How do I teach my child to embrace other cultures?
This is exactly why multicultural education is so important. It helps us understand that people are just people- and we should see our differences as interesting and worth celebrating. The good news is, it's easy to incorporate multiculturalism into your routine.
"People are just people, they shouldn't make you nervous."
Ghost of Corporate Future by Regina Spektor
Every time I feel anxious around another person, I think of the song quoted today: People are just people, they shouldn't make you nervous. Most of us are just coming and going; living our lives. Of course there are bad people, but not nearly as many as our brains try to tell us.
This is exactly why multicultural education is so important. It helps us understand that people are just people- and we should see our differences as interesting and worth celebrating. The good news is, it's easy to incorporate multiculturalism into your routine.
Here are some low lift efforts to teach your children about other cultures:
- Visit the international grocery store. You could even ask an employee to show you some exotic fruit, snacks, or premade meals to try.
- easy meals to try: people eat rice with different toppings around the world, this is an in expensive way to try new foods with picky eaters.
- Go to local festivals. If you live in a major metro area these happen constantly, but are often only known to the community celebrating it.
- Put on kids shows and movies from other countries. Remember Babar, Spirited Away, and Pokemon? These were all programs with huge international success. They subtly showed cultural differences. With steaming networks, a new generation of these shows are at your fingertips.
What's New?
🎥 The Peach Crayon: When I was in 4th grade, I wrote a short story that included one of my classmates as a character. I felt anxious as a grabbed a black crayon to color his skin in, but no one had ever told me how to color people that weren't white. I'll never forget his face when he saw my picture of him...Catch the rest of this story and my tutorial on how to teach your child to use multicultural crayons this Saturday at 10am. Make sure you're subscribed to my channel.
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Let me know what food you get from the international grocery store!