Source Why do parents encourage their children to play baseball, soccer, or any other sport? Why, for years, did my husband drive our daughter Lucy to viola lessons? We know that most kids won’t grow up to go pro or make their living playing in an orchestra. Bill Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions at Harvard, tells me that most of the very serious athletes and musicians whom he admits each year develop new passions once they come to campus. So why, as a scientist, do I believe t

Source Joseph Daniel (J.D.) Unwin was a British ethnologist and social anthropologist at Oxford and Cambridge whose definitive work was the research he did with 80 primitive tribes and six known civilizations over a long period of time. The results of this research are penned in his 1934 book, Sex and Culture. What Unwin discovered was the link between cultural achievement and sexual restraint. According to Unwin, societies that practiced heterosexual monogamy were more succe

Source - Character Lab When you walk into the Character Lab office, the very first thing you’ll see are the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Intelligence plus character—that is the true goal of education.” The quote comes from an essay King published in the Morehouse College campus newspaper around his 18th birthday. King opens his argument with an observation: “I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education.” A common mistake, he sa

The good news about today’s youth: 7 positive trends show them behaving more virtuously than earlier generations Source: Good News Network Have teens gotten a bad rap in recent years? They are typically characterized as self-involved, reckless, and only interested in “sharing” on their phones, but the youth of today, in reality, are actually behaving more virtuously than they have in a long time. Statistics tell an optimistic story. From smoking and drug use to unwanted pregn

Contributed by Myrna Lapres Today, almost one-half the world’s population is 25 years old or younger. Ready or not, they will lead our world into the future. Members of Generation Y (Millennials born between 1984-2000) and Generation Z (Centennials born between 2001-2018) are hungry to change the world and as parents, teachers, and mentors, we can help them. Both generations are influenced by less than ideal parenting styles (overparenting, paranoid parenting, permissive pare

Source They improve kids’ behavior too! When children do household jobs, you—and they—get much more than clean dishes or a crumb-free floor. In her book The Good News About Bad Behavior: Why Kids Are Less Disciplined Than Ever—And What to Do About It, author Katherine Reynolds Lewis recommends chores as a big part of that “what to do” about kids’ behavior struggles and lack of discipline at home. “Children gain confidence and a sense of meaning when they’re responsible for wa

Credit to Turning Halloween Green When I first heard of the “trick or treat” phenomenon as an young adult newcomer to the USA, I was feeling uncomfortable to say the least. Once I had children of my own, as a family, we either left home or turned off all the lights in the front, and hid in the back bedroom not wanting to deal with this, to us, unpleasant and backwards ordeal and not wanting our children to be expose to it or eat candy. Then one year it was clear that our thre

Our students are encouraged to use their talents and passions for others and to contribute to making a better world. May the examples and stories on this site make you want to come back for more. Launched in 2001, Ambassadors for Peace® is the largest and most diverse network of peace leaders. They come from all walks of life representing many races, religions, nationalities, and cultures, and commit to: Stand on the common ground of universal moral principles, promoting reco

LearnStorm is Khan Academy's free, back-to-school program that gives teachers a powerful way to jump start the school year. By combining growth–mindset activities and lesson-aligned practice, LearnStorm drives mastery of core academic skills, motivates classrooms, and builds students’ confidence. Sign-ups open on August 13 and the programs kicks-off on September 4. Learn more at https://learnstorm.khanacademy.org/ Or Start Learning Now here. #mindset #homeschooling #personali

The GGS Positive Education model can be thought of as a road map of what people want for themselves, the students and their children. Good health, frequent positive emotions, supportive relationships, a sense of purpose and meaning, and moments of complete immersion and absorption – a life where a person uses their character strengths in ways that support the self and others, and that has flourishing at the heart. For more about the science behind this model, see the literatu

Beat childhood anxiety to raise happier, braver kids. We all want our kids to feel happy and carefree. But struggles with anxiety are a reality during childhood and more common than you may expect. One in eight children develop an anxiety disorder, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Building character strengths to combat these anxieties—such as resilience and bravery—provide an opportunity to grow stronger by overcoming challenges, which is an imp

Article Source In classrooms around America, hands go up every day with the question, “Is this for a grade?” But perhaps a more pressing question would be "what is a grade for?" Today, the grades on a child's report card reflect not only a grasp of academic subjects, but also a variety of other factors such as attendance and behavior. Do traditional grading systems tell us what we really want to know about a child's learning? What’s wrong with traditional grading? A lot, acco

There is so much out there to read. Recently I came across such an article in the Washington Post. I paused because it was about our schools. But I read on because of the content. Our schools have been struggling in the aftermath of No Child Left Behind. Our teachers are being required to cover an increasing amount of content and to boost scores on a rising number of standardized tests. This required content is primarily geared towards making sure children pass standardized t

Amishi Jha explains the benefits of mindfulness training in her talk “Taming Your Wandering Mind.” Dr. Amishi Jha has a Ph.D. from the University of California-Davis, post-doctoral training in brain imaging at Duke University, and was a faculty member at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania prior to her current post at the University of Miami. Her research focuses on the brain bases of attention, working memory, and mindfulness-based trainin

Illustration by Lucy Davey Article From the October 2017 issue of Live Happy magazine. Victor Palomares uses humor and hard-earned lessons to empower the next generation. “Because of you, I am alive.” Victor Palomares has heard this sentence more than once. As a motivational speaker for teens, a teacher and anti-bullying coach in Los Angeles, inspiring youth has become his personal mission. Kids call him “Mr. P.” He was only in kindergarten when he found out his father passed

This is not only a tribute to grandparents but a reminder of how valuable grandparents can be. #happiness #video #heart #character #motivation

Watch this 4 minute video on the education outcomes that matter most and rethinking STEM, produced by Pricewaterhouse Coopers on the education outcomes that matter most and the importance of re-thinking STEM THE BOOK: Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World A Groundbreaking Book on Innovation Education expert Tony Wagner and documentary filmmaker Robert Compton have teamed up to produce a powerful new book about developing an innovation-drive

Source of this article. The gap between the skills people learn and the skills people need is becoming more obvious, as traditional learning falls short of equipping students with the knowledge they need to thrive, according to the World Economic Forum report New Vision for Education: Fostering Social and Emotional Learning Through Technology. Today's job candidates must be able to collaborate, communicate and solve problems – skills developed mainly through social and emotio

Playing board games is an excellent way to build critical thinking skills and checkers is no exception. Playing checkers helps children to become better learners by flexing their “mental muscles” – as well as helping adults of all ages to keep agile minds. With so many board games available, why choose checkers? Here are 5 great reasons: Memory Recall There are so many potential moves in checkers it’s nearly impossible for a player to know them all. But, playing regularly ove

Give your children the independence to succeed and fail on their own terms. When I was a new mom, I met a couple I’ll call the Jacksons whose primary goal was to raise their children to become achievement-oriented adults. While this is a common wish for parents, the Jacksons had a fairly extreme way of going about it. When their son was less than a year old, the Jacksons initiated a family policy that no one was to give him anything; if he wanted something, he had to learn to