Babies have become teachers in a school programme designed to foster the development of empathy among youngsters. Roots of Empathy, Rotorua has received $25,000 this year from the Rotorua Trust to support the programme which sees parents and babies visit primary school classrooms during the school year.
Roots of Empathy Rotorua coordinator Bridget Gifford said the programme had originally been funded by the Trust under a Rotorua Principals’ Association initiative. That funding ceased at the end of 2012, and Roots of Empathy set up its own charitable trust. The funding pays for the licencing of instructors under the programme which started in Canada in 1996, along with course materials, on-going professional development and an honorarium for instructors.
Five instructors currently visit children weekly in seven Rotorua schools from Years 1-8 (5 to 12 years old). Once every three weeks, a parent and baby come to the classroom with the instructor for a family visit. The programme covers nine themes, such as sleep, crying, emotions and safety. The instructor leads the children in noticing how the baby is growing and changing over its first year of life. Children can also see the loving relationship between the parent and baby, and they become more willing to talk about their feelings.
“In Roots of Empathy, the baby is the teacher,” says Bridget. “The parents who come in with their babies are also very honest, so the children have a realistic view of how awesome but also how tiring and exhausting it can be.”
She estimated 1000 Rotorua children have been through the programme to date in Rotorua, with a target of 210 children this year.
For more information, contact:
Bridget Gifford
Coordinator Roots of Empathy Rotorua
bridgetandrew@slingshot.co.nz