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NEENAH - Need a little help on the parenting front? Maybe you need a coach.

We spent some time with a parent coach to see exactly how they help you become a better parent.

We traveled to Neenah to meet the Mueller family. Eight-year old Cameron read us a book, while his mom helped with the hard words. It's a scene she says wouldn't have happened a year ago.

"Cameron was struggling so much and he didn't want to do his homework and wasn't following directions," mom Kathleen Mueller told us.

"I think we were desperate, I think we were desperate he was failing and he lost a whole first year."

Cameron himself wasn't happy about school, because he had so much trouble reading and writing. "I was kind of happy but not happy, kind of nervous."

That's when Kathleen decided to enlist the help of a parent coach. Coaches help adults deal with their children's issues in a positive, proactive way. Kathleen admitted it was a tough call to make, though.

"We wanted to much for him and we wanted to set our boundaries, we needed to find out what we were doing wrong, I think that's the thing that is hardest for parents, they're failing their child and you don't want them do," she said emotionally.

Joy Wilds of West Bend is a certified parent coach. She's also a parent herself and a teacher with 20 years of experience under her belt. She explained to us how parent coaching works.

"Most athletes who want to achieve at a high level hire a coach to help them achieve and basically I'm the same thing, only I do it as it relates to parenting," Wilds put out the comparison. "Focusing on the foundation in the family that's positive, what's already working and building what they want from there."

Most families call her because they're not happy with the way they deal with family conflict, Wilds said.

"The most common theme is discipline. Having problems with their child not listening, talking back depending upon the age," she said.

But Wilds doesn't tell parents what to do. She makes suggestions and helps parents try new techniques to achieve what they want.

"It's kind of like we're on a road trip, but I'm not the driver, the parent is the driver, and I'm riding shotgun and I point out some signs along the way they might miss if I'm not riding shotgun," she explained.

Most sessions take place over the phone, and Wilds takes notes to record the weekly process.

The end result? Cameron is doing better in school, and his family is thrilled.

"The help encouraged me as a parent, I am doing something right and we saw the effects with him, and now looking back on the whole year it's amazing," Mueller said.

Wilds says she's no "Supernanny"-- and parent coaching means working with adults... not the kids.

She's also not a therapist, so she sometimes does refer families to other resources for help.

Her number one advice for parents: live it, don't just say it.

The cost of a parent coach varies, but most sessions last about an hour and cost $50-$100.