Culture and diversity education

[Anonymous]

DD attends a primarily muslim preschool. Had a Latina nanny. We just embrace diversity. I asked her yesterday gods name she heard in school she said they say lala I said they mean Allah, but in English it's jehovah. But DD is big on Jesus no biggie.

[Anonymous]

http://myasiankiddc.com/lunar/all_events_current.html

Lunar New Year is happening right not, many events to go to. That is one way to start.

[Anonymous]

It's important to me, and I learned so much from books growing up. I also took French starting in 7th grade. That doesn't sound like a big deal today, but I grew up in a very rural area, with parents who'd never traveled outside the contiguous states.

I paid for a school trip by myself, junior year of high school, to France, Switzerland, and Germany. And international travel is incredible for learning about new cultures. I agree with the PP, though. Not everyone can do that. So, books, music, TV shows, movies, etc. I can give suggestions if you tell me the age range.

And Friends from different cultural backgrounds. That's so easy in this area. In fact hard to avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's important to me, and I learned so much from books growing up. I also took French starting in 7th grade. That doesn't sound like a big deal today, but I grew up in a very rural area, with parents who'd never traveled outside the contiguous states.

I paid for a school trip by myself, junior year of high school, to France, Switzerland, and Germany. And international travel is incredible for learning about new cultures. I agree with the PP, though. Not everyone can do that. So, books, music, TV shows, movies, etc. I can give suggestions if you tell me the age range.

And Friends from different cultural backgrounds. That's so easy in this area. In fact hard to avoid.

You did, and I missed it.

Books:

Esperanza Rising
The Name Jar
The Girl Who Loved While Horses
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Birchbark House
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

Music:

I make an international music mix playlist and just play it in the car. Right now it has:
Chaiyya Chaiyya (India)
Cumbia Sobre el Rio (Mexican, from Babel Soundtrack)
Cold Sweat, Angelique Kidjo (afropop)
Ya Rayah, by Rachid Taha, I think he's Algerian
Yom Wara Yom, by Samira Said (Morocco)
Milya (Australian Digderidoo)
No Hay Como Mi Son (Cuban)
Papaoutai by Stromae (Rwandan/Belgian singer)


Movies: It's a little scary, but they may like the animated film La Leyenda de la Llorona




Or for the older side of your age group, Les Triplettes de Belleville.
And again for older kids, Whale Rider.

[Anonymous]

Like PPs have said, travel or if there's no money or time for that, read, watch documentaries, and make friends with families that are not like yours. The best thing is getting dinner invitations! The food is sometimes even more authentic than the so-called authentic restaurants around here.

Also it helps if your kids know another language besides English. It's not that important what language it is, but it enhances the mind and spirit.

[Anonymous]

There is a thing called Postscripts (I think). You sign up and send post cards throughout the world. And you get them back. If you put up a big world map you could tack the post cards around it and connect the post card to the map with string and a pin.

Each time you get a postcard you could get books from the library on that place. You could find a restaurant or recipe to try. You could find a museum or festival. Whatever. Basically- you would use the post card as the beginning of a small study on that place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can encourage your school to have guest speakers. I'm Indian (Hindu) and I go into each of my kids' classrooms to talk about Diwali and Holi. I spend about an hour in each one - do a craft, a story, and bring/make a snack. One year we made roti (flatbread).

Diwali and Holi are religious festivals.

I was told talks don't belong in schools as they no longer mention Christmas. IS this a private school your kids go to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can encourage your school to have guest speakers. I'm Indian (Hindu) and I go into each of my kids' classrooms to talk about Diwali and Holi. I spend about an hour in each one - do a craft, a story, and bring/make a snack. One year we made roti (flatbread).

Diwali and Holi are religious festivals.

I was told talks don't belong in schools as they no longer mention Christmas. IS this a private school your kids go to?

Not that PP, but at my kid's public school, they mention Christmas, and Hannukah and holidays from other religions. They took a field trip to see a play about many holidays from different cultures and countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can encourage your school to have guest speakers. I'm Indian (Hindu) and I go into each of my kids' classrooms to talk about Diwali and Holi. I spend about an hour in each one - do a craft, a story, and bring/make a snack. One year we made roti (flatbread).

Diwali and Holi are religious festivals.

I was told talks don't belong in schools as they no longer mention Christmas. IS this a private school your kids go to?

Not that PP, but at my kid's public school, they mention Christmas, and Hannukah and holidays from other religions. They took a field trip to see a play about many holidays from different cultures and countries.

