Teaching Diversity to Children

National holidays have a sweet way of bringing Social Study lessons to life.  I love the feeling of comradery knowing that teachers all around the world will be teaching their students about equality, love, and respect next week.  Our love for learning and one another bonds us together.  Could you imagine if we didn’t teach lessons based upon our founding fathers or great leaders, such as Martin Luther King? Would parents? I think my students' parents do a great job of teaching their children at home but as a parent myself I often forget about important dates in history that I want my children to know about and forget to really teach them everything I want them to know.  As parents, we are often burning both ends of the candle so as an educator, I think Social Studies lessons are just as important as English, Science, and Math.  Our role as an educator provides a wonderful influence to a child’s character and ability to understand the positive influence they can have on the world.

We don’t have school on Monday, so Tuesday we will be embracing all things Martin Luther King.  This is one of my favorite social studies lessons because the more diverse our world becomes, the more important lessons on respect, tolerance, and love need to become and remain a priority.  I think if you teach children early to love others and appreciate our differences, it can have a lasting impression on their life. 

Working hand in hand with parents, we can provide great learning experiences that enrich the lives of our students .  We are doing our part to help raise the next generation too.  It takes a village, right? Sometimes I feel more like the village idiot than the leader, but I know and understand that my role as a teacher is important in the life of a child. How exciting is that?!! J

If you haven’t heard already, I LOVE Pinterest. It is an amazing resource! (Yes that is exclamation point worthy!) Here are a few ideas I found to help me teach MLK Day next week.  These aren’t my own creations.  Like most teachers, I am a life learner and depend on the brilliance of all of you to help me to teach to the best of my ability. J

I love this art project.  Children can choose any paint color. I think the important lesson is that love is what holds us together, 

not the color of our skin. J

A Box of Crayons and The Crayon Box That Talked are great books to read and discuss differences. Using a crayon theme as a guide, the possibilities are endless when creating a lesson.  I like how this teacher created a giant crayon box and allowed each student to decorate a crayon.  Even if I gave my entire class all the same color crayon, they would each design it differently because they each are unique children. The lesson possibilities are endless! Here are a few other great books to help teach diversity:

                                                   

 My favorite lesson is the egg activity.  You would discuss how the eggs are different.  The most obvious answer will be that they are different colors. BUT…when you crack them open, the center is the same.  This is a GREAT visual representation of diversity.  Even though we are all different and unique, we are the same and share a common love and respect for the world around us.

You can find all of these pictures on my Pinterest Social Studies board by clicking the link below.  Happy Martin Luther King Day. May your students learn to love and value one another for the beautiful creations they each are! J http://pinterest.com/kreativekinder/social-studies/

Take a look at all of these other ideas from our blogging friends out here in cyber-space!!