Anyone who works with young children knows that they live in the moment. When they are happy, all they know is that they’re happy RIGHT NOW. So how do you teach the difference between short-term and long-term happiness to someone who lives in the moment? Beyond grasping the concept of long-term happiness, how do you teach the value of long-term happiness? Continue reading
Congressman Tim Ryan has been a force for the support of mindfulness in our military and schools and now he is expanding that support with the Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act. The act, co-sponsored by Congressman Dave Loebsack, Congressman Tom Petri and Congressman Matt Cartwright, amends the Elementary Education and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to allow funding for teacher and principal training and professional development to be used for social and emotional learning programming. “I have already seen what … Continue reading
“If there’s one thing we cannot say enough to our nation’s educators, it is THANK YOU.” – President Barack Obama Today, May 7, 2013, is Teacher Appreciation Day. At Project Happiness, we are so grateful to all of the teachers that work with Project Happiness! They are the backbone of all of our programs and they teach us so much about how we can improve the work that we do. Without our teachers, it would not be possible to have … Continue reading
Last year, students at the University of Southern California piloted a new program from Project Happiness called 7 Doors to Happiness. The program was created as a resource for adults to access their own happiness and to share it with others. One of the USC students, Mecca Moore, blogged about her experience with the 7 Doors to Happiness and asked if she could share it on our site. This year, this online course is once again being used at the … Continue reading
This week, Project Happiness founder Randy Taran sat down with Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector Education to discuss her work with Project Happiness. The video is part of Anthony’s Daily Edventures, a 365-day look at heroes in education. To learn more about Microsoft’s Daily Edventures, visit www.DailyEdventures.com
When Randy Taran’s eldest daughter was a teenager, she approached her mother with a very serious concern: she was stressed out, and while she wanted to be happy, she didn’t know how. Taran, heartbroken and unsure of how to respond to or guide her daughter, first sought the guidance of experts and soon ended up as a visionary leader in the happiness movement. Her pain as a bewildered parent ultimately led her to found the Palo-Alto-based nonprofit Project Happiness which, … Continue reading
We don’t want to change you—we want to inspire you and remind you that you can find out a lot about yourself and the choices you have. We’re not saying this handbook will definitely change your life—but it just might . . . if you allow it. Continue reading
An update on happychild.com.au’s Yvette Vignando: she managed to secure herself a visit with the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, during which she made her case for more Project-Happiness-type social and emotional learning in Australia’s schools. Go to http://ow.ly/1A292 to hear an interview about her visit with the prime minister on ABC Newcastle. We at Project Happiness are so grateful for her tireless work on behalf of Australia’s students — go, Yvette!
How are a resilient child and resilient flooring similar and how can Project Happiness help parents increase kids’ happiness and health. A blog advocating the ‘linoleum-ization’ of our children! Continue reading
So, no surprise that on Thanksgiving, as on any other day, I was caught up in the language of the occasion. In particular, I began wondering about the name of the holiday itself, Thanksgiving. Even someone without a degree in linguistics could tell you that it comes from giving thanks.[1] But the general public might not know how much complex appreciative action is hidden inside this humble noun (in addition the action of removing toddler-sized cranberry sauce prints from your … Continue reading
