My good friend
Vanessa Levin at pre-kpages.com has created a “gift of love” for her two rescue
dogs who passed away. It’s a free
animal shelter service learning project and mini dramatic play kit. I love what Vanessa says about the
importance of developing altruism and empathy in young children:
Teaching
young children to understand the feelings of others and engage in unselfish or
altruistic behaviors may seem like an impossible task. However, researchers
have found that teachers can create a caring classroom community that fosters
the development of empathy and altruism by collectively engaging children in
activities that benefit caring for people, the environment, and animals. Not
only should we provide opportunities for children to participate in these types
of helpful activities but also to recognize their own behaviors as kind and
generous. Remember the scene in movie The Help where the main character
Aibileen tells Mae Mobley she is kind and she is important? Aibileen was on to
something there.
I also
learned something new about service learning:
Service
learning is a method of teaching that combines formal instruction with a
related service in the community. Service learning integrates meaningful
community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning
experience, teach civic responsibility, encourage lifelong civic engagement,
and strengthen communities for the common good.
You can read
more about it here: