Teaching Children Sensitivity at Christmas

This Christmas week, parents will want to do all they can to help children feel the gift of giving along with the gift of getting. By making this a conscious goal, parents can set aside a time when all the focus is on children giving their gifts and being praised for their sensitivity and generosity. Their book Teaching Children Charity, which the Eyres talked about two weeks ago, is a highly religious and spiritual book. After it was written, Balantine Books, a division of Random House, wanted a more secularized version of the book, which was titled Teaching Children Sensitivity. If a parent wants to be deliberate and focused on helping a child to be more empathetic and aware of the needs and feelings of others, there are four steps: First to help the child see and notice more, particularly in the faces of others, second to listen better and ask better questions, third to express his own feelings more openly, and fourth to do more or give more service to others.