Here are five tips for raising an empathetic child:
- Be a responsive parent. Beginning in infancy, babies learn empathy when their needs are met by a caregiver….
- Label feelings. When children are able to identify and name their own emotions, they are better able to recognize emotion in others. …
- Allow all feelings to be okay. Many parents want to quickly jump in and make sad or angry feelings go away for their children. …
- Model empathy. Sue Boxer, director of early childhood at B’nai Jehudah, is inspired by the quote “If you don’t model what you teach, you are teaching something else.” ….
- Volunteer. Finding ways to serve others allows your child to think about what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes. …
Know that developing and practicing empathy is a lifelong process, not something that happens overnight.
by KIMBERLY LEVITAN
image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant
