Teaching Kids about Differences (Racism)
As a multiracial family, we’ve been thinking a lot about the conversations we need to have with our kids about race. Because they have (mostly) grown up in Brazil, in a very mixed society, they haven’t been seen as “different" (besides the fact of them speaking English). We have waited to have some very deep discussions (note: our daughters are currently 2 and 5) that we knew were coming. We expect it to be (as with the sex talk), a long dialog that continues and grows in complexity as they do. We have also been overwhelmed (as well as with the sex talk) about how to start and where to go from there—practically.
Here is what we put together for our family so far, and some other resources that we have found helpful. We’ve also realized that the best way to explain racism is through history—starting with our own family history. We are putting together a book (I am going to use a photobook company—super easy for anyone) with pictures—and make it a HARDBACK—so my daughters feel free to grab it off the shelf and ask more questions at any time.
Other Awesome Resources:
Multicultural Kids Blogs: a huge list of resources for teaching racial justice
Teachers Pay Teachers: what is Racism Social Story FREE (this is like a book for younger children with a picture and one line of text per page. You have to make an account, but the resource is free)
Parent Tool Kit: Talking about race and racism with your kids
Have you found any other resources or ideas that were helpful for you in this area? I’d love to hear about it!