Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A wonderful way for parents to be part of their child's learning

We want our kids to feel loved and we want them to love other people. We want them to feel happy and cherished. We want them to see possibilities for themselves. Reading is a great way to see possibilities. Children can be transported to other environments- some are magical, others scary and some that might remind them of their home or a visit to grandma’s. They can see how other people live and what is important to them. This is one of the most important parts of learning about others’ cultures. They can read about other cultures in Social Studies but they also learn by living an adventure in a book. Having diverse choices in children’s literature is a wonderful way for parents to be part of the learning journey with their child. As more and more reading choices feature protagonists that are diverse, this is a subtle way to promote more open minded children who grow into more open minded adults.

1 comment:

  1. Absolutely! Books about characters who are "other" than ourselves allow us to feel our common humanity, and that does powerful things to our sense of "them" being much like "us" on the inside. Thanks for having this discussion!
    Namaste, Lee

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