Shelter in place orders and responsible social distancing have turned most of our regular routines and lifestyles upside down. With schools closed down for the foreseeable future, many parents are suddenly finding themselves in charge of their children’s education. While it may seem overwhelming, this time is an incredible opportunity to make space for a different type of education: one that inspires empathy and creates connections between how we treat animals and the impact it has on the environment, social justice, and our own health.
Barn Sanctuary is dedicated to rescuing and caring for our animal residents, but we also advocate for animal welfare and offer humane education opportunities to the public. In light of the Coronavirus, we compiled a list of resources, lesson plans, and step-by-step guides to curricula to help folks incorporate humane education into their new homeschooling routines!
We hope you use these resources and set aside a little time each day to focus on the concepts of compassion and empathy! We recommend being flexible and make sure there is time for questions, reflection, and understanding.
Want to know why we think Humane Education is important to teach your children or want to learn more information before you dive into the lesson plans? Check out our educational pages and/or read the stories of our rescued residents.
The Humane Education Resource Guide
The Humane Education Resource Guide is designed for educators as well as caring citizens who do not have any formal background in teaching. The plans are simple and easy to implement. We love this guide because it breaks down the lesson plans and activities based on age groups and covers material in age ranges from K-12.
Each lesson and activity has an easy key so you can find the objectives, time and materials at a glance – you can pick and choose based on what you have on hand at home. They also provide helpful tips for presenting the material in age-appropriate ways. We think you will love this resource!
The Kindness for All Curriculum
The Kindness for All curriculum consists of 7 lessons geared towards 3-5 year olds and encourages the development of a strong empathetic and compassionate foundation. We love this guide because it is comprehensive but easy to follow, and the lessons are designed to promote your child’s own ability to identify as a kind and caring individual in society. Another great aspect of this resource is that it helps children understand their own feelings and extends that understanding to the animal world.
This resource explores concepts beyond animal welfare, including self-care, diversity and inclusion, and kindness to the environment. This is a great way to start your little ones on their own path in becoming a steward of compassion.
Justice for All
Another easy-to-use resource is Justice for All, a guide designed for 6-8th graders. We love that this guide really develops the concept of interconnectivity between social justice, kindness to animals, and the environment.
This resource also provides tips on customizing each lesson plan for 9-12th graders, which is great if you have multiple children in different age ranges. The underlying theme of this resource is that “humane education promises to foster a global community of change-makers who are able to create a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world for all.” Doesn’t that make you want to inspire your own little change-maker?
The Institute for Humane Education
Their resource center has a great database for a variety of humane topics. You can filter the content by age level, type and subject. This is a great place to go beyond basic lesson plans. It has sources for unique activities, books, websites, movies and more. It even offers an entire section devoted to lesson plans in Spanish.
American Humane’s Educator Resources
Their resources include downloadable lesson plans for kids K-12. These plans are designed for all types of educators, including all of the new at home educators like many of you! One neat aspect of their resources are that most educational concepts are grouped into “units” that each consist of a few lesson plans. This approach to learning enhances your child’s understanding of each idea by building on the information in a new way.
PETA’s Humane Educational Resources
PETA provides a list of Humane Education resources for students with special needs. This site includes a variety of ideas that focus on the social and emotional aspects of empathy and compassion that can be taught in an accessible way.
We hope these resources help you, during this unprecedented time, to empower your children with new skills and knowledge to build empathy and compassion.
If you use any of the resources, we would love to see! Post a picture and tag @BarnSanctuary so we can see.
