News outlet Ha-Shilth-Sa visits a Roots of Empathy program at Haahuupayak Elementary School:
Nicole Rollans, an aboriginal infant development worker with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, said the importance of the program is how it helps children understand the common emotions everyone shares.
“The baby is the teacher. The central important role of Roots of Empathy is that infant and how they interact with their mother in their first year of life,” she said. “We’re helping children to connect not only with understanding the infant-parent bond, which is so important in that first year of life, but also understanding the connection that we all have together.”
“How a mother would care for their child is how we would think about our friends,” added Carly Denning, a kindergarten teacher who has just completed the 27-session Roots of Empathy program at Haahuupayak school.