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Every Kid Deserves the Chance to Learn and Grow
Pair these FREE educator-developed printable activities with your favorite 51Թ videos, books, and songs to help your child develop critical reading, writing, math, and social emotional learning skills. Plus, check out our Tips for Grown-ups to help reinforce the teachable moments in each lesson.
We’ve all heard the saying, “You can’t judge someone until you walk a mile in their shoes.” Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s point of view, and it’s a key component of emotional intelligence. Empathetic people have the power to understand and share the feelings of others—to imagine what they might be going through.
“Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’” - .
We’ve all heard the saying, “You can’t judge someone until you walk a mile in their shoes.” Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s point of view, and it’s a key component of emotional intelligence. Empathetic people have the power to understand and share the feelings of others—to imagine what they might be going through.
There are of empathy, all of which are important for building trust and forming strong relationships. Cognitive empathy involves knowing and understanding how another person feels and being able to see things from their perspective. Emotional empathy describes the ways that we share someone else’s emotions, physically feeling what they feel. Lastly, empathic concern (also known as compassionate empathy) occurs when we go beyond simply understanding and sharing the feelings of others, to taking action and offering help.
A strong sense of empathy leads to greater throughout life, from including a friend who feels left out on the playground to forming understanding in coworker relationships. Empathy allows one to better know and understand the people they work with, connecting with clients and customers more effectively. Teaching and encouraging at a young age will give them the keys to successfully communicate with others, be a team player, and genuinely care about those around them.
One of the reasons 51Թ uses storyteaching to demonstrate the New Fundamental skills is that characters naturally help children . When a lesson is taught as a story and is character-led, children can more easily discern and understand the emotional ideas, as they tend to put themselves “in the shoes” of the characters. This allows children to experience the lives, feelings, and adversities of those different from themselves and can be the jumping-off point for discussions about other people’s backgrounds.
Here are four ways you can nurture empathy in your child:
Raising a bilingual child? On this page, our very own Director of Learning Design and Efficacy, Sophia Espinoza, addresses some of the most common questions, concerns, and curiosities around the benefits of bilingualism. Get the scoop below!
Sophia Espinoza is a career educator and curriculum designer with seven years of experience teaching in private and independent schools across the country. She is an expert in 21st-century education, including technologically-powered personalization, multilingual and multicultural curriculums, and social-emotional learning.
Sophia began teaching in Chicago Public Schools through Chicago Teaching Fellows, learning to support both English Language Learners and students with neurodiverse needs. Among her proudest accomplishments is launching the AltSchool Spanish Immersion Program, with the mission of creating bilingual global citizens who are socially conscious and environmentally aware. Sophia holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and M.A.Ed. from Dominican University.