How to Become a Life Coach for Kids: The Real Answer

Here is how to become a life coach for kids: pick one age band (8 to 12 is the easiest place to start), get a criminal record check, write a one-page safeguarding policy and parent agreement, decide where coaching stops and therapy starts, then run one small group before you pay for any training. No license is needed to coach children in most places, but parents and schools will expect a background check and real experience with kids. Should you? Yes, if you already know how to be with children, you are happy to sell to parents and schools rather than to kids, and you will treat safeguarding as seriously as a teacher would. Not yet, if you mainly want to "fix" anxious children, have never spent regular time with this age group, or need a full income within a few months.

Most of what follows is the stuff people only learn after their first year: who actually pays, what checks you need, how to run a program a ten-year-old will stick with, and how to try the whole thing for very little money before you quit anything. Once you do start, you will need somewhere to keep bookings, payments, parent agreements and each family's progress, and that is where Coachful comes in later in this guide. It is the software we make, and it runs the practice; it does not answer whether you should do this work. Only you can answer that, and the self-check further down is built to help.

Is "life coach for kids" a real job, or just a nice idea?

It is a real job, but it rarely looks like adult life coaching scaled down. Most people who do this well build a small practice around one or two concrete problems that parents will pay to solve: a child who freezes before tests, a child who can't start homework without a fight, a child who is new to a school and has no friends yet, or a child whose confidence collapsed after a hard year.

The children themselves almost never search for a coach. Parents do, usually after a teacher has mentioned something at a conference or after a third tearful Sunday night. That means you are really building two relationships at once. The child needs to like you and feel safe enough to try something new. The parent needs to trust you, understand what you will and will not do, and see small, visible changes at home.

The coaches who last tend to describe their work in plain outcomes rather than labels. "I help 8 to 12 year olds who get stuck on worry build three tools they can use on their own" is a sentence a parent can act on. "Holistic youth wellbeing coaching" is not. If you can already write your own version of the first sentence, you are further along than you think. If you are still working out what kind of coaching suits you at all, the broader guide on whether you should become a life coach is a good place to start before narrowing to children.

Who actually pays a kids' life coach: parents or schools?

Parents pay in most private practices, and schools or community organisations pay for group work. Knowing which one you are selling to changes your price, your schedule and how you talk about results.

Parents buy one-to-one packages or small-group programs. They want to know three things before they hand over money: is my child safe with you, what exactly will you do in the sessions, and how will I know it is working. Your sales conversation is with the adult, not the child, and the best ones end with the parent feeling included rather than replaced. Expect most sessions to happen after school, on weekend mornings, or in a short evening slot online, which limits how many families you can see each week.

Schools usually buy something else: a lunchtime or after-school group, a workshop for a year group, or a talk for parents. Decisions sit with a head teacher, a counsellor, a family liaison or a parent-teacher association, and budgets are often set months ahead. School work tends to pay per session or per term rather than per child, and it brings visibility you cannot buy: dozens of parents hear your name from someone they already trust.

Other payers exist but are less common: youth sports clubs that want a mindset session for a team, summer camps, homeschool co-ops, faith groups and libraries. They are useful testing grounds even when the fee is small, because you learn how groups of children respond to your material.

One practical consequence: the parent is your client in a contract sense, and the child is your client in a coaching sense. Write that down in your agreement. It will save you from awkward moments later, especially around what you share with parents and what stays between you and the child.

The first call with a parent sets the tone for everything after it. Keep it to 20 minutes, talk to the parent alone, and cover the same ground every time:

"Tell me what made you reach out now. What does a hard day look like at home, and at school?"
"Has anyone else been involved, like a teacher, the school counsellor or your doctor?"
"Here is what I do: we practise a few skills each week, I share themes and progress with you, and anything that sounds like a health problem I will tell you straight away, because that needs a doctor or therapist, not me."
"If it seems like a fit, the next step is one session with your child so they can decide whether they like working with me."

That third line does a lot of work. It tells the parent you know your limits before they have to ask, and it gives you a clean way to refer if the answers to the first two questions point to something clinical.

Do you need a certification or license to coach children?

Coaching is generally not a licensed profession, so there is usually no state or national license required to call yourself a life coach for kids. What you do need is a clear sense of what you are qualified to do, and the trust signals parents and schools look for.

A coaching credential is optional but helps. Many coaches train through a program accredited by the International Coaching Federation and work toward an ICF credential; the steps and hour requirements are laid out in our guide on how to become a certified life coach, and the honest case for starting without one is in how to become a life coach without certification. For child work specifically, schools and parents often care more about your background with children than about a coaching certificate. A former teacher, teaching assistant, youth worker, sports coach or scout leader starts with credibility a general coaching certificate cannot give.

