Teaching Empathy to Young Children

Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of others and to respond appropriately to these feelings. Teaching young children to identify and acknowledge emotions early gives children strength necessary for thriving and surviving in any environment. In the current climate of adolescent bullying, early learning of empathy can combat future problems for children.

Research suggests that children are more likely to develop a strong sense of empathy when their own emotional needs are met. This can begin in infancy as children form bonds with parents and primary caregivers. Early in life when infants’ natural cues are responded to in appropriate ways, they begin to develop secure attachments. Even as early as 18 months, children can understand when taught about caring for others. They have even been observed displaying empathetic responses.

The simpliest way to teach empathy occurs when children have daily struggles over toys. Whether it is in the classroom, or at home, the natural play of children provides rich opportunities for teachers, caregivers, and parents to begin to teach empathy. As one child quietly works at playing, it can be quickly interrupted when another child stops the play by taking the toy or knocking down a creation. The first child may then retaliate by using physical force, such as hitting or biting, the perpetrator. Instead of using a “time out”, it can be a wonderful teaching moment. Talk with each child about how they would feel about the other child’s actions. Helping to identify and discuss feelings can then be used to explore how to respond in socially acceptable ways.

It may take years for a child’s empathy to emerge while other children seem to develop it more naturally. Research does show that girls tend to be more emphatic than boys in elementary school through adolescence. The reasons seem unclear but may stem from girls’ ability to self-regulate from an earlier age. Boys, often, are taught they shouldn’t show much emotion. But all children need to learn about all their emotions to be able to function in relationships. If children don’t learn to deal with emotions at an early age, later relationships will be more difficult. Children who don’t develop empathy can become callous adults, oblivious to the hurt and pain they leave behind.

Teaching children the skill of empathy is critical to sound moral and emotional development. Teaching and supporting empathy in young children will help children self-regulate at an earlier age and will benefit their interactions with peers now and society, as a whole, later.

Using Manipulatives in Early Childhood Classrooms

Young children learn through hands-on experiences.  Providing children with a variety of  objects to actively learn is integral to development.  When setting up a classroom, teachers should consider the variety of early childhood educational supplies available.  Setting up different themed areas in the classroom, or “centers”, is an approach many schools have found successful - having tactile objects, or manipulatives, at each center.  Manipulatives are particularly useful when teaching new concepts, especially in math.  While they are more commonly used for younger children, students of every age benefit from manipulatives. 

•  When introducing a new concept such as counting, a teacher might hand a student a bag of colored buttons. The child can count all of the buttons or sort and count them by color.  Peg board manipulatives allow children to start graphing and patterning. This hands-on learning will enhance the child’s understanding of the concept.

•  Other early childhood educational supplies important for learning are building objects.  These manipulatives come in all sorts of colors and connectors.  When building with blocks, a child quickly learns about balance, weight, gravity and stability -basic concepts in science.  Math skills are taught through block measurement, volume, symmetry and shape placement. Learning to cooperate is key when children are building together, this helps in social development, self-esteem and life skills.

•  Combining creativity and learning in the classroom is essential and fun for both students and teachers. There are many art manipulatives for early childhood development.  Lacing cards, boards and shapes work on fine motor skills while white boards, magnetic shapes and letters facilitate writing, designing, shape sorting and letter recognition.

Using manipulatives enhances learning in many ways whether it’s learning to read or count to 50. Integrating manipulatives into the classroom with other early childhood educational supplies will offer children a wonderful hands-on learning experience. 

Out With The Old, In With The New

            Today, more than ever, our children are born into an ever-changing world of technology. As parents struggle with navigating though all these devices, access to the internet and software, and number of hours spent engaged, teachers and early childhood providers must also decide how technology will be utilized in their classroom.

            In a recent survey by PlayScienceLab, a whopping 79% of children ages 2 – 5 years old have access to a smart phone, irregardless of household income levels. An additional 35% of that age group that has access to an Ipod Touch and 19% have access to a tablet! This access includes more than just playing with Mom or Dad’s smart phone. It includes parents downloading between 1 and 5 apps a month directly for children. This definitely shows that young children are immersed in technology!

            This raises the question of whether, or how much, technology is appropriate for the early childhood classroom. Are children already exposed to enough technology at home that they don’t need it in their classrooms? We want children to learn and develop in all areas. Is technology taking away from other areas of development? Is money spent on technology taking away from the preschool supplies dollars? Is open-ended play being sacrificed for technology? Children play with unit blocks and learn mathmatical shapes, cause and effect principles from stacking and building, and social skills such as turn-taking and sharing. Can they learn the same from technology?

            There are mutiple makers of software, games, and interactive books to be scoured through. Do any of these provide comparable learning to playing in the home area, running and skipping outside, or working together to complete a floor puzzle? Do teachers and educators have the time and resources to investigate the everchanging world of technology?

            We want children, including the young, to have the best of everything. It will be a tough decision, with all the technology available, to determine how much is best.

What's New About Cribs?

            Upon learning about the new regulations for infant cribs in child care facilities, most program directors’ first comments seemed to be disbelief, followed by concerns about where the money would come from to replace all the cribs, and a resounding WHY!

            No one, including directors, wants to put any children, least of all a little baby, in something that might cause them harm in any way. The new regulations are first and foremost meant to keep our young ones safe. As providers, we want the best for the children in our care. These new regulations address more than just the drop-side issue with cribs. They address many issues with cribs that make today’s manufactured crib actually a great deal safer than its predecessors.

     Cribs manufactured and sold after June 28, 2011, must adhere to these new Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulations (16 CFR 1219 or 16CFR 1220):

1.      The elimination of the traditional “drop-side” rail cribs.

2.      Improvements to the strength of crib slats to avoid breaking.

3.      Increase the mattress support durability.

4.      Changes in the quality of the hardware to prevent anti-loosening.

5.      Require more rigorous testing.

6.      Better labeling and instructions to avoid errors in assembly.

The new regulations also require ALL cribs to meet these new standards by

December 28, 2012. That means that unless your cribs were manufactured after June 28, 2011, and have date code labeling establishing that, they will need to be replaced. Retailers and manufacturers should be able to provide a letter of compliance as well that states the new purchased cribs meet the new regulations. There is not a way to “re-fit” a crib to make it compliant. Also, the cribs must be disposed of, they are not being recalled, nor are they safe for any other infants to occupy.

            The CPSC will be enforcing the crib standards. Anyone who is covered by the new crib standards and does not comply commits a prohibited act under section 19(a)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and is subject to possible civil penalities.

            The important fact to remember is that this new generation of cribs will be safer for the little ones that slumber in them. Even though the new regulations are causing budgets to stretch, saving just one baby from harm makes it all worthwhile.

            Constructive Playthings® is committed to providing the highest quality early childhood educational supplies, preschool furniture, and daycare furniture.