| Advocating progressive values and equality for humanists, atheists, and freethinkers |
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| Advocating progressive values and equality for humanists, atheists, and freethinkers |
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Since the “Seeds of Compassion” resources are under copyright, we are providing the link to the source of these teaching materials: (www.seedsofcompassion.org/why/curriculum.asp). The lessons were developed to prepare students for a Seeds of Compassion event in April 2008 as part of an introduction to the Dalai Lama who was featured at Children’s Day. The lessons are intended for grades K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 – 8, and 9 - 12.
[Selections of the resource]
Compassion is the desire to assuage feelings of suffering in others. A compassionate person considers the sufferings of others as his own. But compassion is not pity and it is also different from altruism, which is simply an action of helping others. Compassion is a combination of feeling for someone else, experiencing the suffering and a positive move to reduce the suffering of others...
All education begins in the home and so does teaching the virtue of being compassionate. Here are a few things that you can do to encourage compassionate actions in your children:
Volunteer service as a family - The act of giving up certain things to others and helping others can provide a great sense of achievement and fulfillment to an individual. You could plan trips to an orphanage and have your children give away some of their toys and clothes to other children. A family tradition of community service, setting aside of a certain amount every year for each member of the family to give away as charity... are among some of the family routines that go a long way in nurturing compassion so that it becomes an essential feature in the mindset of children.
Use the aid of stories, folklore and mythology - Folklore, and mythology are mostly associated with positive values and the theme almost always provides useful lessons in moral and ethical values. Children who are constantly exposed to reading and discussions on such stories are prone to be more compassionate than those who listen only to the violent fare shelled out through the electronic medium.
Talk about real life famous heroes - Stories of famous compassionate people help in developing high moral values in children and adults alike. Choose people like the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King who are renowned for their compassion and moral attitudes. Reading sessions in the family of their life histories and events can also be instrumental in teaching the importance of being kind, caring, and empathic.
Source: www.more4kids.info/277/teaching-compassion-to-children/
Carthage, IL: Teaching & Learning Company, 2003. Kindness, compassion, respect, responsibility -- children need to understand how important these and other values are. The ideas in this book include stories, Mother Goose rhymes, crafts, role playing, and projects to involve children in discovering how to demonstrate positive values in everyday situations at home and school. Lessons include a problem, goals for correcting the problem, and ways of teaching children to reach those goals by practicing positive values.
by Rhoda Orszag Vestuto and Doris Larsen. Carthage, IL: Teaching & Learning Company. (2003). Source: www.teachinglearning.com/
This 64 page book for grades pre-K and K focuses on a number of virtues: kindness, compassion, respect and responsibility. The resource include stories, Mother Goose rhymes, crafts, role playing, projects and other ways to involve young children in demonstrating positive values in everyday situations at home and in school. The lessons include problem and ways of addressing them - all by means of developing positive values. The authors indicate that the activities can be implemented independently or linked by units and chapters. Unit 1,"Within Myself", includes chapters of cooperation, tattling, and table manners. Unit 2 is "Proceed with Caution"; the chapters are called Careful Bear, Street Safety, Car/Bus Safety, Personal Safety, and Safety with Others. The last unit is "The Larger World" and the chapters are titled Littlebug Lookout, Friendship Quilt, and Friendship Soup.
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