Watch the words you use. Titles such as "psychologist", "licensed counselor" and some therapy titles are restricted by law in US states and in the UK, and all of them suggest clinical training to a parent. Do not describe yourself in any way that suggests clinical training you do not hold. The SBA also reminds every small business that most need a combination of licenses and permits depending on activity and location, so check your city and state for a general business license even though coaching itself is not licensed.

If you are deciding what to study, child development and positive psychology courses at a community college or university are more useful here than another generic certificate. The guide on what to study to become a life coach covers the options in more depth.

What background checks and safeguarding do you actually need?

You need a current criminal record check, a written safeguarding policy, and session rules that keep you and the child visible at all times. None of this is optional in practice, even where the law does not spell it out for self-employed coaches.

In England and Wales, the government's guidance is unusually specific about people in your position. If a family hires a self-employed person to deliver services to them or a family member, the family "cannot request a DBS check" for them; the self-employed person has to request one for themselves and the family checks the certificate. GOV.UK lists four levels: a basic check showing unspent convictions, a standard check, an enhanced check that adds relevant local police information, and an enhanced check with barred lists. A DBS check "has no official expiry date", and it does not cover time spent living outside the UK. See Check someone's criminal record on GOV.UK, as listed in November 2026.

The same page says people applying for a role can "sometimes" request an enhanced check for themselves, so which level you can get depends on the work; ask DBS directly if you are unsure. If you join the DBS update service, families and schools can check online that your certificate is still current. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own checking schemes, so use those if you work there.

In the US, there is no single national check for self-employed coaches. Schools, districts, camps and youth organisations usually run their own fingerprint or background checks on anyone who works with students, and you should expect to go through them before any school partnership. For private clients, many coaches order a background check on themselves and share the result with parents on request. Rules differ by state, so check with your state and with any school you plan to work with.

Elsewhere, most countries have an equivalent check for people working with children. Search your government's site for "working with children check" or "criminal record certificate" before you take your first client.

The policy matters as much as the check. A good one-page safeguarding policy for a kids' coach covers at least these points:

• Visibility. In-person sessions happen in a shared or visible space: a library corner, a school room with the door open, a family's kitchen table with a parent in the house. Online sessions happen with a parent at home and the camera in a shared room, never a bedroom.
• Communication. All messages go through a parent's account or include a parent. No private social media contact with children.
• Consent. Written parental consent before the first session, plus the child's own agreement in words they understand.
• Confidentiality and its limits. What the child says stays private, except when you are worried about their safety. Tell both the parent and the child this at the start.
• Reporting. Who you will contact if you are worried a child is being harmed. Rules on who must report and how vary by state and country. In some US states every adult is legally required to report suspected abuse; in others the duty falls on named professions. Learn yours before your first client and write the steps down.
• Records. What you write down, where it is stored, who can see it and when it is deleted.

Sooner or later a child will tell you something that worries you. Decide now what you will do, because you will not think clearly in the moment. The basics taught on most safeguarding courses:

• Stay calm and listen. Let the child talk. Do not ask leading questions or try to find out more; investigating is not your job.
• Never promise to keep it secret. Say something like: "Thank you for telling me. You did the right thing. I can't keep this just between us, because I need to help keep you safe, so I'm going to talk to someone whose job is to help."
• Write it down the same day, in the child's own words, with the date and time. Note what you saw and heard, not what you think it means.
• Report it, the same day. If a child is in immediate danger, call 911 in the US or 999 in the UK. Otherwise contact your local child protection service (in the US, your state's child abuse hotline; in the UK, the local council's children's services). If you are unsure, the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-422-4453) in the US and the NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) in the UK advise adults who are worried about a child.
• Be careful who you tell. If the worry involves someone at home, ask the authorities before you tell the parent.

A one-day safeguarding or child protection course, the kind youth clubs and sports bodies run for volunteers, is the best training money a new kids' coach can spend. It is usually cheaper than a single coaching module, and schools will ask whether you have done one.

Insurance belongs in the same conversation. The SBA describes professional liability insurance as cover for "businesses that provide services to customers" that "protects against financial loss as a result of malpractice, errors, and negligence" (SBA, Get business insurance). Ask any insurer specifically whether a policy covers work with minors, since a policy can exclude it, limit it or price it differently.

Where does coaching stop and child therapy begin?

