Authentic Happiness is the first book to examine the mechanisms by which mentally healthy people become happy, and how happy people become very happy. Martin E. Seligman is the international leader of the Positive Psychology Movement. His first trade book, the international bestseller Learned Optimism greatly influenced the way people thought about mental health by bringing the concepts of cognitive psychology to a mass audience. Read full article
Step into Anna Kearney’s third grade classroom, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, California, and you will see amongst the usual colourful art projects, a row of plastic cups stapled to the wall. There are ten numbered cups in all and they are part of Self Science, a social and emotional education curriculum developed by 6 Seconds ... Time spent on Self Science has not detracted from other academic learning, says Kearney, but instead has enhanced learning across the board. Read full article
“…if I could ask any child what they would like in the world I would definitely ask it. I think it would be interesting to find out what everyone’s ideas are. What they want…” (14-year old girl). When we are asked what we want most for our children, most of us will answer “happiness”. Asking children about what contributes to their feelings of wellbeing reveals some insightful answers to how we can provide that happy life. A study, conducted by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People and published in 2007, highlighted the importance of adults using parenting and educational practices that promote children’s emotional and social well-being. Read full article
"Mummy, I’m sad,’" my three-year-old said to me. "What’s making you feel sad?’" I sat down next to her and asked. ‘Ummm,’ she said, and I could see the confusion in her eyes as she tried to find the words to answer. Despite her knowledge of hundreds of words, and her almost constant state of conversation, you realise how limited a child’s speech is in moments like these ... Happiness is the current obsession with my daughter ... Read full article
Tal Ben Shahar, expert on positive psychology and best selling author of Happier and Being Happy shares 5 simple but powerful ideas in this quick video about ways to be happier right now. These ideas can be shared with your children and also included in your everyday parenting approaches. Inspiring. Read full article
There are many examples of individual schools in the United States, the UK and even in Australia, that deliver emotional intelligence curriculum to students simply because they have been fortunate enough to have the human and financial resources (and sometimes support from a University). This video example (is a) reminder of how and why a school uses emotional literacy to improve educational outcomes and the school environment. Read full article
Interviews with children about how they view their lives and the world around them. Elizabeth Gould, conducted wide-ranging interviews and now tells the children's stories and reveals four distinct patterns of how these happy children think. Even though these happy children face all the usual ups and downs of childhood, including bullying and family issues, they have found a way to be happy and stay happy. Read full article
One of the main reasons I changed careers (from lawyer to executive coaching and now parenting publishing) was because I became a parent. I loved many things about being a lawyer, but there were a few other things pressing on my mind and heart ...I read Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence, Why It Can Matter More than IQ and felt instantly that the ideas in that book represented the path to what I wanted most for our children: happiness and fulfilment, people to love them and people for them to love. Read full article
An open letter via video from parent of three boys, emotional intelligence expert and parenting publisher Yvette Vignando - asking for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Education Peter Garrett to take action on including a quality social and emotional learning program in the Australian National Curriculum. Read full article
I like reading articles and research about what makes people happy. I read them with a critical eye for over-the-top advice that no-one could use and try to find things that are practical and sound like common sense....A Harvard professor, Tal Ben Shahar’s class on happiness was apparently the most popular on campus. No wonder – who doesn’t want to know more about that? Read full article
