Building Empathy in Children through Community Connections: A Guide for Early Years Educators

Taking a unique approach, which highlights lived experience and  engagement with community, this book guides the reader on how to create  learning environments in which children are encouraged to develop  relationships, build meaningful connections and take action which  contributes to the wellbeing of their own communities.

Through  evaluations and feedback from participating professionals, as well as  children’s learning in the form of artworks and photos, Building Empathy  in Children through Community Connections: A Guide for Early Years  Educators highlights how community partnership programs between children  and community groups builds empathy and wellbeing in early childhood.  Drawing on extensive research and professional experience in psychology  and early childhood, it provides details of various community  connections programs and considers the ways in which early learning  settings can engage with their communities as they meet the requirements  and objectives of the curriculum. Each chapter provides practical  advice on implementation as well as take-home messages intended to  encourage and enable community engagement.

Demonstrating how  young children can develop empathy through building community  connections, this book is a vital resource for early childhood educators  as well as parents and those working in community programs and early  childhood settings.