Coaching helps a basically well child build skills and habits; it does not diagnose or treat anxiety, depression, ADHD, eating problems or anything else. When a child's struggles look like a health problem, your job is to say so to the parent and step back, not to coach harder.

The National Institute of Mental Health puts the threshold in plain language: if behavioural signs "last weeks or months" and "interfere with the child's daily life at home and at school, or with friends", the family "should contact a health professional." For younger children, NIMH lists signs such as frequent tantrums or intense irritability, often seeming fearful or worried, frequent stomachaches or headaches with no known medical cause, sleep problems, difficulty making friends, a recent decline in grades, and repeating actions out of fear that something bad may happen. For older children, the list adds losing interest in things they enjoyed, withdrawing from friends and family, dieting or exercising excessively, self-harm, substance use and thoughts of suicide (NIMH, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, as listed in November 2026).

Put a short version of this in your parent agreement and in your intake form. Say clearly that coaching is not therapy, medical care or educational assessment, and that you will recommend the family speak to their pediatrician, family doctor or school counsellor if you notice signs like these. If a child talks about wanting to die or hurting themselves, tell the parent the same day, and if there is immediate danger call 911 in the US or 999 in the UK. In the US, the family can also call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. In the UK, children can call Childline free on 0800 1111, and adults can call Samaritans on 116 123. Elsewhere, look up your local emergency and crisis numbers before your first session and keep them in your notes.

Many kids' coaches work well alongside therapists rather than instead of them. A child in therapy for anxiety might also join your study-skills group, with the parents' and therapist's agreement. That kind of referral relationship takes time to build and starts with you being clear about your limits. If you are weighing the two careers, should I become a therapist or a life coach lays out the training, scope and cost of each.

What does coaching a 10-year-old actually look like?

It looks more like a short, playful workshop than a conversation on a couch. Children between 8 and 12 can set simple goals, name feelings and practise new habits, but they need things they can see, hold and repeat.

A few formats tend to work for this age group:

• Six-week small groups of four to eight children, each week built around one skill: naming a worry, breaking a big task into steps, asking for help, bouncing back from a mistake, making a plan for a hard moment. The group itself does a lot of the work, because children learn quickly that other kids feel the same way.
• One-to-one packages of six to eight sessions, 30 to 45 minutes each, with a short parent check-in at the start or end. Sessions longer than that tend to lose a child's attention.
• A parent workshop that runs alongside the child's program, so the language you use with the child ("What's your worry thermometer at right now?") gets used at home too.
• Tiny between-session habits: a two-minute breathing game before school, a "three good things" note at dinner, a sticker for every homework start without arguing. The habit matters more than the session.

Visual tools carry most of the load: feelings cards, goal ladders, a worry thermometer, a simple version of the wheel of life with areas like friends, school, family, fun and body. Keep written homework light. A ten-year-old will do a sticker chart; they will not fill in a reflection journal.

Programs for this age should end with something the child can show a parent: a plan card, a "my toolkit" page, a photo of a goal ladder they finished. That gives the parent proof of progress and gives the child something to be proud of.

Here is one way to lay out a six-week group for 8 to 12 year olds. Treat it as a starting template to adapt, not a tested curriculum:

A 45-minute session for this group can run the same way every week, which children find reassuring: 5 minutes of arrival and a check-in round ("thumbs up, sideways or down"), 10 minutes of a game that introduces the skill, 15 minutes of practice in pairs, 10 minutes making something to take home, and 5 minutes of each child saying one thing they will try. Parents get a two-minute summary at pickup with the week's home habit.

How much can you charge, and what does the money really look like?

There is no reliable public pay data for kids' life coaches specifically, so treat any number you see online with caution and build your price from your own costs and the families in your area. The table below is an illustrative example, not a forecast, to show how the math works.

Start with what it costs to be in business, then work out what a realistic number of families would bring in. Remember that weekday slots after school are limited, so a kids' practice has a lower ceiling on one-to-one hours than an adult practice.

Every figure above except the Coachful line is an illustrative example chosen to show the arithmetic. Your real numbers depend on your area, your background and what families nearby already pay for tutoring, sports coaching and music lessons, which are the most useful comparisons. If a local tutor charges a certain hourly rate, parents will use that as their mental benchmark for you.

The arithmetic also shows why many kids' coaches lean on groups. In the example, the group fee works out at $40 per child per session, so one 45-minute session with six children brings in $240, against $90 for a one-to-one session of about the same length. Children often do better alongside peers, too. The trade-off is real: more preparation, a room to book, more parents to keep informed and less time for any one child.

