There's an interesting article in the NY Times today about a program that tries to increase empathy by bringing babies to the classroom. And it even increased empathy in the teachers!
My daughters' school uses this program. I recently commented about it over at a Blog about School; here's what I said.
"I think the only character education kids need at school are empathy-promoting programs and/or anti-bullying programs. ...[A]ll grade 2's at [our] school participate in something called Roots of Empathy, where a baby from the community is brought into the classroom on a monthly basis, along with its mother and some kind of facilitator/leader. The kids are allowed to play and interact with the baby, and they have discussions about the baby's development, and what s/he might be feeling/thinking at different times during the visit or at different points in his/her development. I am not opposed to this program, because the kids seem to love it, and they become very attached to "their" babies. (You can read about the program here (http://www.rootsofempathy.org/)"
When I brought home my 13 month old from China in 2002, I got such a kick out of watching people interact with my daughter. She had a serious case of CUTE, and could bring a smile to old grumpy men and spikey haired 20 somethings in equal measure. I could never see my daughter's face because I was pushing the stroller but the funniest incident was when a scowling teenager approached us on the sidewalk one day. His eyes shifted to the side and down towards her as he passed us and under his breath I distinctly heard "...cute.." and a half smile came to his face. She loved teenage boys as a baby and so she would turn around in her stroller and watch them walk away, smiling and waving at them. Boys on skateboards were even more fascinating.
My daughters' school uses this program. I recently commented about it over at a Blog about School; here's what I said.
ReplyDelete"I think the only character education kids need at school are empathy-promoting programs and/or anti-bullying programs. ...[A]ll grade 2's at [our] school participate in something called Roots of Empathy, where a baby from the community is brought into the classroom on a monthly basis, along with its mother and some kind of facilitator/leader. The kids are allowed to play and interact with the baby, and they have discussions about the baby's development, and what s/he might be feeling/thinking at different times during the visit or at different points in his/her development. I am not opposed to this program, because the kids seem to love it, and they become very attached to "their" babies. (You can read about the program here (http://www.rootsofempathy.org/)"
From PsychMom:
ReplyDeleteWhen I brought home my 13 month old from China in 2002, I got such a kick out of watching people interact with my daughter. She had a serious case of CUTE, and could bring a smile to old grumpy men and spikey haired 20 somethings in equal measure. I could never see my daughter's face because I was pushing the stroller but the funniest incident was when a scowling teenager approached us on the sidewalk one day. His eyes shifted to the side and down towards her as he passed us and under his breath I distinctly heard "...cute.." and a half smile came to his face. She loved teenage boys as a baby and so she would turn around in her stroller and watch them walk away, smiling and waving at them. Boys on skateboards were even more fascinating.