The title of this essay is from a book by Thomas Lickona of the same name.  Raising a good child is perhaps the most challenging and rewarding activity in life.  Parents see a child go through dramatic changes from year to year and sometimes from moment to moment.  Psychologists and educators give us a framework of child development that can enable us to understand that there are stages of moral reasoning and moral behavior. 

From a biblical perspective, each person is created in the image of God and has great potential for love, reason, and creativity. From a secular point of view each person has, in potential, the same nature. Psychologists speak of the 24 strengths in each person that can be developed by taking responsibility to cultivate those strengths. These are often the virtues described by the Judeo-Christian worldview: prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude (courage).

While preparing for our wedding, we [Josiah and Sandra Larson] discussed possible ideas for our honeymoon. Separately, we had talked about traveling, possibly for work or for volunteering internationally. With nursing and engineering as our professions, we were looking into how we could offer our skills to another community.

For me, one of the core values of Unificationism is transcending differences. It doesn’t mean we don’t have clear beliefs and ideals of our own. It means we continue to value, respect and love others who may be different from ourselves. It means we actively find ways to connect with “the other” and work together with “the other” until there is no longer a feeling of “otherness.” This may be just my interpretation, but I believe in it strongly.

The World Summit 2020 Assembly, which was sponsored by UPF, took place February 3-8, 2020, in Seoul, Korea.  The summit was aimed at addressing critical challenges facing humanity, from climate change to poverty and conflict, bringing together a wide range of experts and stakeholders to deliberate collaboratively, offering insights and recommendations that contribute to building a world of lasting peace. 

Although The Principled Academy aspires to be the character education school of the Bay Area, we do not overlook the importance of a core curriculum.  There is significant knowledge that students must learn from preschool through middle school.  

In recent blogs I have written about the 24 strengths, or capacities for virtue, as explained by 
studies in positive psychology.  In addition, I explained how the practice of mindfulness allows us to 
attend to our awareness in the present moment.  In Hardwiring Happiness, Rick Hansen explains how 
the experience of positive moments of beauty, goodness, and love, for the self and the other, develop 
the brain.  It has the ability to seize upon these moments and develop pathways, that allow for further positive experience.  The brain grows throughout our life. 
 

More than 7,000 people, including former and current leaders from 171 countries, religious leaders, businessmen, and Nobel Laureates, have joined together to seek human happiness and lasting peace in the world.

As parents and teachers, we know when students do well in their activities and when they struggle. Our job is to raise healthy, happy, intelligent, and compassionate young people. To do this we need to know something about those in our care.

Winter Wonderland Weekend! Every year our community looks forward to the opportunity to go enjoy the snow together at the Boreal Mountain Ski Resort. We had a wonderful weekend with 47 people attending: 30 high schoolers, 11 young adults, and 6 parents! Most came to ski and snowboard, but also some came to just enjoy the snow and good company. It was great to celebrate True Heavenly Parent’s Day out in the beautiful creation. It brings God a lot of joy seeing his children having fun and appreciating nature!