Makayla (age 4) from Revelstoke, BC, has shared her happiest Seeds of Empathy moment – when “her” baby crawled through a makeshift tunnel the children had made with the lavender blanket – in vibrant colour. It is a wonderfully thought-out expression of her happiness, complete with a rainbow of children’s faces around the blanket, representing humanity in all of its diversity.

 

 

 

 

 

Ana Rawlek of Little Moccasins Learning Centre in Williams Lake, British Columbia, shares this heartfelt moment, a beautiful example of how Seeds of Empathy helps little children find their own voice:

"We have a little boy in our class who speaks the traditional language of Chilcotin. He would never speak it in our centre though; we never heard him say a word. When we read the book Carry Me Mama he suddenly began to say some of the words in his language. We were all surprised! Then we were able to start asking him what some other words were in the stories we were reading to the children. Sometimes he would know and sometimes he would say, 'Oh, my Dad hasn't taught me that word yet'"!

 

In Seeds of Empathy, children learn to understand babies in ways that adults sometimes miss. Here is an example of children understanding how a baby’s unmet needs drives his or her emotions:

 

“During our Family Visit I asked our Seeds of Empathy parent ‘Do you still love Baby Emmersyn even when she is grumpy?’ Before mom was able to answer, three to four children said ‘yes’ or ‘of course.’ One boy said ‘Of course. She’s just having a problem.’” (Lily Schmidt, Normandeau Daycare, Red Deer, Alberta)

 

Emotional regulation is a very important life skill and is key to conflict resolution. In this story, a child learned to regulate anger after a Seeds of Empathy literacy circle:

"After reading No David I noticed how interested the kids were. I had the kids stand up, clench their fists, close their eyes, and take a couple of deep breaths. I told the kids, 'if you ever feel angry use this [technique].' We went outside and I was watching a child and I could tell he was getting angry at another child who was causing a problem. Instead of using his hands to hit the other child, he took a couple of steps back, closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and started taking deep breaths. He became calmer, and then he began to talk with the other child." (Mikhail Spektor, Stroum JCC Mercer Island Early Childhood Education Centre, Seattle, Washington)