The Science of Kindness

Dear Div. 26 Families,

This past week I was fortunate to be able to attend a zoom conference where the key topic of discussion was Kindness. This conference is part of a year long research project that I feel so grateful to be joining for my second year. It is called Changing Results for Young Children, and it is a research project funded by The Ministry of Education, in partnership with The United Way of the Lower Mainland. You can find out more about this project at:

CR4YC Project

I had so many important take aways from this particular conference and there are a few I wanted to share with my Div. 26 families, because I think it will give you some context for how and why the students and I will be working towards building a safe, kind, and empathetic classroom community, where we are all able to take risks, make mistakes and support each other in our learning.

The Science of Kindness

Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, an expert in Social Emotional Learning, shared with us some of the research findings about kindness:

1. Kindness changes the brain. When we witness or participate in a kind act, it releases the “good” chemicals in our brain that make us feel good (oxytocin and dopamine).
2. Participating in acts of kindness promotes happiness and health.
3. Kindness is contagious (finally, something we want to share with others!)
4. Kindness can be cultivated and taught. This is a big one! while we often underestimate young children’s capacity for kindness, cultivating kindness in our children leads to the development of stronger prosocial skills. Research has shown that children with strong prosocial skills are more likely to thrive as adults.

So, the research is telling us the promoting social emotional learning and cultivating kindness and prosocial skills are vital for the longterm happiness and success of our learners. The great news is that this is what Kindergarten is all about! Our time in Kindergarten is a gift to our children, to provide them a safe space to explore and build a strong foundation in these essential skills.

How can you support at home?

Dr Schonert-Reichl shared some strategies with us to promote kindness in our children.

1. Be kind to yourself! Be a model of self-compassion and take time each day to show yourself a bit of kindness.
2. Don’t reward for kindness. The reward when we are part of a kind act, is the release of those “good” chemicals in our brain. Instead, our job is to help our children see themselves as a kind person, to develop a ‘kind identity’.
3. Engage in opportunities with your child where they can help others and then talk about it.
4. Be a role model for kindness and take time to notice (but not reward) kind acts.

The final “take away” that I wanted to share with you is something that author Monique Gray Smith spoke about:

There is always room at the circle.

This seems like a simple idea, but it is actually very powerful. In Kindergarten we often gather in a circle to share our thinking and our experiences. But we all come to the circle with different needs and stories. “There is always room at the circle” reminds me that we have room for everyone to be a part of the circle, in whatever way they come to the circle each day. My goal is to pass this big idea on to the children, cultivating their ability to be kind and empathetic to their classmates as we learn together this year.

Love,

Ms. A

Kindness is sharing an umbrella on a rainy day!