It’s the groundbreaking new reality series that promises to put parents to the ultimate test, and viewers can’t get enough of Parental Guidance.
WATCH BELOW: Parental Guidance, the groundbreaking new TV show about parenting styles is coming!
10 sets of parents with very different parenting styles put their methods to the test, to determine who has Australia’s best parenting style.
Hosted by Today show’s Allison Langdon and Australian parenting expert Dr. Justin Coulson, the families will complete tasks and later sit down to assess and reflect, with couples weighing in on everyone else’s methods.
As the season progresses, viewers will be able to learn more about each parenting style and what it looks like as these families showcase their ways.
From helicopter parents to tiger parents, free-range and routine parents to extreme authoritarians, here are all the different parenting styles explained.
Helicopter
As Dr Justin explained to 9Now, Helicopter parenting best describes parents who hover over their children and “swoop in at the smallest sign of trouble” they might be experiencing.
On the show, Rachel and Sam are representing the Helicopter parenting style, and while Sam has said he would like his kids to have more freedom, he gets anxious when the girls go out of sight.
“We let them do things and we’re there, but if they fall and get hurt, we’ll go and rescue them,” he said.
Free range
Free Range parenting sees limited adult supervision to allow kids to be more independent, and to “discover their own limits”.
Penny and Daniel have adopted this style and believe in punitive discipline and talk to their children if there is any challenging behaviour.
However, the parents note that they are not entirely permissive and do not say “yes” to everything.
Routine
Routine parenting is all about enforcing structure and having very clear boundaries and limits in place.
Brett and Tony are all about the Routine parenting style in their home, and are very pragmatic with their kids about fairness, to teach them that you don’t always get what you want.
Home School
“Home School parenting is parents who choose to keep their family close by and be the main education and socialisers in their children’s lives,” Dr Justin told 9Now.
Mum-of-six Deb has carried out the Home School parenting style with her family, as she doesn’t think kids need the stress and pressure that traditional school puts on them.
Attachment
Attachment parenting is all about staying as attached to your child as you can, and also being there to understand and live through the emotions that a child might be feeling.
“It’s really about empathy and connection, and raising emotionally intelligent humans,” Dr Justin said.
Lara and Andrew have adopted the Attachment parenting style, and believe in addressing emotion first, behaviour second.
Nature
Nature parenting is as its name suggests, where it’s driven by natural learning to remove the structures and restrictions that make “families stressed out all the time”.
“It’s about breathing the open air, with no limits and nothing to stop you from being who you’re supposed to be,” Dr Justin said.
Liadhan and Richard are the Nature parents, and Richard believes a parent’s role in learning is to stay out of the way
Tiger
“Tiger parenting is parents who have extremely high expectation of their children and they can be unrelenting in ensuring that their children pursue excellence,” said Dr Justin.
Kevin and Debbie are all about the Tiger parenting style, where they hold their children to a very high standard in everything they do.
Strict
Strict parenting means running a tight ship in the house and having high demands and solid rules in place.
Taking on the Strict parenting style are Andrew and Miriam, who believe in smacking with a wooden spoon as a last resort after multiple warnings.
For them it’s about immediate correction and learning.
French
“French parenting is all about encouraging children to fit into an adult world. It’s about raising children who are independent and critical thinkers,” Dr Justin said.
On the series, Yann and Donna show what the French parenting style is all about – which is to raise a resilient child.
Disciplined
Disciplined parents set expectations, boundaries, and guidelines for their children and they expect them to be followed.
Rob and Sioux are the Disciplined parents, and they are highly structured, have big goals, and also have consequences in their house.
Parental Guidance airs Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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