Learning Compassion Early through Volunteerism by Emily Patterson

This is a guest post. Thanks Emily for sharing with us about teaching children to volunteer.

Submitted on behalf of Primrose Schools: preschool working to be the best in education and child by Emily Patterson (@epatt1062)

In a world where television highlights spoiled teens or the extravagant lifestyles afforded to rich children, many parents are seeking ways to counteract such images and ideas by raising more compassionate and caring children.

Many parents seek to do this by teaching volunteerism to their children while they are young and giving them an earlier start on helping others.

Volunteering can play an important part in building a child's character and establish a positive habit, rather than a bad one. Working together at volunteer work with their child can allow parents precious bonding time, while making an impact in their communities that a child will certainly notice and be proud to have done.

One of the first steps to getting a child involved through volunteering is not about the child at all. Instead, the parents should address their own goals for getting their children to volunteer. What sorts of organizations do the parents want the children to be involved with? What kinds of lessons do they hope their children will learn? Choosing a cause that is meaningful to the family is a good start in this direction.

With a broader group of organizations in mind, parents can begin narrowing that list down to those that are appropriate for a given child's age. Some activities might be very meaningful, but they may be difficult for a child to understand or even find ways to participate. When they can see the results of their work, they are more likely to grasp the idea. Also keep in mind that young children do well in group activities and are capable of following instructions.

The third step narrows the list down further. While some activities may be wonderful learning experiences for children, the atmosphere or organization itself may not necessarily be child-friendly. Parents should research a group's staff and history to understand if their children would be welcome.

Having planned these parts out will make the final step much easier on parents: Explaining to the children about volunteerism and the contribution that can be made to the community as well as the type of work the child may do at a specific organization. Once a parent has established an answer to these questions for himself or herself, it is much easier to answer that most-popular question in a child's vocabulary: "Why?"

Teaching a child to volunteer benefits both the hear-and-now and the near future. A compassionate, giving child is much more likely to one day become a compassionate, giving adult.