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!
Posted in Europe, Finland, Food, Geography, People
Tagged education, global collaboration, multicultural, pen-pals, Worldwide Culture Swap
When I first heard of the Worldwide Culture Swap- where schools or families can “trade” cultural packages with others from around the world- I was SO excited. What an amazing experience for the kids involved to be able to deliberately choose artifacts that represent their culture, and then exchange them with those that another child around the globe has specially picked out. I asked one of the site’s founders and organizers to help explain the process.
My name is Rachael from Worldwide Culture Swap – a completely free resource for schools and families who are interested in learning more about different cultures around the world.
Posted in Around the World, Games and Toys, Geography
Tagged education, global collaboration, multicultural, pen-pals
When I was in about 5th grade, I found an ad at the end of a children’s magazine to get a pen-pal from another country. With a #2 pencil, I bubbled in my name, my interests, and the top countries I was interested in: Yugoslavia (as it was called!), Mexico, Australia.
Letters and postcards from my pen-pal, Lily
In a couple of weeks I was matched with “Liliana from Yugoslavia”- we ended up writing for more than 10 years before we lost touch! It was an incredible experience to exchange pictures (I still have her stoic 5th grade school picture), stories from our schools, postcards from our vacations, etc. I remember the excitement of coming home from school and finding her letter on my bed: foreign stamps scattered across a colored envelope, addressed to me with her curly, distinctive handwriting. I can even recall when she told me I needed to start to address her letter to Macedonia, because it had declared independence and was its own country.
Writing to a pen-pal in another country can facilitate lifelong friendships- and at a minimum it creates a great learning experience that enhances social studies, geography, penmanship, and language skills. There are a couple of different ways to go about finding a pen-pal for your kids from another country. Continue reading
Posted in Around the World, People
Tagged global collaboration, pen-pals, school resources, social studies
