Roots of Empathy fun for all

Jasper Elementary’s kindergarten class celebrated baby Emmett’s final visit last week with cupcakes and farewell messages that included, “I hope he grows every year,” and “I hope he eats pie.”

Ten-month-old Emmett Lent had been visiting the class once a month since October as part of Roots of Empathy, a program which aims to teach young children how to recognize and communicate emotion.

Teacher Pascale Desautels said each visit revolved around a theme such as communication, safety, or caring and planning, and the children would predict and then observe what Emmett would do.

Giggles filled the room when she reminded her students of caring and planning week, when they made paper diaper bags and listed what should go in them.

Desautels said the class loved the program and adored the baby.

“They noticed every little change,” she said. “One week he came in and his hair had changed colour and they all pointed that out.”

Lindsay Winkler, Emmett’s mother, said she had no reservations about signing on with Roots of Empathy, and it turned out to be great fun for mother and baby alike.

“He loves the action,” she said. “He gets a real kick of out the kids.”

And it seemed the kids got a kick out of baby Emmett. They would wave and call out when they saw him peeking out of his stroller around town.

“He’s sort of a small celebrity, it’s fun that he gets recognized like that,” Winkler said. “They’ll never forget him.”

Nancy Robbins said her son Duncan McLeod looked forward to Wednesdays when baby Emmett was coming to visit.

The program was especially great for Duncan because it helped reinforce lessons he was learning at home about his baby sister Daisy. “The big thing was he learned about crying, why babies cry and that it’s not something to be afraid of.”

No student should miss out on Roots of Empathy, Robbins said. “I would love to see it in every grade.”

Roots of Empathy has been bringing babies into Canadian classrooms for more than a decade through instructors like Lynda Shore, who introduced the program to Jasper in 2006.

Roots of Empathy looks for parents of babies between two and four months old in September to visit a classroom for 30 minutes once a month over the course of the year.

Instructors lead the class in three monthly lessons and liaise the baby/student relationship.

Shore, who works for Community Outreach Services, said one goal is for the children to begin to identify with one another.

“What we hope to see in the broadest sense is children being kinder to themselves and each other,” she said. “That they learn to care.”