Kid World Citizen

Exploring Multicultural Books: “Bijoy and the Big River”

Posted on May 5, 2013 | 1 Comment

I’ve talked a lot about the benefits of teaching with multicultural literature: it can transport us to another time and place, kids learn universal human emotions and feelings, quality multicultural books help to dispel negative stereotypes while teaching tolerance and respect, characters can encourage pride in kids’ cultural heritage, and in the case of the book I’m reviewing today- Bijoy and the Big River- multicultural books can teach us about kids around the world, especially when paired with extension activities.

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Posted in Animals, Asia, India, Literature

Tagged fiction children's books, silkworms

Explore Finland: Our Worldwide Culture Swap Package

Posted on April 27, 2013 | 6 Comments

We recently participated in the Worldwide Culture Swap, where families (or schools) exchange cultural packages and learn about another culture. The letter and package was so thoughtful, I though I would share it with you here. Emma’s mom is the founder of Be Bilingual and has written a fabulous practical guide for multilingual families.

Opening our letter and packages from Finland!

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Posted in Europe, Finland, Food, Geography, People

Tagged education, global collaboration, multicultural, pen-pals, Worldwide Culture Swap

Make a Neighborhood Tree Guide

Posted on April 21, 2013 | 7 Comments

To learn more about our environment, start local! Can you identify any trees in your neighborhood? Can your children? In this exercise, kids will do a little research about local trees, and make an identification guide of the trees they find. You might be surprised how quickly kids can learn to identify trees by their leaves, seeds, bark, and overall shape!

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Posted in Around the World, Arts and Crafts, Celebrations, Field Trips and Travel

Tagged Earth Day, outdoors, trees

An Interview with Jenny Buccos, Founder of ProjectExplorer.org

Posted on April 19, 2013 | 1 Comment

I am thrilled to introduce Jenny Buccos, the Series Creator & Director of the multi-award winning ProjectExplorer.org educational series. She began her professional career with Credit Suisse First Boston managing global media projects in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York. In 2003, before the existence of YouTube, she founded the online video site ProjectExplorer.org as a means to educate students about global cultures and histories. To date, she has directed/produced more than 400 incredible short films for students. Continue reading →

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Posted in Around the World, Geography, Movies, People

Tagged education, ProjectExplorer.org

{Kids!} How to Compost Kitchen Scraps

Posted on April 15, 2013 | 9 Comments

As Earth Day approaches, our attention is focused on tangible ways to help protect our environment. One easy and virtually free way for kids to go green is to start a backyard compost bin. Composting is a natural way for organic (previously living) materials to break down, into a nutrient-rich soil that we can use in our garden. Did you know that in the US we make about 4.43 pounds of waste per person each day? (see epa.gov) That is 250 million TONS of trash per day! We make too much garbage and 13.4% of the waste produced in the US in 2010 was yard trimmings, 13.9% was food scraps. We could be composting this waste, recycling it, and returning it to the ground!

Here are reasons why it’s important to compost, instructions on how to do so with kitchen scraps, and resources (books, clips, and games!) to learn about composting at home. Continue reading →

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Posted in Around the World, Celebrations, Food, Literature

Tagged Earth Day, education, environment, fiction children's books, on-line activities, science

Spring Traditions Around the World

Posted on April 12, 2013 | 8 Comments

I am part of a world-side, diverse group of bloggers called Multicultural Kid Bloggers who write about their experiences in multicultural parenting. Every month we host a different blogging carnival, which focuses on a relevant topic, and includes perspectives from (literally) around the world. For example, we discussed teaching heritage to your children, and talked about winter traditions around the world, and the importance of family traditions. Join us on facebook, Twitter or pinterest to meet other multicultural, globally-minded parents.

This month’s carnival is all about our Spring traditions. Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa, Around the World, Asia, Australia, Australia and Oceania, Canada, Celebrations, China, Europe, Malawi, Mexico, Poland, The Americas, The Netherlands, United States

Tagged spring, traditions

Education Options for Expat Children

Posted on April 11, 2013 | 12 Comments

Emma Thomas from The Expat Hub shares with us some education options for expat children in families moving abroad.

When you are planning a move overseas the list of things to organise can seem frighteningly long, and when you’re moving abroad as a family there’s even more to consider. One of the first things families intending to emigrate have to consider is what education option would best suit their children, but making the right choice can be tough.

To help make the decision that little bit easier we’ve taken a look at the pros of the three most common overseas-education options: local schools, international schools and homeschooling. Continue reading →

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Posted in Around the World, Field Trips and Travel

Tagged living abroad, real families

Salade Nicoise & Coconut Macaroons for Kids and a French Food Linky

Posted on April 3, 2013 | 4 Comments

This April, for our “Around the World in 12 Dishes” series, we are traveling to France! We were fortunate to visit France several times when we lived in London, and thoroughly enjoyed the fresh, local ingredients, phenomenal artisan cheese, and the delectable pastries. We decided to incorporate these elements into our evening by doing a French cheese taste test, enjoying a fresh salade nicoise, and finishing with by some coconut macaroons.

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Posted in Europe, Food, France

Tagged Around the World in 12 Dishes, dessert, vegetarian

French Cheese Taste Test

Posted on April 1, 2013 | 11 Comments

Cheese. A visit to France is not complete without tasting some of the gorgeous French cheeses. After the main meal in France, a course of cheese is often served with the salad before the dessert. In fact, even French school lunches often include a cheese course (drool over samples of French lunch menus here). When we were in France, we were told that there are so many types of French cheeses that you could try a different variety every day for a year and not ever repeat. We decided to hold our own French cheese taste test! Continue reading →

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Posted in Europe, Food, France

Tagged cheese, gluten-free, vegetarian

Gingerbread Stories from Around the World

Posted on March 27, 2013 | 3 Comments

Finding similarities and differences when reading fairy tales from around the world hones kids’ critical thinking skills, and helps them to focus on the details. Even the Common Core Standards includes this in one of their “Reading Literature” standards:

Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures (RL.2.9.).

There are many reasons to read fairy tales to children- especially because they’re whimsical, creative, and fun! Today we’re looking at Gingerbread stories. Continue reading →