Kids are sporting t-shirts with words such as Kindness is Cool!, Be Kind!, Choose Kindness!
Is wearing Kindness attire enough to teach children to treat others with respect?
Kindness without empathy is not enough.
We need to understand what another is feeling, put ourselves in their shoes.
Can children, with the little bit of life experiences that they have had, really feel empathy towards others?
World Kindness Day is coming up and it is a great time to start working on your child’s emotional intelligence.
According to an article in the Scientific American, researchers at the New School in New York City “found evidence that literary fiction improves a reader’s capacity to understand what others are thinking and feeling”.
The article further argues that literary fiction can “support and teach us values about social behavior, such as the importance of understanding those who are different from ourselves”.
Below is a list of books with strong emotional content to help your child “Make America Kind Again”.
"A 12-year-old girl and the white boy next door become reluctant activists after witnessing a racially charged attack on her traditionally dressed Indian grandfather, and the photos she posts for friends and family go viral." -Publishers Weekly
"Noah Savino has been stuck in a wheelchair for months. He hates the way people treat him like he's helpless now. He's sick of going to physical therapy, where he isn't making any progress. He's tired of not having control over his own body. And he misses playing baseball--but not as much as he misses his dad, who died in the car accident that paralyzed Noah. Noah is scared he'll never feel like his old self again. He doesn't want people to think of him as different for the rest of his life. With the help of family and friends, he'll have to throw off the mask he's been hiding behind and face the fears that have kept him on the sidelines if he ever wants to move forward."-- From publisher website.
Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?
Autistic and nearly nonverbal, twelve-year-old Nova is happy in her new foster home and school, but eagerly anticipates the 1986 Challenger launch, for which her sister, Bridget, promised to return.
Since entering fourth grade, Benny Barrows worries that he will never be good at anything, that he is responsible for an accident that sent his father to the hospital, and that his attempts at winning a school contest will never be noticed.
