teens
• Active Parenting Today for Jewish Families
• Active Parenting Today Online Groups
• Active Parenting for Stepfamilies

In 2000, Active Parenting continued its pioneering tradition by launching the world's first video-based online parenting class, Active Parenting Today Online Groups. This program combines video, reading and group discussion—all administered over the Internet.

Active Parenting has also formed alliances with other leading producers of parenting education products, and is the exclusive distributor of:

• Families Talk About . . .
• Successful Parenting
• Connecting with Kids
• Homeboys
• CHIEFS
• Cooperative Parenting and Divorce
• Crossroads of Parenting & Divorce

Leader training provided by APP
Active Parenting Publishers conducts Leader Training Workshops throughout the country to teach professionals and volunteers how to lead a group using these programs. In addition, the company publishes Leader magazine, free to customers, three times a year.


Why our video-based programs get results
A successful education program depends as much on how it is taught as on what is taught. The goal in founding Active Parenting Publishers in 1983 was to apply state-of-the-art educational technology to the field of parenting education. Three years of research and development led Active Parenting founder Michael Popkin to conclude that video-based training was the most cost-efffective innovation available, and we were the first to produce video-based parent education programs. Today this powerful delivery system continues to be ideal. In fact, most Fortune 500 companies have adopted video-based training as their standard. Here’s why:

• Video shows as well as tells, and behavioral modeling is a powerful learning method.
• According to one study on learning attributed to Xerox, people retain:
  - 10% of what they read
  - 20% of what they hear
  - 50% of what they see
• When integrated into a multi-sensory approach (using the Participant’s Guide, activities, video, discussion, practice and feedback), retention has been as high as 80-90%.
• Because it is more interesting, stimulating and entertaining, participation is higher
• A complete video-based package saves the leader preparation time that can be used in other activities
• During group sessions the video is like a co-leader, giving the leader a chance to relax and plan while the course is still progressing
• Our society grew up on TV. We identify with the medium. We like it.