Taxes come off the top. In the US, the IRS says you must pay self-employment tax and file Schedule SE if net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more, and the rate is 15.3% (IRS, Self-employment tax). Check with an accountant for your own situation. The fuller picture of startup costs is in how much it costs to become a life coach, and setting up as a sole trader is covered in how to become a self-employed life coach.

One warning about money claims. If you ever see a training program promising that coaching kids will replace your salary in 90 days, the FTC's consumer guidance is blunt: "If it promises guaranteed income, large returns, or a 'proven system,' it's likely a scam" (FTC Consumer Advice). That applies to what you buy and to what you say when you later sell to parents.

What does the path look like in practice? An illustrative composite

This is an illustrative composite, not a real person or customer. It combines patterns that are common among people who move into coaching children.

Maya taught fourth grade for eleven years. She loved the children and was worn out by everything else. She noticed that the part of her job she missed most on holidays was the ten-minute conversations with kids who were stuck: the boy who would not start a writing task, the girl who cried before every spelling test. She got a background check, wrote a one-page safeguarding policy, and then ran a free six-week "worry tools" group at her local library on Saturday mornings, with a parent signing each child in and staying in the building.

Eight children came to the first week; six finished. Two parents asked if she did one-to-one sessions. She turned her sign-up form into a proper parent agreement, asked her insurer about cover for minors, and charged a modest introductory price for a six-session package. By the end of her first school year she had three private families, one paid term of lunchtime groups at a nearby school, and a clear sense that she wanted to keep teaching part time for at least another year while the practice grew. She did not quit; she reduced her hours.

The useful lesson is the order: test with a group, listen to what parents ask for, then build the paid offer they described.

How do you find your first families without being creepy online?

Start offline and through adults. The most reliable early sources for a kids' coach are other parents, teachers, school staff, pediatric offices that allow flyers, and community spaces like libraries and youth clubs.

Some approaches that respect children and still bring in families:

• A free parent talk. Libraries, parent-teacher associations and community centres often host evening talks. "Helping your 8 to 12 year old with worry before tests" in one hour, with a sign-up sheet at the end, can fill your first group.
• School staff conversations. Ask a school counsellor or family liaison what they wish they had more time for. You are offering capacity, not criticism.
• Referral partners. Tutors, music teachers and youth sports coaches meet stressed kids every week. A short note explaining what you do and do not do makes it easy for them to recommend you.
• Parent-facing content. Write for parents, never for children. Short posts on how to talk about a hard test or how to help a child start homework show your approach.

Do not post identifiable photos, names or stories of child clients. Even with a parent's permission, a ten-year-old cannot really agree to appearing in your marketing, and that post can follow them for years. The FTC's Endorsement Guides say testimonials "must be honest and not misleading", and paid or related endorsers must be disclosed (FTC, Endorsement Guides). Parent quotes about what changed at home work far better than anything about the child, and they protect the family.

What about privacy, apps and children's data?

Collect as little about the child as you can, and route online tools through the parent. In the US, a federal rule called COPPA applies to websites and online services that collect personal information from children under 13.

The FTC's six-step COPPA compliance guide explains that you must comply if your website or online service is "directed to children under 13" and collects personal information from them, or if a general-audience service has "actual knowledge" that it collects personal information from children under 13. Personal information includes a first and last name, an email address, a phone number, a photo, video or audio file containing a child's image or voice, and persistent identifiers such as an IP address. Covered operators must post a compliant privacy policy, notify parents directly and get "verifiable parental consent" before collecting a child's information (FTC, COPPA six-step compliance plan, as listed in November 2026).

For a small kids' coaching practice, the practical habits follow from that:

• Market to parents and take bookings from parents. Your website and sign-up forms speak to adults.
• Put the parent's name and email on the account for any child under 13. The parent books, pays, signs and receives messages.
• Do not record sessions with children unless there is a clear reason, written parental consent and a deletion date.
• Keep session notes short and factual. Write what was practised and agreed, not your interpretation of the child's feelings.
• Outside the US, check your own country's data protection rules for children; in the UK that means UK GDPR, and in the EU the GDPR, both of which treat children's data with extra care.

If you are unsure whether a tool or form you plan to use counts as collecting from children, ask a lawyer before you launch. This is general information, not legal advice.

How do you test it cheaply before you commit?

Run one small, real group before you spend money on training, branding or a website. Six weeks of contact with children and their parents will tell you more than any course.

