Thursday, May 13, 2010







“From the outset,
parents are the single most important influence
on how a child’s innate capacity for empathy grows and develops.
It is this first relationship that affirms the power
and efficacy of human connection:
Baby is hungry and starts to cry,
Mummy listens and cues into Baby's hunger,
Mummy picks baby up, comforts him and feeds him.
Daddy smiles, sings Baby’s name, lifts him in the air;
Baby has an answering smile, gurgles,
spreads out his fingers to touch Daddy’s face.
Circles of communication,
understanding and connection are completed….
The giving and taking of reading
and responding to
cues lays the foundation for the emotional learning
that allows empathy to take root and flourish.”

Roots of Empathy, Mary Gordon.