Mine don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Library
Library
Library
That's my philosophy
I have an avid reader and go to the library a lot. When my now tweens were younger, I ALWAYS required that at least one book had to be a "fact" book. Plenty of times I picked the book and it was about varying countries and cultures. You do have to be diligent about making sure what you pick is not full of generalizations and stereotypes. I don't want books about Africa that just talks about jungles and safaris. Or books about India, that just talks about food, etc. At one point one of our kids was especially interest in Judaism. I made a point to find books that did not just concentrate on the Holocaust. Judiasm is more than that, just like Black history is more than the story of enslaved people and civil rights. Find meaty material. Plus, we have a diverse group of friends, listen to a lot NPR in which they hear news and interviews, etc. that addresses the whole WIDE world in which we live. Our kids pick up things from how we live our lives, talk about people, and have knowledge and interest in things outside of our own little bubble.
Hope that helps.

I disagree that "fact" books are the best way to teach about other cultures. There's a lot of great fiction, esp novels for tweens, that are much better for helping children to understand diverse perspectives and cultures.

The elephant in the room of course, is that you need to actively cultivate friendships for yourself and for your children that are diverse. It is a much more powerful message to your kids when you have friends who come from a lot of different backgrounds than your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Library
Library
Library
That's my philosophy
I have an avid reader and go to the library a lot. When my now tweens were younger, I ALWAYS required that at least one book had to be a "fact" book. Plenty of times I picked the book and it was about varying countries and cultures. You do have to be diligent about making sure what you pick is not full of generalizations and stereotypes. I don't want books about Africa that just talks about jungles and safaris. Or books about India, that just talks about food, etc. At one point one of our kids was especially interest in Judaism. I made a point to find books that did not just concentrate on the Holocaust. Judiasm is more than that, just like Black history is more than the story of enslaved people and civil rights. Find meaty material. Plus, we have a diverse group of friends, listen to a lot NPR in which they hear news and interviews, etc. that addresses the whole WIDE world in which we live. Our kids pick up things from how we live our lives, talk about people, and have knowledge and interest in things outside of our own little bubble.
Hope that helps.

I disagree that "fact" books are the best way to teach about other cultures. There's a lot of great fiction, esp novels for tweens, that are much better for helping children to understand diverse perspectives and cultures.

The elephant in the room of course, is that you need to actively cultivate friendships for yourself and for your children that are diverse. It is a much more powerful message to your kids when you have friends who come from a lot of different backgrounds than your own.

Thiiiiiissss. If you want your kids to have friends across races and cultures, the first thing to do is to look at your own peer group. Based on the answers to the "Do You Have Black Friends" thread a few days ago, I'm thinking part of the issue might be role modeling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Library
Library
Library
That's my philosophy
I have an avid reader and go to the library a lot. When my now tweens were younger, I ALWAYS required that at least one book had to be a "fact" book. Plenty of times I picked the book and it was about varying countries and cultures. You do have to be diligent about making sure what you pick is not full of generalizations and stereotypes. I don't want books about Africa that just talks about jungles and safaris. Or books about India, that just talks about food, etc. At one point one of our kids was especially interest in Judaism. I made a point to find books that did not just concentrate on the Holocaust. Judiasm is more than that, just like Black history is more than the story of enslaved people and civil rights. Find meaty material. Plus, we have a diverse group of friends, listen to a lot NPR in which they hear news and interviews, etc. that addresses the whole WIDE world in which we live. Our kids pick up things from how we live our lives, talk about people, and have knowledge and interest in things outside of our own little bubble.
Hope that helps.

I disagree that "fact" books are the best way to teach about other cultures. There's a lot of great fiction, esp novels for tweens, that are much better for helping children to understand diverse perspectives and cultures.

The elephant in the room of course, is that you need to actively cultivate friendships for yourself and for your children that are diverse. It is a much more powerful message to your kids when you have friends who come from a lot of different backgrounds than your own.

1) I was not saying it was the best way-- there really is no "best" way. I was speaking to gaining knowledge and introducing different cultures. Sorry if the entire context of my answer did not make it clear and made it something to actually have to "disagree" with . SMH!

2) What elephant in the room-please see the bolded above

3) Knowing the world and the peoples populating our world is a complex and mulit-tiered and life-long experience. I think that all of the pp's are giving useful and wise advice about how to gain and retain that knowledge and how to have those learning experience. There are no no.1 answers- they are all answers.