First of all, congratulations to all of you who have now signed up and paid dues for ValuesParenting and Joy School. It has been the biggest growth year ever, and there are so many more good things in store!

We know many of you are now busy recruiting the rest of the members for your Joy School group, and we know you are doing this carefully because these moms will be the other Joy School teachers for your child!

Be sure you get your new group members signed up soon so they can have the full benefit of Valuesparenting membership. As this school year progresses, you will notice ongoing improvements and additions to the site and to the benefits and parenting helps and programs available to members.

Please avoid the use of Joy School or other ValuesParenting materials or programs by anyone who is not a dues paying member. As you know, we operate like a coop, and it is vital that everyone pay their share.

We encourage you to visit Valuesparenting.com regularly so you will be aware of the latest updates and programs. One thing to look forward to later this school year is the faster, better version of Alexander’s Amazing Adventures, the remarkable sequel to Joy school and the best way we have ever found to help elementary age kids internalize values like honesty, respect, self-reliance, and “peaceability”. The new version will be easy to use on all devices and simple to play to kids in the car or any time you need it. As we write this, we are in Switzerland with our son and his wife and our delightful almost-4-year-old grandaughter who has been listening to Alexander’s Amazing Adventures non stop for the last three hours in the car as we drove beneath the majestic Alps.

We love you as fellow parents and are so honored to work with you in helping all our families to be happier and all our children to be more joy-oriented and more values-centric!

Best, Linda and Richard Eyre

There was such a large response to the give-away offer of the first edition of Teaching Children Joy that we ran out. (We had just enough to get one to those who signed up by September 9). So we have decided to offer another free book to those who sign up for Joy School between now and September 20. It is the first edition of the sequel, Teaching Children Responsibility.

A large percentage of Joy School families have older children in addition to their preschooler(s), and this is the book that was written for parents of elementary age kids.

So, until September 20, anyone and everyone who signs up for Joy School 2.0 becomes eligible to receive a free copy of Teaching Children Responsibility. Like the previous give-away, these books are prized first editions. They have exactly

the same content as the edition still available in bookstores and on Amazon, but this one, like the Teaching Joy first edition, has vintage photos of our children, including a cover photo of Josh, who is now the operations manager of valuesparenting.com.

It is simple to get this first edition of Teaching Children Responsibility. Just enroll in the new Joy School 2.0 by September 20, and you will receive an email with instructions on how to get your copy. Then all you will do is send us an envelope with the correct postage affixed, and we will sign and personalize your book and have it to you by October.

Although Joy School is built around social and emotional skills and not academics, that doesn’t mean that kids don’t need some basic academic preparation for Kindergarten. The new edition of the Kindergarten Readiness Supplement can now be ordered from the main order page, along with the two delightful Joy School Storybooks.

We recommend that every Joy School family have their own downloaded copy of Kindergarten Readiness which can be used at home and in the Joy School group. We also suggest that each family have the two beautiful Joy School Storybooks which contain at least one original, illustrated children’s story for each of the 12 unite of Joy School. In addition to using them in Joy School, the 24 stories (12 in each book) are awesome for bedtime stories in your own home.

If you have already done a year of Joy School, you may be thinking that what you want now is Joy School, Year 2. Actually though, we recommend that you do the new 2.0 version of Year 1 this year. It has so many refinements and additions that it will feel new to you and to your child. And it’s much easier to download and to teach.

So here are our recommendations:

If you are doing Joy School for the first time, or with a child who has never been in Joy School, definitely do the new (2.0) version of Year 1.

If you are doing Joy School with your 4 year old who has already had the old version of Year 1, do the new 2.0 version of Year 1. And supplement it with the Kindergarten Readiness supplement that is now available for order.

If you have a Joy School group that has some three year olds and some four year olds, and if some have already had a year of Joy School, still do the new 2.0 version of Year 1.

Then next year, when that 3 year old is 4, and when the year 2 lesson plans may have been improved and updated a bit, shift to Joy School year 2.

We love you as fellow parents!
Linda and Richard Eyre

There has been such a great response to the book give-away (see last post) that we have decided to extend it until Sept. 9. Anyone who signs up for Joy School 2.0 between now and midnight on Wednesday, September 9 will be added to the list of those who qualify to get a personalized, signed copy of the first edition of Teaching Children Joy as described in the blog post below.