Source: Microsoft Office On-line Clip Art

 

Teaching Heritage To Our Children
This carnival is part of a very diverse group of globally minded multicultural moms around the world. Every month we have a theme, and this month’s Multicultural Carnival’s theme is “Teaching Heritage To Our Children.”

I was thrilled with the theme for the multicultural kids blogging carnival, because one of the reasons why I started blogging is to use it as a resource to educate on race, culture, and diversity to my child. I have a post on teaching my son heritage here.

However, I want to share an excerpt of my post:

“His heritage is his identity, and I pray that teaching our little one of where he comes from will help him embrace his individuality. Creating a sense of pride, of belonging, and knowing where he comes from will promote his character growth, and enable him to defend himself against prejudice and racism. Where he lives will not solely determine his identity, but so will his parent’s contribution on passing on his heritage.” 

The group’s main focus is on raising global citizens. So how do they teach heritage to their children?

Teaching heritage to your family
Celebrating a 15 year anniversary proves that living in a bicultural family works especially when both spouses are committed to keeping their culture and heritage alive. Annika from Journal of a Bilingual family shares how she celebrates their 15 yr. bicultural anniversary, and her accomplishments on teaching heritage to their daughters in their French and Finnish family.
What I especially love about her post is how this family keeps in touch with their Grandmother who in turns shares with them stories of their Dad’s family traditions via Skype! As a family they always root for both countries, celebrate bicultural holidays, and make sure to watch French movies.  Annika’s wish is that their daughters feel both French and Finnish, not half this and half that.  I think she’s doing a pretty good job at that! To read more about this wonderful family, and how they teach heritage to their children go here.
Teaching heritage through story time and play 
There is no better way for small children to learn about another culture than through learn and play. This is exactly what Leanna from All Done Monkey has done by hosting a playgroup to celebrate Costa Rica’s Independence Day. The book she used for story time was The Parrot Tico Tango set in Costa Rica’s jungle. The best part of the story time was that she had an activity to go along with it. It was very interactive, and hands on! Not only was she teaching heritage to her son, but she was also teaching her son’s friends about his heritage through story time, and a fun game! Check out all of  the fun details, and the activity linked to the story book here.
 
Teaching heritage by honoring ancestors 
A beautiful way to teach heritage to your children is by remembering & celebrating your ancestors. Kristen from Toddling in the Fast Lane is passing on to her daughter the memories of her grandparents by creating a Day of the Dead Mini-Altar in honor of her grandparents. (El Día de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition and celebrated in many countries in Latin American.)
What really touched me about her post is how she created this mini altar with such love, and care. She took into consideration every single detail for the altar; from the picture, to the flowers, and  to having her daughter decorate the sugar skulls. It was a labor of love beautifully created by both mother and daughter to remember their ancestors. To read more about how Kristen teaches heritage to her daughter  by celebrating  “El Día de los Muertos” click here.
Teaching heritage as adoptive families
Becky from Kid World Citizen has a wonderful post with 14 ways to incorporate birth culture to adoptive parents. What I like about this list is that any parent who wants to teach heritage to their children can use it as well. I absolutely love her list, and I want to share two that really “popped” out to me as I read her list: 1) Become part of the community and 2) Host culture at home. For both of these you need to reach out to others in order to teach heritage to your children, and sometimes step out of your comfort zone. These plus more awesome ideas and suggestions to incorporate culture heritage to your children can be found here.
Teaching heritage as educators
Annie Besant wrote an interesting article on behalf of Global Kids Oz with tips on being a great multicultural teacher. I love how she simplifies it by following four simple steps: 1) Do your research, 2) Understand the family, 3) Learn about their taboos, and 4) Symbols.
Source: Microsoft Office On-line Clip Art
Today we have so many multicultural families that everyone with or with out kids should follow these four simple steps. We all need to educate ourselves on other’s heritage and culture. This will help to avoid discrimination, racism, and bigotry.  To read the full article click here.
Teaching heritage through food 

Varya from Little Artists has shared that her family has their own culture by adapting the best of the heritage from both sides of the family. However, there is one thing she really enjoys about her Russian heritage that she wants to pass on to her children, and that is cooking and eating!

Cooking for family and friends during special occasions is a big deal. This process takes a few day of prepping, cooking, and freezing to cook later. I love how Varya is teaching heritage to her children through food, and gatherings of family and friends. These are memories that will last a lifetime! Varya is right on track to teaching her children about this wonderful heritage! To read more about how Varya teaches heritage to her children click here.
How do you teach heritage to your children? Please share, like, pin and/or comment! We would love to know!


To learn more about our group, you can follow us on:
Facebook:  Multicultural Kids Group
Pinterest: Multicultural Kids Blogs-Raising Global Citizens

This post was shared in Worldwide March Culture Swappers.

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6 Comments

  1. I love this! You have done such a marvelous job of giving us an overview of these posts and how they all tie into this month's theme. I can't wait to go read them all!

  2. You all put me to shame but have given me some excellent ideas. Thanks for sharing these posts so beautifully Frances!

  3. Thank you Jody! Wouldn't have been possible without the wonderful contributions of our blogging friends. 🙂

  5. Delgadoa103@yahoo.com
    I will be starting a Bible study for children in May. I plan to add teachings on good morals and money skills. Now I want to include arts and crafts with heritage culture and language.

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