30 Books Every Teacher Should Read, Part 2
July 8, 2013
Cheri Meiners, author of the Learning to Get Along® series
28. The Optimistic Child
While writing an upcoming children’s book on resilience, I reread The Optimistic Child: A Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and Build Lifelong Resilience by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., who is a founder of the Positive Psychology movement. A few years ago I shared the concepts from the book with my own children. Seligman focuses on teaching optimism to children to help them learn to avoid depression and learned helplessness, with examples from school districts who have used it. I found useful information on changing automatic pessimism and boosting problem solving and social skills through learned optimism. The book is directed primarily toward school-age children, but includes a chapter for babies and toddlers.