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, featured here 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, help the child see and notice more, particularly in the faces of others; second, help the child to listen better and ask better questions; third, help him to express his own feelings more openly; and fourth, encourage and help her to do more or give more service to others.