My husband and I loved living just outside of Washington, D.C. for the culture — the public events at the embassies, the international schools and night classes, the monuments, the free and approachable museums, the diverse people and the interesting volunteer opportunities, to name a few.
We looked forward to someday raising our children on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. and exposing them to the world from this cultural vantage point. But, things didn’t happen as we’d planned…
After having our daughter south of the Mason-Dixon line, we moved back up north to the state of New Jersey to be closer to family. So, we packed up and left our cultural euphoria behind…
Family was important to both, my husband and I, and we realized that we wouldn’t find it easy to replace having at least one set of my daughter’s grandparents nearby and some of her cousins to grow up around. So, upon deciding to move, we made a commitment to ourselves that we’d find our own ways to introduce culture to our children from our new home base.
And, we found that exposing culture and learning to a young child can be as easy as just taking her out to a local Korean restaurant and helping her attempt to use chopsticks! But, we keep our eyes out for these type of opportunities, small and large.
We want her to have an understanding of the world and the diverse people who inhabit the globe, a topic interesting to us, too. So, when we heard that there was a Chinese school close to our home, we were intrigued. It sounded like a fun adventure!
One thing led to another and before we knew it, we had Sarah enrolled in the Chinese (Mandarin) school for the year. She attends for one weekend morning during the regular school year. Sarah is just one of a few children in her class that is not of Chinese descent. She enjoys the classes with the other children, is making friends and when I ask her if she wants to return to the school the next week, her answer is always “Yes!.”
The preschool teacher brings in many visuals to help the children learn the weekly vocabulary. This makes it easier for the teacher to keep the dialogue mostly in Chinese. They also learn Chinese songs, draw Chinese characters on the chalk board and, most importantly, play lots of games involving the language. The emphasis is on getting the children to not only absorb, but also to speak.
Sometimes students are given something (a song, numbers, etc.) to practice and recite for a future class. Weekly homework assignments are worksheets of Chinese characters to color and trace with a picture and the pronunciation. The first characters that the children are learning are from the Chinese phonetic alphabet.
In December the students were asked to paint a Chinese lantern, which will be judged and hung at an upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. And recently, the school served a special Chinese bean and rice ball soup during class to celebrate the Winter Solstice.
There are additional culture classes at the school, too — Chinese dancing, painting, etc. that can be taken along with the language part. But, we’ve opted not to take her to those at this point because they seem to be geared for the older students. Also, we don’t want to tire her out. As she gets older, she is welcome to take them.
As parents, our objective is to expose our daughter to new things that are worldly. We are not strict about her language progress or her homework and just want her to have fun with it. We have found a unique, affordable, new cultural experience that is nearby and kid-friendly for our daughter. And, as Sarah grows, we hope that these types of experiences will help her look at the world, life and people with much curiosity and an open mind.
Have you done something uniquely cultural, whether small or large, with your child? Tell us all about it!
This is an original World Moms Blog post by Veronica Samuels. Veronica can be found on her Facebook Page, on Twitter @VeronicaSamuels and contributing to Jersey Moms Blog.
Photo credit to http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleverclaire1983/373308002/. This photo has a creative commons attribution license.
That sounds brilliant! I wish we had a similar school near us…
We take our children to the local Diwali celebrations, and have attended Matariki (Maori New Year) events as well. Music school is on Saturday mornings, so we have to be careful not to sign up for too much and overwhelm ourselves, but we look for one-off events and go along whenever we can – free kids’ French lessons at the museum one month, Chinese New Year, that sort of thing.
Thanks, Kate!
We were lucky to find the Chinese school! There just happens to be a large Chinese population in our area and the people running the school are really enthusiastic about their culture.
It sounds like you have some interesting cultural events in New Zealand to bring your children to, too! Thank you for stopping and telling us about them!
Veronica Samuels 🙂
That sounds brilliant! I wish we had a similar school near us…
We take our children to the local Diwali celebrations, and have attended Matariki (Maori New Year) events as well. Music school is on Saturday mornings, so we have to be careful not to sign up for too much and overwhelm ourselves, but we look for one-off events and go along whenever we can – free kids’ French lessons at the museum one month, Chinese New Year, that sort of thing.
So good to be able to introduce your children to a new culture, when you are away from it, not only the culture but the people as well, and having fun whilst doing it!
Asta,
We try to find these opportunities when we can, and it is definitely fun for us, too!
Veronica Samuels 🙂
So good to be able to introduce your children to a new culture, when you are away from it, not only the culture but the people as well, and having fun whilst doing it!
Asta,
We try to find these opportunities when we can, and it is definitely fun for us, too!
Veronica Samuels 🙂
Wow! I wish I could go to a Chinese school, it sounds so fun! Only as I have gotten older have I discovered my love for all things cultural. Honestly, I need to be doing a better job with my boys. They are biracial, their Dad is black and I have tried to teach them about their heritage. I know they learn little to nothing about black history in school. Ok this post reminds me that I need to get back on top of that!
Margie,
Come move up to NJ — the Chinese school has classes for adults, too! 🙂 And, it’s great that you are teaching your sons about their heritage. That is something they will treasure!
Veronica Samuels 🙂
Veronica, what a wonderful experience for your family! Moving from CA where diversity felt rich and well within our grasp, to MN where…it feels well, not so much, we had similar goals. Like you, we find that there’s simple things like restaurants, festivals & even museum experiences to scratch the diversity surface with our children. I love that you’re going the “extra mile” with the school experience as well! Well done, Mama! 🙂
Galit,
I need to get my family to some cultural festivals this summer, too! We haven’t been yet, but I remember my parents taking me to the Polish festival when I was a kid, and it was fun.
Glad to hear that you have similar goals with your kids when it comes to diversity, too!
Veronica Samuels 🙂
Not sure where in MN you are Galit but we live in a western suburb of Minneapolis and have our child enrolled in a Chinese immersion program through the public school. Because of these immersion programs several of the western suburbs offer clubs during the summer for all kids, not just immersion, in Spanish and Chinese. Also, I know for sure there are Saturday Chinese schools around. If you are near the cities it might be worth it to check these out. I do miss the multi culturalism I experienced growing up on the East Coast, but with a little digging you can find some here in MN!
Nikki,
Thank you for posting this information! And, It’s nice to find another mom whose child is learning Chinese — thank you for reading!
Veronica Samuels 😉
Not sure where in MN you are Galit but we live in a western suburb of Minneapolis and have our child enrolled in a Chinese immersion program through the public school. Because of these immersion programs several of the western suburbs offer clubs during the summer for all kids, not just immersion, in Spanish and Chinese. Also, I know for sure there are Saturday Chinese schools around. If you are near the cities it might be worth it to check these out. I do miss the multi culturalism I experienced growing up on the East Coast, but with a little digging you can find some here in MN!