Giving Compass' Take:

• A kindergarten teacher shares her unique perspective in actively teaching her students how to process their emotions and feel empathy towards their classmates.

• Why is it important for young children to learn empathy? How will it potentially help decrease bullying and school violence?

• Read about an organization using video conferencing to teach empathy between students in other countries.

When people think about what I teach as a kindergarten teacher, they likely think about subjects like reading or math. Teaching 5- and 6-year-olds to understand their feelings and the feelings of others probably doesn’t immediately come to mind.

The truth is, empathy is a core part of what I teach my students. I may not actually use the word “empathy” in my class, but I encourage my students every day to think about their actions and how those actions impact other people.

If you talk to our students, you may hear about our focus room. Students who are misbehaving — often because they are feeling overwhelmed — spend time in this room with an adult who can help them make sense of their emotions.

In one example, one of my students recently brought a football from home, to play with at recess. He asked if it would be OK. I told him I thought it would be fine as long as everyone was having fun. I didn’t want anyone feeling left out. “Girls, too?” he asked. I asked what he thought, and he reasoned that if they wanted to play, they’d probably all have fun together. Before our focus on empathy, I’m not sure our students would have thought so carefully about the feelings of others.

Whatever is happening outside in the world, in our school, and in my classroom, a major priority is to help the youngest students begin to think about being an important part of something bigger than themselves.

Read the full article about teaching empathy to kindergartners by Lynn O'Meara at The 74