How much diversity do you provide for your children? Do all of your friends, and theirs, look the same? Believe the same? Love the same? It takes a lot of self awareness to be inclusive, and instill those same values in your own children. Raising mixed race children, we often find ourselves wrapped up in discussions and explanations for things we didn’t think we’d have to navigate so soon, or ever for that matter. You see, we’ve always dealt with “the looks” from either side, the comments, the hate, the racism. However, having children is an entirely new road to navigate, because certain spaces could cause harm to them, both emotionally and physically. As adults, we know what we are capable of enduring, what we can handle, when it comes to our environments, but kids, they don’t have that grasp on life yet, nor should they, and as their parents, we have to ensure their safety when they aren’t under our supervision. So in our home, we teach kindness, and empathy, and acceptance. We value differences, except when it comes to meatloaf…that’s a difference we can’t get on board with. We talk, sometimes before we’re ready, about race, about what their Daddy’s skin color means to some people, how their beautiful light brown skin can cause them to not fit in with either race, and how no matter what, they should be proud of who they are, because they are strong, kind, and smart.
My classroom is no different. As an educator, I have a duty to prepare my students for the world, and the world is diverse. I expect each of my students to respect their peers. We talk about setting their own standard about the respect they expect from others. We talk about standing up for ourselves, and speaking up when we are hurt or uncomfortable. I ensure my students are knowledgeable. I teach them about inspirational men and women from all walks of life, artists that impact their communities and those that have more opportunities because of the color of their skin. We use terms like melanin, and olive, and tan, and ivory when we talk about skin tones. We study minority artists throughout the entire year, not just during their “dedicated month”. And for this season, we learn about all the different winter holidays. Each grade studies a different holiday; Kindergarten learns about snowflakes and Winter Solstice, 1st Grade learns about Christmas, 2nd Grade studies Kwanzaa, 3rd explores Las Posadas, 4th learns about Saint Nicholas Day, and 5th studies Hanukkah. I do this with the hope that they will leave me as Middle Schoolers with a greater understanding of cultural differences, and a deeper level of respect for those differences.
Now, for the REALLY important details......supplies+resources for all these projects!!
Kindergarten Winter Solstice Snow Blizzards
2nd Grade Kwanzaa Candles
I purchased a resource from TpT that had both informative and fun activities to go along with Saint Nicholas Day. I also downloaded a free shoe resource and printed it on cardstock to make it easier to assemble. For this project you need scissors, glue, and coloring supplies!
5th Grade Menorah's
I hope you can explore some of these wonderful holidays and projects with your own kids during the season, and continue to grow young leaders!
Happy Creating!-Ally
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