Cultural Diversity begins at home and evolves
A child learning about their heritage at a school or institution and not being taught properly could confuse that child understanding of Cultural Diversity. Teaching a child about their culture should be an excited experience and it should be taught at home at the appropriate age. A child would have to be able to identified and relate to the concept of color, age or race before being taught culture diversity. Teaching children to be culturally aware is a process that could affect a child future, and schools should have a proper academic system in place before venturing on that subject. Culture awareness starts at home when a parent believe …show more content…
their child is old enough to understand where their grandparents of parent were born. It takes time for a child to understand why the home function the way it does, why the parents cooks certain meals or listen to different selections of music that is played on the radio. Most parents who were born outside the United
States usually have some very interesting stories to tell their children of how they grew up.
I remember my mother telling me how my dad and fisher men of India decent would go out fishing in the cove off the north coast of Trinidad and catch fish daily, they were hard working people and would fish all day to feed their families. Those teaching (stories) is embedded into my mind as of today allowing me to understand how two different cultures would work together for the survival of their families.
Our responsibilities as parents and teachers are to educate our children or child and not to confuse them about the different ways other people live in this world. At the age of three or four years old it is too young for a child to be taught in school why there skin color is different from their peers, at that age they go to school to learn the simple mechanics of life; how to interact with other kids of different backgrounds, how to share what they have and play. These children are too young to be taught diversity in a classroom because their minds are not properly developed and they cannot comprehend the meaning of the word “Diversity”. Most children at the age of three or four years old would think that someone of African American decent
with dark skin was dirty and not associate it as being the color of their skin. At this age they are now learning to recognize color and would tell you their skin color is red or blue. Children at the age of five and six are a little more advance and their minds are now able to understand the different between race and color. A child at this age will recognize the differences between their facial feature, gender and disabilities. They also learn to stereotype what they see on television, what they learn while over at their friends’ house or what they learn at home; therefore, it is vital what you teach your child about other kids who don’t look or act like themselves.
Teaching our children and teaching our children properly are two different concepts. We want our children to understand why their friends looks different, eat different foods or speak differently in today society. In order to do so our school system needs to set an average age were our children can start learning Culture Awareness in schools, and don’t allow teachers to start teaching this subject when they choose too. The educational system needs to educate parents with material and tools to prepare their children before they enter the sphere of diversity in the classrooms. A standardize teaching curriculum should be set by the Board of Education alone with the input of parents of diverse cultures, teaching children first about themselves; who they are and why they are the way they are.
Color, race, age or disability can be difficult for anyone to appreciate especially young children , spending quality time exploring these differences could make the different on how they live their lives and who they cluster to in the future. As a parent your everyday task influents your child learning about their heritage; the things you cook, the songs you sing or the stories you tell helps builds there foundation of whom they are. Parents and teachers need to work together in a structured environment in order not to confuse our children on why their little friend does not look or act the way they do. The education system is a vital artery in this process for the entire body to operate smooth within this multicultural world of disparity.