Kindergarten Student, Gulf Shore Consolidated School, North Rustico

I helped someone who was sad, frightened or lonely when “I share with Elyse.”

“This 5-year-old is still developing body image in her drawings. She has facial features, hair, a body, legs, and arms. She has started putting digits on her hands, but no feet or toes yet. What she has developed in a sophisticated way is the ability to relate to the other. She sees herself as being competent in helping someone who might be sad, frightened, or lonely. She is a citizen in the deepest sense of what it means to be a citizen. Roots of Empathy classes help children understand that although we are all unique and develop in our own time and way, what unites us is the universality of our feelings. When children have opportunities to think and talk about their feelings in an experiential way with a real baby, as they do in Roots of Empathy, they reach behavioural milestones earlier. There should be no race in childhood. But the earlier a child feels that they can make a positive impact the better it will be for their learning, positive behaviour, and mental well-being.” – Founder/President Mary Gordon

Kindergarten Student, Gulf Shore Consolidated School, North Rustico

I helped someone who was sad, frightened or lonely when “I hold his hand.”

“The Beatles famously in the ’60s had us all singing ‘I wanna hold your hand.’ Oliver is a man of action. He is creating a positive and supportive culture in his Kindergarten classroom by responsively problem-solving using empathy. Empathy requires imagination and this 5-year-old has the imagination to understand how a sad or lonely person might feel. He is able to find shared humanity, even if imaginary, and to problem solve empathically. In his Roots of Empathy classes, Oliver learned to read the baby’s emotional cues and learned to take the perspective of the baby, which helped him understand how a vulnerable human being, more vulnerable than he is, feels. With children like Oliver in our Kindergarten classrooms, one can imagine a more caring, peaceful, and civil society in the future.” – Founder/President Mary Gordon

Kindergarten Student, Gulf Shore Consolidated School, North Rustico

I helped someone who was sad, frightened or lonely when “I take them to my house.”

“Young children have very few resources when they want to help someone. What they do have is the most important resource—themselves. Carson, who finds nurture and comfort at home, suggests that he can help someone who is sad, frightened or lonely by bringing them home. There are many literacies in childhood and traditionally we focus on literacy as it relates to language and reading. The foundational literacy of life is the universal first language of our emotions. The literacy of well-being is a beautiful concept that needs a megaphone to elevate it to a broader audience because society does not have the alphabet yet for well-being. But if we teach this alphabet in our schools we will achieve a more literate, mentally healthy citizenry.” – Founder/President Mary Gordon