Roots of Empathy

This year, we have two babies who will be visiting our class every month or so. Welcome, Jaivi and Johnny! And thank you to their parents for bringing Jaivi and Johnny in and sharing with us your wonderful parenting experiences. As we get to know our babies, we will be taking a look at their needs and asking questions about their development. Babies are a very natural source of wonder for young children. This is a lovely way to encourage empathy in young children. Children have a natural tendency to try and think "in the babies shoes" or think about the babies needs before their own. It is much easier for them to do this with a baby in comparison to trying it with children who are their own age. We will be sure to post pictures each time the babies come in to keep you updated on what we're thinking.

Questions We Asked

What do you do together? How can we take care of babies? (Ms. Inge) Is the baby small? Is the baby happy? Do the baby do poopoo? (Yahvi) What does the baby need? (Alister) I want them in the same group. (Lottie) How do you play with a baby? (Charlie) Can we help them eat food? (Zachary) When they are hungry they can cry. (Leona) Where does the baby sleep? (Lucia) Hi, baby. The baby was born into somewhere? Where was the baby born? (Kaitlyn) Babies are cute. (Trey) My brother sometimes does a big poop. (Roman) The baby is co cute. Can babies play with lego? (Cal)

Some of Our Conversation

Kids: Can I touch the baby? Can I rock the baby?

Ms. Inge: With babies, we do the same thing as we do with toys. We ask when we want something.

Ms. Inge: How is Johnny feeling? He is sad. Mommy holds him.

Ms. Inge: When babies cry, what are they trying to tell us?

Kids: They are sad.

Ms. Inge: What do you do to calm down?

Roman: I sing songs to calm down.

Lottie: I stretch to calm down.

Charlie: Do babies stretch?

Mommies: Yes, they really like to stretch. They like to be held close and after a while they really like to stretch.

Let’s try it. How does it feel when you stretch your body? Good!

Well, let’s try a song.

Baby poops really loudly before we sing.

Ms. Inge: Did you hear a noise?

Yahvi: I heard a poopoo.

Ms. Inge: Did anybody else hear it.

Alister: I know what happened. The song made him calm down.

Ms. Inge: Did we sing the song yet?

All: No!

Alister: Johnny went to sleep.

Ms. Inge: For babies, sometimes it can be hard to poop! Maybe he was trying to tell us he needed his poop by crying. How was he feeling?

Kids: Ouchie! Sad!

Ms. Inge: How is he feeling now? 
Kids: Sleepy.

The kids sang a lullaby for babies.

Rock-a-bye you high.
Rock-a-bye you low.

Rock-a-bye you fast.

Rock-a-bye you slow.