A low-cost test, in order:

1. Write one sentence describing who you help and what changes. Show it to five parents you know and watch their faces.
2. Get your background check and a one-page parent agreement before any child joins, even for a free group.
3. Book a free space: a library room, a community centre, a church hall, a school room after hours.
4. Run a six-week group for four to eight children with one skill per week, parents nearby, and a two-minute parent update at pickup.
5. Ask parents three questions at the end: what changed at home, what they would pay for next, and who else they know who needs this.
6. Offer one paid next step to the families who asked for more: a second group or a short one-to-one package.

Your total spend can stay very low: the check, printing, and perhaps insurance. If parents ask for more and children come back happily, you have your answer. If attendance drops and nobody asks what is next, that is useful too, and much cheaper to learn now than after an expensive certification. A short free call with each interested parent, using the questions from earlier, is the natural bridge from the test group to paid work.

What mistakes and myths trip up new kids' coaches?

Most problems come from treating children like small adults or treating parents like an afterthought. These are the ones that come up again and again.

• Myth: kids' coaching is easier than adult coaching. It is harder in some ways. You manage two relationships, shorter attention spans and a much higher standard of care.
• Mistake: promising outcomes. "Your child will stop being anxious" is a promise you cannot keep and a clinical claim you should not make. Promise the process: what you will practise and how you will report back.
• Mistake: sharing too much with parents. Agree at the start what you will share (themes, progress, safety concerns) and what stays private. Children stop talking if every word goes home.
• Mistake: running free groups with no end date. A free pilot is a test, not a service. Decide before week one how many weeks it runs and what the paid next step will be, and tell parents at sign-up.
• Myth: you need a children's coaching certificate to start. Your background with children, a background check and a sound policy matter more to parents than a specific badge.
• Mistake: coaching past your scope. If you see the NIMH warning signs described earlier, refer. Keep coaching only if a health professional and the parents agree it helps.
• Mistake: marketing to children. Speak to parents. It is safer, it fits privacy rules and it is who pays.

If you would like a group of other coaches to sanity-check your offer and parent agreement as you build, the Coachful Collective is a year-long program for building a coaching business, with weekly live group coaching calls, the step-by-step CLIMB curriculum, daily written feedback from the Coachful team in a private community of coaches, and a year of Coachful Pro included.

Is this a good fit for you? A self-check

Use this table honestly. Most people have a mix of both columns, and that is normal. If most of your answers sit in the right-hand column, you are not ruled out; you have a list of things to do first.

If you are mostly in the left column, run the six-week test group described above. If you are mostly in the right, spend the next few months closing the gaps: volunteer with a youth organisation, take a child development course, and talk to two or three people already coaching children.

What does the first year look like, month by month?

A realistic first year moves from one test group to a small, steady practice, usually alongside other work. The timings below are an illustrative path, not a promise; some people move faster, many move slower. For timelines across coaching in general, see how long it takes to become a life coach.

The broader step-by-step guide on how to become a life coach covers business setup in more depth. On structure, the SBA notes that a sole proprietorship is "a good choice for low-risk businesses and owners who want to test their business idea", while an LLC protects owners from personal liability "in most instances" (SBA, Choose a business structure). Working with minors raises the stakes, so this is worth a conversation with an accountant or attorney.

What does starting look like in Coachful?

Once you have tested the idea and have paying families, Coachful is where the practice runs: offers, booking, payments, agreements, programs and progress in one place. We make Coachful, so weigh what follows with that in mind.

Coachful is a coaching platform built for coaches who deliver programs, not just sessions. One membership covers booking, payments, contracts, program delivery with habits and check-ins, courses, a community, a website with funnels and email, and an AI assistant. The coach has one login and the client gets one branded app. It is not a clinical system: it is not HIPAA-certified and is not meant for clinical records or insurance billing, which fits a kids' coach who keeps notes short and refers clinical concerns elsewhere.

Your offer. A kids' coach usually needs three offers: a six-week group, a one-to-one package and a parent workshop. Each one lives on the Offers page with a cover image, who it is for, what is included, the price and a link to share.

Booking and payments. Parents book from a booking page with your availability rules, buffers and minimum notice, and their time zone is detected for online sessions. Calendars sync both ways with Google, Apple and Outlook, and sessions can use built-in video or auto-created Zoom, Meet or Teams links. Payments go through your own Stripe or Razorpay account, with one-time payments, payment plans and session credits, and Coachful charges no platform fee on top of processing. You can add intake questions to the booking itself, which is a good place to ask the parent about the child's age, school year and what prompted the call. A free 20-minute parent call and a paid session can sit side by side as separate session types.

