Well being

As part of our Positive Education focus at Kalinda we use lots of different resources to assist us in helping the students to develop a well-rounded understanding of their wellbeing as well as a toolkit that they can draw on when needed.

The Positive Enhanced Education Curriculum (PEEC) is one of those resources and this week they shared ideas on developing Empathy and Compassion in our children. 

Take a look below 

Empathy and Compassion

This week’s PEEC topic is ‘Empathy and Compassion’, which falls under the domain of Positive Relationships. Empathy refers to understanding and experiencing the thoughts and feelings of others – the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Compassion involves experiencing empathy and includes a desire to help those in need.

Humans are social beings. Empathy and compassion help us form emotional bonds with others and enable us to contribute meaningfully to our social groups. Researchers have found that children as young as two years old are naturally helpful, even when the person in need is a stranger and there is no reward involved.

We can practice empathy by identifying others’ emotions, actively listening and recognising their points of view. Studies have shown that one way to increase our levels of empathy is by doing volunteer work.  Through deliberately engaging in others-focused, helping activities, we can develop our understanding of others’ lives and support their needs.

Try this at home: When watching a movie with your children, ask them to name each character’s emotions and points of view. What might they be thinking or feeling in a particular scene? Why might they be thinking or feeling this way? Can they relate to those thoughts or feelings?

Have a great week

The Wellbeing Team