Aside from being bilingual at Spanish and English and kicking off with his tagalog (my national language from the Philippines), my son is in touch and connected with our world. He understands how big and diverse our universe is. That even if we come from different background and ethnic groups or origin, we are all the same and that respect is primordial in our dealings. School also plays an important role in promoting diversity and multiculturalism. They have lectures about global and specific traditions.
Travelling is indeed one of the best, if not the best form of immersion and understanding other cultures. In my case, I do not have the luxury of time and resources to dedicate a lot of time travelling. In this post, I would like to share with you personal tips and experiences to increase awareness on multiculturalism. These can be applied directly in our household. With these, I am very happy to say that I am raising a multicultural kid. :)
1. Take the time to address the inquisitive kid: My son has been and continues to be curious about practices and traditions specific to certain countries. He would ask why most Japanese sit during mealtime, why is it customary to remove your footwear when you are entering an Asian household, why is curry or spices core ingredients in the Indian cuisine, time differences, etc. We take these questions as opportunities to sit down and talk about lifestyle, history or practices across the globe. Another easier approach is to start showing your child about Wikipedia :) which is a go to online "encyclopedia" :) However, it is advisable that kids are accompanied whenever they navigate online.
2. We buy books about other countries/cultures and read them together: We have books about Chinese, Japanese, Indian/Hindu, etc cultures and languages. These books were selected by our child and we read them together so it is a learning experience for all of us. We really invest on books. We may have limitations travelling but a curious mind is limitless and books are great instruments in empowering a curious mind.
3. Museum and cultural trips: My son is already 8 years old so we are able to go to museums and catch contemporary artists and their works. The paintings or work of arts are most of the time reflection of the culture, mindset of the artist and his upbringing. We also take the time to go to flea markets and events highlighting a specific tradition or holiday of a country, for example: Chinese New Year, Thanksgiving, etc.
4. Watch movies or youtube videos in original version: Even if we are fluent in Spanish, English and Tagalog, we prefer watching in original version. My son has watched many kid friendly anime movies in Nihonggo (Ponyo, Kiki´s Delivery Express, Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, Totoro, Spirited Away, etc), in Italian, Portuguese and original movies in English such as Harry Potter series, Nanny McPhee series, etc. Watching international movies increases our idea on other cultures and lifestyles. My son has an idea of how agricultural some countries and some areas are and what type of lifestyle such entails. He also understands that weather and climate are different across the globe and the lifestyle involved in the different climates. Again, watching youtube videos should be supervised.
5. Cook different cuisines and have your child as your sous chef: My son recently asked me about Kaju Burfi which is a typical dessert/sweet in India. He learned it from the school. We would prepare food of other countries. We are experts with our Spanish and Tagalog/Filipino dishes. From time to time, we prepare tiramisu, pizza and pasta (Italian), arepas (Venezuelan), chinese cuisine, Indian curry, English fish and chips, etc. As we go through the preparation process, we talk about the essence of the food on the culture. I still remember how my son one time said that he felt that we were in Mexico because we had home made fajitas and tacos! Hahahaha
6. DIne out and be adventurous with food: This is an alternative to cooking. Sometimes, when we dine out, the restaurant has the cultural vibe. In cases that cooking a particular cuisine is difficult, we would dine out if our time and resources can afford. We have our go to Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, American, Spanish and Chinese restaurants. And my son is such a trooper!
7. Do artworks together: This is a creative, sweet and fun bonding time together. My son and I would write a story book about Italian characters, we would make cut out pieces of Indian accessories, we would draw our dream Japanese temple, etc. This is a very stimulating activity.
8. Playgroups: As Madrid is an international friendly community, I bonded with foreigner moms like me - Latin American, Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, French and my fellow Filipino/Pinoy mothers and we would from time to time organize playgroups with our kids. We would meet up in parks and have potluck where we would have our local cuisine, snacks as contribution. It is a very good bonding time for the kids and moms as well!
*** photo not mine. downloaded from the internet. credit to the owner.
I hope you will find these useful. I would love to hear from you on how you encourage multiculturalism in your household.
Thank you and take care!
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