Kendalwood Montessori - Seeds of Empathy Program 2015-2016

Last year, Kendalwood was fortunate to be one of only twelve Canadian centres selected to participate in the Seeds of Empathy program. Our staff took part in a weekend training conference to learn and gain hands on practice in order to deliver the program. We are very excited to be continuing with the Seeds of Empathy program for the 2015-2016 academic year!

Seeds of Empathy’s mission is to build caring, peaceful, and civil societies through the development of empathy in children and adults. The program has proven to be effective in fostering pro-social behaviour and reducing aggression levels while increasing empathy in young children. The distinctive aspect of the Seeds of Empathy program is the special guest educator – a baby.

Ronin is growing, he is joining us as a Kendalwood student!

Our students absolutely loved taking part in the program. Each week they happily gathered for Literacy Circles and enthusiastically participated in activities. The family visits were certainly the highlight of the program – the entire classroom was full of anticipation on visit day and began to recognize the cues when baby Ronin was about to arrive.

The best part was watching the growth of our students throughout the ten week session. We could see their ability to recognize and appreciate the feelings of others expand, and more importantly, understand that all feelings are valid –happy, sad or mad.

We have another exciting update to share – baby Ronin, our 2015 guest educator, will be joining Kendalwood in our Infant Program this year! The students are so thrilled to have the chance to continue to get to know Ronin and spend more time with him at school, and so are we.

We would like to reach as many Kendalwood students as possible with this unique and impactful program, so we have submitted a request to include additional Kendalwood Teachers in Seeds of Empathy training to expand our program in 2016. Building a better world is a big part of our mission and the Montessori philosophy and the Seeds of Empathy program is such a wonderful extension of our curriculum.

Kendalwood Montessori & Elementary School is Durham Region’s first fully accredited Montessori school. At Kendalwood, we believe that our job is to inspire children to become the best students they can be. With a curriculum that focuses on developing the intellect as well as nurturing self-esteem, academics are taught, curiosity is cultivated and respect is fostered. Our approach creates an environment where students flourish and develop a lifelong love of learning.