Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based classroom program that has shown significant effect in reducing levels of aggression among school children while raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy.
Roots of Empathy's mission is to build caring, peaceful, and
civil societies through the development of empathy
in children and adults.
in children and adults.
We are very fortunate to be part of the second year of the Roots of Empathy program at Highview PS. Mrs. Carroll, an amazing EA with whom I worked last year is a certified Roots of Empathy (ROE) Instructor. We had a tremendous experience with our ROE baby last year and I was thrilled when we were able to arrange schedules so that Mrs. Carroll could deliver the program to us Kindergarten this year. Each Day 4, Mrs. Carroll will be with us for the last hour of the day. One week we will have a pre-visit lesson, the next a visit from our baby and her mom and then a post-visit lesson. This three week cycle continues until June.
Today, we had our first baby visit and the excitement was palpable. Baby Maya and her Mom came and we all settled around the big green blanket to learn if the predictions we made last week were true and to meet our newest little teacher. It was a magical moment when Mom went around with Maya and the children greeted their new teacher while singing the welcome song. They were mesmerized by her tinyness and not to mention her cuteness! Maya's sister is in our class which makes the experience all the more special.
We can't wait to watch her grow, celebrate her milestones and gain more and more empathy not only for Maya but for each other. If you would like more information about the Roots of Empathy program please check out their website at Roots of Empathy.
Maya's family has allowed us to post some pictures of her here on our blog and on our Twitter account.
Maya's family has allowed us to post some pictures of her here on our blog and on our Twitter account.
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| Maya and her Mom (and Mrs. Carroll!) |
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| Maya and Baby Aisha (our ROE doll) |
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| Comparing Maya to Aisha. Many of us predicted that our Baby Aisha doll would be the same size as Maya and we were pretty close! |
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| Tummy Time. She was pretty content! |
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| Seeing things from Maya's perspective... |
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| Predicting and measuring Maya's length using non-standard units. |
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| She was 8 blocks long! |
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| Mrs. Carroll showing Maya a book. First we showed the coloured side... |
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| ....then we showed her the black and white side. It captured her attention more than the coloured side! |
