How I can raise a happy child

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How I can raise a happy child

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I'm often asked how a parent can raise a happy child today, as though happiness is a constant in any individual's life. And so I think we have to have perspective. We have to celebrate those joyful moments in our lives, and we have to name them. We have to ask our children when they come home every day, what was the best part of your day? And dwell on that, rather than expecting them to have been happy for the entire day. We also need to ask children what they're thankful for, because that gives them the perspective to understand that happiness is not a constant in anyone's life. We want our children to grow up and be good people. We want them to grow up and be successful, to find meaningful work and meaningful relationships. And we want them to strive for happiness, because in striving for happiness, there will be more happy than sad moments in a well-balanced life. But happiness is something that is not given. It is something that we take from life. And so it's very important that at different times we struggle for the happiness that we want to achieve and experience in our lives. And then at other times when we are happy, we celebrate it and go out of our way to find ways to make other people happy too.

Watch Reveta Bowers's video on How I can raise a happy child...

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Reveta Bowers

Head of School

Now starting her forty-second year, Reveta Bowers is the Head of School at The Center for Early Education, an urban pre-school through 6th grade Los Angeles independent school with 538 students. Devoted to children and education, Ms. Bowers served and has served on a number of boards. She is currently on Board of Overseers of the UCLA Healthcare System, on the founding board of the African American Board Leadership Institute and the board of the FEDCO Charitable Foundation. She just completed serving as Chair Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the California Community Foundation. A past president and former secretary of The Educational Records Bureau Board, Reveta Bowers was also a member of the Advisory Board to the Klingenstein Center at Teacher’s College for ten years. She served as an outside director on the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Company for ten years and is a former member of the Harvard-Westlake, Brentwood and Windward School boards. Reveta was on the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education board, and the boards of the National Association of Principals of Schools for Girls and the Country Day Headmaster’s Association. She served as a trustee and treasurer of the NAIS Board, and as past president of the California Association of Independent Schools. For the past thirteen years she has also been on the faculty of the NAIS Institute for New Heads where she serves as the Lead Faculty member. One of her proudest career moments was receiving the NAIS Diversity Leadership Award in 2009. She has had a long and rewarding career in independent schools and finds her work with organizations supporting education, students, parents, community and Board work to be continually inspiring.

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