Kimochis for Social Emotional Development

What do parents want most for their children? According to a survey, happiness came out top for most countries. Even if it wasn’t the top, it was a close second. The problem with that, as Jennifer Senior so rightly expressed, is that happiness is a very high bar and much of the advice on raising happy kids warns us that

A Lesson in Perspective Taking

In her book Mind in the Making, Ellen Gallinsky highlights the importance of “perspective taking” one of the seven essential life skills that all children need to be taught. I read a story recently that highlighted this important lesson… A Man Pushed His Wife to Save Himself from a Sinking Ship A cruise ship met with an accident

Emotional Intelligence: Children Need Empathy to be Successful

We have always believed that education should not only be about filling a child’s head with information but to develop the whole child – heart, mind and body. The more we pursue this aspiration, the more evident it becomes that everything is interconnected. Empathy, for instance, may seem to be merely a moral skill that is nice for

Parenting with Empathy – Getting Past the Trying Behaviours

Aristotle was a difficult baby and toddler but once he passed the three year old mark, I found that he became a lot easier to handle. I could understand him and I knew how to handle him. Although he sometimes pushes my hot buttons, he is generally really pleasant to have around. He’s the kind

How to Raise a Happy Child

I think it goes without saying that most parents want their children to be happy. If we could protect our children from all the unhappiness in the world, I’m sure we would. Unfortunately, we can’t. Thankfully, there are things we can do to increase their chances for overall happiness in life. Well, according to the