BABY PROJECT – WORKING WITH BABIES TO INCREASE EMPATHY

Description

This radical way of building empathy is inspired by the work of the ‘Roots of Empathy’ organisation in Canada. Roots of Empathy (ROE) is dedicated to building caring and peaceful societies through the development of empathy in children. It is a parenting education programme for elementary school students (between the ages of 3 to 14 years) based on monthly visits to the classroom by a parent and infant from the school neighbourhood.

Behaviour and Relationships

Autism and Communication

Meeting emotional needs

This radical way of building empathy is inspired by the work of the ‘Roots of Empathy’ organisation in Canada.

As Mary Gordon founder of this way of working describes:

‘By regular visits to the classroom of local mums and their children build an empathic relationship with the baby.MARY GORDON

Roots of Empathy (ROE) is dedicated to building caring and peaceful societies through the development of empathy in children. It is a parenting education program for elementary school students (between the ages of 3 to 14 years) based on monthly visits to the classroom by a parent and infant from the school neighbourhood.

We teach teachers and educators to help children to observe, over the school year, how their baby forms an attachment to his or her parent. Children are encouraged to record how the infants develop. The children learn to spot their babies cues and unique temperament, while celebrating developmental milestones. Children are prepared for responsible and responsive parenting as they increase their knowledge about human development, learning, and infant safety.

The baby project program brings about the development of empathy and emotional literacy:

‘13% increase in empathy scores for our year 1s’

‘Years 2s empathy had increased by 35%’

‘Now that I am older I can be happy for other people’ (6 year old)

‘Everyone is special – thats the truth – but when I was small I thought its not fair when someone got a present and I didn’t’ (7 year old)

Dramatic improvements in children taking responsibility for actions and being less defiant over the year of the project.