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We hear a lot these days about giving children social skills, cultivating critical thinking, resilience, emotional intelligence and the like, but it all boils down to character — a concept neglected for much of the 20th century.

So Family Edge reader Blanca Reilly was excited to stumble upon a great academic article on this subject recently in the US journal Reclaiming Children and Youth (interesting title). In “Building Strengths of Character” Nansook Park, associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, reviews the literature in this field and describes a project he is involved in called Values In Action (VIA). continue to read »

Think humans are born selfish? Think again. Dacher Keltner reveals the compassionate side to human nature.

Humans are selfish. It’s so easy to say. The same goes for so many assertions that follow. Greed is good. Altruism is an illusion. Cooperation is for suckers. Competition is natural, war inevitable. The bad in human nature is stronger than the good. continue to read »

There is no such thing as a “perfect” parent though most of us try to be the best mom or dad we can be.  Just as we tend to model the parenting habits of our parents, our children too will model themselves based on who they see in us.  If we want our children to BE HAPPY we need to be Super-Models of Happiness and our kids will follow our lead. continue to read »

“First of all, what is emotional intelligence? I bet you’ve read some fancy definitions, and maybe even some of the academic articles trying to distinguish between emotions, feelings and moods. Part of emotional intelligence is what we could call “common sense.” So, some common sense definitions of emotional intelligence (EQ) would be understanding your emotions and those of others, being able to sense what’s going on, being able to manage your own emotional state (taking the information but not getting drowned in it), good reality-testing, and good communication skills. continue to read »

“Every kid has at least one dominant learning style, says Kristin Redington Bennett, Ph.D., assistant professor of education at Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, NC, and a mom of two. In addition to body smart (known as bodily/kinesthetic), common learning styles include word smart (linguistic/auditory), image smart (visual/spatial), and numbers smart (logical/mathematical). This “theory of multiple intelligences” was first proposed by Harvard professor Howard Gardner, Ph.D., in the 1980s and has become so accepted that today teachers often adapt classroom activities to the different learning styles. For example, a lesson on the Pilgrims might include building a model of the Mayflower, writing a play about the first Thanksgiving, drawing pictures, and making a historical timeline.” continue to read »

Posted by The Independent

• Wednesday, 6 January 2010 at 09:28 am

Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. For now that both government and opposition have embraced the happiness agenda, sceptical voices are warning that this marks a disturbing intrusion of the state into the private lives of citizens, and that, far from being benign, attempts to regulate the subjective states of citizens could have sinister implications. Well-being, once absent from political discourse, has become a contested issue at the very heart of it. continue to read »

By: Carol McGarrahan, Associate Editor, Carolina Parent

Smile and the world smiles back at you, the saying goes, and now a growing body of research supports the theory that positive attitudes and behaviors not only improve your sense of satisfaction with the world, but also have concrete and measurable effects on your health and well-being. And the good news: You don’t have to be a born optimist to reap these benefits. continue to read »

“Whether you are coping with a major loss or you are just fearful that one will come your way, there is no time better than the holidays to ponder the aspects of your life for which you are grateful. When we truly feel gratitude throughout our entire being, the world looks a little brighter and things tend to turn in our favor.” continue to read »

Social and Emotional learning builds character traits that provide kids with benefits that last a lifetime and lessons from Personal Growth and Positive Psychology can change the future and our kid’s lives.

From Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill and Samuel Clement Stone to Zig Zigler, Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Deepak Chopra and Dr. Wayne Dyer, the message about how to live a life without excuses, doubts, fears and to its absolute fullest has been blasted loud and clear for all of us to hear for a very long time. continue to read »

“Dr Jocelyn Dunphy-Blomfield is a senior lecturer in psychological medicine at Monash University who works in the area as a philosopher with conceptual issues. “I’d be inclined to think unhappiness is when life isn’t full and you feel things are lacking, or you can feel worse than that in suffering pain and anguish,” she said. “It’s when the pain and anguish get to the point that you can’t cope, or lead a reasonably full or functional life that you can be diagnosed as suffering depression in a clinical sense.” continue to read »