Geeky "7 Habits of Happy Kids"

Two friends of ours, a couple with four kids, suggested that we get this book to read with our children. It is "The 7 Habits of Happy Kids" by Sean Covey.

I have to say I am always a little skeptical about "self-help" sort of books but this book seemed very promising. So we went ahead and bought a copy and started reading it with the kids. It is a book for children but also parents that guides us through certain situations that inevitably arise in everyday life. It teaches kids how to handle the situation by presenting it through the lives of certain animal characters.

For example one "Healthy Habit" teaches that you should always do what you have to do first, then what you want to do. The character in this case is "Pokey Porcupine". He ends up failing his Friday spelling test because he gets distracted doing other things with his friends all week long, forgetting to study for his test.

What I find very useful about this book is that at the end of each tale there are questions for the children to answer concerning the story as well as giving practical ideas to children on how to apply these principles daily. For example, at the end of Pokey's story, it suggests that the child could try to do his/her chore before mom or dad asks him/her.

The mini-geeks love it because it gives the opportunity for conversation and we can all say what we think about the story and what we can learn from it. What amazed me is that it actually worked! The day after we read the "Put First Things First" story, the children remembered to do the dishes WITHOUT me asking! Hurray!