Agreements. Coaching agreements with e-signature go out before the first call and are stored on the client record. Your parent agreement, with its scope line, confidentiality limits and safeguarding points, can be signed before a child ever joins a session. More on that in coaching contracts.

Programs. Multi-week programs hold weekly goals, daily tasks, habits and morning or evening check-ins, with progress bars and streaks. For the six-week group above, each week's skill becomes that week's goal, and the home habit becomes a daily task the family ticks off. Cohort groups are created automatically when families enrol. See coaching program software and group coaching software for the detail.

The client app. Clients use the Coachful app under your branding. For younger children, the practical setup is the one described in the privacy section: the parent holds the account and goes through the week's habits with the child at home.

Each family's record keeps goals, check-ins, habits, notes, intake answers, payments and sessions together, so you can see at a glance which families are engaged and which have gone quiet.

This short walkthrough shows how a program is built and delivered inside Coachful:

Why Coachful stands out: a free white-glove service. From Create, choose "We'll build it for you" and describe what you need: a website, a booking funnel for parent calls, a sales page for your six-week group, a program outline, an intake form or an email sequence for new families. You can attach up to 8 reference links and up to 10 files such as your logo, photos and your parent agreement draft. The Coachful team builds it inside your own account, usually within about 24 hours. Nothing is invented: no fake credentials, testimonials or prices, and gaps are left for you to fill. It does not include recording videos, logo design, ad management or ongoing marketing. The full details are in the free white-glove service guide.

What Coachful does not do. It has no PayPal, no permanent free plan, and the client app runs under the Coachful listing with your branding rather than in your own App Store account. To start, take a free trial, ask for the white-glove build, and set up your first offer. Plans are flat and monthly (Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients; Solo: $49/month for up to 20 clients; Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients; Studio: $199/month with unlimited clients). For more on how it fits life coaches in general, see Coachful for life coaches, and if your work leans toward confidence or attention, Coachful for confidence coaches and Coachful for ADHD coaches.

Frequently asked questions

Can I become a life coach for kids without a teaching background?

Yes, but you need regular, real experience with children of the age you plan to coach. Volunteering with a youth club, sports team, scouting group or after-school program for a few months gives you that experience and tells you whether you enjoy it. Parents will ask about it.

What age range should a kids' life coach focus on?

Many new coaches start with 8 to 12 year olds, because children at that age can set simple goals and practise skills while still being guided by parents. Younger children usually need more play-based support, and teenagers need a very different approach. Pick one band and design for it.

Do I need a DBS or background check to coach children?

In practice, yes. In England and Wales, a family hiring a self-employed person cannot request a DBS check for them; the self-employed person requests one and the family checks the certificate. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. In the US, schools and youth organisations usually run their own checks, and many private coaches get one on themselves to share with parents.

Can a life coach work with a child who has anxiety or ADHD?

A coach can help a child practise skills like planning, routines and coping tools, but cannot diagnose or treat anxiety, ADHD or any other condition. If a child has a diagnosis, coach only with the parents' agreement and ideally alongside the child's clinician. If you see warning signs that last weeks and affect daily life, refer the family to a health professional.

Should sessions with children be online or in person?

Both work. In-person sessions in a visible shared space are easier for younger children and for groups. Online sessions suit older children and busy families, as long as a parent is at home and the camera is in a shared room.

How do I get into schools as a kids' life coach?

Start with a conversation, not a pitch. Ask a counsellor, family liaison or parent-teacher association what they need help with, offer a parent talk or a short pilot group, and expect to go through the school's own background check. Schools plan budgets ahead, so a pilot this term often leads to paid work next term.

What should a parent agreement for kids' coaching include?

It should cover who the client is, what coaching is and is not, the scope line and when you will refer, confidentiality and its limits, your safeguarding rules, session format, fees, cancellations and how you store and delete records. Have a local lawyer review it, since rules vary by state and country.

What is Coachful's free white-glove service?

It is a build service included on every plan. You describe what you want, such as a website, a booking funnel, a program or an intake form, attach reference links and files, and the Coachful team builds it inside your account, usually within about 24 hours. It does not include video recording, logo design, ads or ongoing marketing.

How long before a kids' coaching practice pays a full income?

There is no reliable answer, and anyone who gives you a guaranteed timeline is guessing. After-school hours limit one-to-one capacity, so many kids' coaches combine private families, school work and parent workshops, and keep other income for at least the first year.