Inter-Cultural Travel for Kids

Culture Travel Tuesday

Destination: The World


Book: Bringing the World Home: A Resource Guide for Raising Multi-Cultural Kids by Dr. Jessie Voigts and Lillie Forteau.

NOTE from A Traveler’s Library

Usually Jessica Voigts fills this spot with her thoughts and examples of Cultural Travel.  At her Wandering Educators site, she frequently interviews authors. Today we’re turning the tables and interviewing Jessie about a book that she and Lillie Forteau wrote to help parents who want to raise children who understand the world.

The book’s description on Amazon, where Bringing the World Home is available on Kindle (FREE to Prime members!), says all we need to know:

Raising kids in today’s global society is not easy. Are your kids prepared to participate in today’s global society? What are the consequences of them not being prepared? This book provides parenting tips to help raise your kids as intercultural global citizens.

The people we interact with on a daily basis are no longer the people in close proximity to us – our neighbors are now global. How we live, work, learn, and play are all affected by the global transformation of society.

Bringing the World Home: A Resource Guide to Raising Intercultural Kids is a handbook for both parents and educators. It provides 18 specific areas and 85 direct resources to learn about other people and cultures. Helpful tips and resources make it easy to integrate intercultural learning into daily life.

Bringing the World Home helps kids understand who they are, and how they can fully interact in the world. Raising intercultural kids is a way to change the world, promote peace, and most importantly, prepare our children to succeed in global society.

Here is the attractive book trailer:

 

A Traveler’s Library:What sparked writing ,Bringing the World Home? And what influence did your web site, Wandering Educators have on the book?

Dr. Jessie Voigts: I was talking with one of the members of our site, and she noted that it was so difficult to find great information on intercultural resources for kids. It sparked a thought – we have so many resources on Wandering Educators, and I know even more than what we’ve shared there. I started compiling them, et voila, a book was born!

ATL: You mentioned to me that this book is largely a reference book–were most of the things you refer readers to sources that you already used, or did you have to set out to find things?

JV: We’ve interviewed the creators of most of our resources. We’ve utilized, watched, learned from, read, or cooked from every single resource listed in this book. It is family-tested! And International-Educator approved.

ATL: I think the first thing I noticed (besides the great title!) about Bringing the World Home was that your daughter Lillie is a co-author.  Please tell us more about Lillie and her role in creating this book.

JV: Lillie (age 9) is our daughter. She’s so very curious about the world, loves to read and play and explore. She’s extremely creative. And, she’s very responsive to all of the books and products that come into our house to share on Wandering Educators. She’s getting very good at writing book reviews!

For this book, Bringing the World Home, I started asking her what her favorite resources were for sharing intercultural things with friends. Of course, the very first thing she noted was food – cooking, recipes, and books that she loves. We categorized all of these resources, and I wrote it from there. She has a much better memory than her mom.

Lillie also helped with the photos, with organizing categories of learning, and with talking about what kids want to learn.

(Note from ATL: Besides being the Children’s Correspondent on her parent’s website, Lillie’s own blog, Lillie’s Suitcase might turn your own kids into world travelers.)

ATL: You have been interested in cultural education for a very longtime–before you had a daughter.  Did having a child in the family change any of your academic assumptions about your chosen subject?

I’ve always pursued learning about different cultures – even got several degrees in fields that teach about international and cross-cultural things! Having a child did not change any of my assumptions about international education – rather, it broadened them. I had no idea how much curiosity kids could have about the world. Or, that they would CHOOSE to learn about other cultures and people – that even when small, kids are genuinely interested in learning about others.

ATL: I know that this book promotes traveling to foreign cultures, but is there a “take away” for people who are not able to travel abroad with their children?

JV: Actually, our book is more about learning while you’re at home – because for most people, international travel is not accessible to them right now. The takeaway is the world is globally interconnected. Learning about the world can be done right at your computer, in your kitchen, on the phone, on TV and with DVDs, in books (of course), and more. All it takes is a curiosity about the world and a willingness to learn and be open.

I’ve also been amazed at the outpouring of support and ideas for volume two. So, if anyone has ideas or resources that aren’t in this book, please let me know – we’ll be happy to include them in the next book!

ATL: What does Lillie want to write about next??

Lillie said that she would like to write about the ocean. She’s very committed to ocean conservancy issues, and wants to share with kids how wonderful the ocean is.

Thanks, Jessie and Lillie for your work on Bringing the World Home and for talking to the readers of A Traveler’s Library. If you want to have a treat, click over to Lillie’s blog and be amazed at the sophistication of this nine-year-old.


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About Vera Marie Badertscher

A freelance writer who loves to travel. When she is not traveling she is reading about travel. When she is not reading or traveling, she is sharing with the readers of A Traveler's Library, or recreating her family's past at Ancestors In Aprons . She has written for Reel Life With Jane, Life is a Trip and other websites. Also co-author of a biography, Quincy Tahoma, The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist. Contact Vera Marie by e-mail.

10 thoughts on “Inter-Cultural Travel for Kids

  1. A mother and daughter project, there’s nothing more inspiring! I am looking forward to reading your book and I also totally agree that food and music are ways to teach children effectively.

  2. What a fun project to do with your daughter. I hope to be able to do something like this with mine someday. I can’t wait to see what the next project will be from you two!

  3. I completely agree with the importance of a cultural education. In my childhood I lived in 4 different European countries before the age of 11 and I believe that has given me a great sense of how big and diverse the world is. I am very interested in travel and experiencing different cultures and the thought of settling down in one place forever seems quite strange to me now. However, I am sure there are also benefits to be had from feeling a strong sense of belonging to a local community, which I don’t have.

  4. what a great book! I love the fact your daughter co-authored it with you!! I can definitely see how a volume two would be ‘called’ for !!

    1. Books like this are so important with geography dropping off the school curriculums. And in Arizona, cultural classes for students from Mexico or Native American nations have been outlawed! Americans are already dumb enough when it comes to the rest of the world. We need to make it better–not worse. So hurray for you and Lillie and to all the teachers and parents who use your resources.

  5. Food certainly is one of the best ways to teach little ones (and big) about other cultures. Music is another. I remember hearing the host of a music program on the radio say she got into Brazilian culture through the music. She was so curious to understand the lyrics that she learned Portuguese. Fortunately, in the US, there are so many different cultures, so many different peoples, sometimes right there in a class or school.
    Years ago, I worked for a company that we used to call a mini-UN, we had people from all over. We’d come together once or twice a year, and have dinner. Everyone had to bring something to share. It was fabulous, especially to see how many different ways chicken was prepared in our little world.

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