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A Book that Celebrates Cross-Cultural Friendship
“My Friend Mei Jing” is a celebration of a beautiful cross-cultural friendship. Mei Jing and Monifa are second graders and best friends. They bond...
Cross-Cultural Differences in Discipline in Japan
Was this non-interfering style of parenting in Japan I witnessed an anomaly or the norm? Do the Japanese discipline their kids?
Cross-Cultural Parenting in Japan: Differences in Affection
My husband and I are both foreigners in Japan, and even the cultures we were raised in are so different: American and Chinese. This has given me a chance to see childrearing from so many different perspectives. For as long as I could remember, my parents hardly ever hugged or kissed us, or each other. Nor did we say “I love you” to each other. My parents share the same sentiments as Japanese parents: I don’t need to say “I love you” because I say it with my actions which are weightier than words.
Cross-Cultural Parenting in Guatemala: Rethinking Cultural Norms
Would you judge a mom giving coffee to her infant in a bottle? You shouldn't. Here's why.
Don’t Spank My Baby! Cross-Cultural Differences in Love and Affection
New mom Justine gets quite the shock when her Turkish in-laws first meet the baby. But things are not what they seem.
How to Choose the Right Preschool in Multicultural Families
Choosing the right school for your kid is a decision that many parents don’t take lightly and it starts from preschool. The level of...
The Problem with Representation of Multicultural Children in Media
Multicultural children are under-represented in mainstream media. The heroine is always white and black children don't usually have African features.
Making Sense of the Berlin Wall as a Multicultural Family
We realized explaining a divided Berlin to our children was going to be a lot more complicated than telling them it used to separate the good guys from the bad guys, as our own upbringings as parents had everything to do with our view of history.
Don’t Kill That Spider! Superstitions in a Multicultural Family
Why the number 4 is bad luck, spiders are good and mirrors in the bedroom bad.
5 Multicultural Picture Books For Younger Children
Check out these multicultural book recommendations for little ones that encompass diverse cultures, places and languages!
Real Intercultural Family in Canada: Mandarin, Latvian and English
They met online on different sides of the world in this modern day romance and she moved from Shanghai to Canada for love.
A Multicultural Children’s Book Set in India: Bye, Bye, Motabhai!
Children will be thoroughly amused by this adventure of an escaped camel in India.
Real Intercultural Family in the U.K.: Urdu, Italian and English
Meet Sara and Waqar raising trilingual kids in Urdu, Italian and English in London!
Real Intercultural Family in Guatemala: Russian, Spanish and English
See how the Mayan ruins brought together this trilingual family 12 years ago.
Real Multicultural Family in Vietnam: French, Vietnamese and English
Meet Elka and Thien, a family living in Vietnam, sharing four cultures and three languages including Vietnamese, English and French.
Multiculturalism at Work in a Kindergarten Classroom
Here is a small glimpse of multiculturalism at work in my daughter’s kindergarten class in Berkeley, California where I volunteered for a few hours last week.
Real Intercultural Family in China: Chinese and English
Met Lizi (British) and Da Jun (Chinese) raising a bilingual son in Beijing and soon Britain.
Multicultural Book Review: I Have an Olive Tree
When Sophia's grandfather dies, she goes to visit the olive tree in Greece he gave her, together with Mama, to fulfill a promise. Throughout the trip on the plane and then ferry, she notices how Mama is silent and nostalgic, yet at ease with a sense of familiarity.
Is it Possible to be Too Multicultural?
People who see us out together call us the United Nations family. We are stopped constantly by people who ask, “Are these all yours?”
Real Intercultural Family in the U.S.: Korean and English
This American family incorporates two distinct cultures that are not their own and they all are learning Korean.
Sorting through the varied hues of Easter – cultural or religious holiday?
Because I went to Catholic Schools, I had no idea that there was more to Easter than Easter Mass.
The Burning Question Part 2: Education Issues for Multicultural Families
One of my greatest fears as a new parent, right after Matthew's birth, was about putting him in school in France. While I hadn't done much research on the system, its results surrounded me: a culture where it's a bad idea to accept responsibility for one's mistakes, where apologizing is seen as a sign of weakness...
Safeguarding Multiculturalism
The debate that is often in the news, about the failed multicultural policies of many European countries, is one that interests me since I lived as an immigrant in Germany.
Cultural Faux Pas From Morocco
The second or maybe third time I had gone to visit my in-laws in Morocco, I definitely felt like I had it down. I had learned many of the cultural rules like...
Introduction to Adventures in Multicultural Living: The Project Explained
It all started when my husband first asked me to marry him.
I said, "Under one condition, that we never live in the Midwest."
I said, "Under one condition, that we never live in the Midwest."
7 Diverse Children’s Cartoons (where the main character isn’t the standard white one)
Stereotypes run rampant in much of our media consumption and children’s cartoons are no exception. We wanted to find more cartoons that feature kids of different races and ethnicities across cultural backgrounds. Here's our list.
Growing Up Baha’i in Rural Maine: A Not-so-Secret Double Life
Blonde, blue-eyed, and with the exceedingly fair skin of her Swiss-German ancestors, my daughter blended well into the sea of faces in her first grade classroom. But the truth was then and is now that she feels more at home with the one Iranian Muslim family in town, which shares with us one of our major holidays—Naw Ruz—as well as the practices of fasting and daily obligatory prayer.
Best Diverse Children’s Audiobooks
This is the age of road trips with so many people foregoing flying in favor of driving.
Audiobooks are a great way to pass long...
5 Fun Games from Around the World
5 super fun games from around the world that all kids will enjoy
How to Raise Strong and Confident Asian Pacific American Daughters
A few years ago, I took a seminar called, "Raising Strong and Confident Daughters." My husband laughed at me. "Could our daughters be any stronger or more confident?"
5 Board Games from Around the World
From chess to mancala, most games are deeply rooted in ancient civilizations, some of them found in excavations of royal tombs. Yet, modern studies endorse and confirm the positive cognitive impact of playing these games even today. It’s amazing that they also give us a sense of the history of a particular culture.
Are Parents Too Overprotective in the West and Too Lax in the East?
Is picking up a stranger's child invasive?
A Children’s Book for Global Citizens: Everyone Prays
A celebration of faith around the world through simple text and rich illustrations.
Do WASP Westerners Deserve Visibility in a Foreign Culture?
All too often what might be misinterpreted as a superiority complex over another culture by someone who fits my description is actually something else worth discussing: a cultural defense mechanism. Do we as English-speaking WASPs have a right to defend our culture, one that is so globally pervasive in both media and entertainment? I am about to argue that we do.
Why Raise Global Citizens? An Interview with Homa Sabet Tavangar, Author of Growing Up...
Why raising global kids is so important and the one quote everyone should keep in mind.
Celebrate Black History Month!
Find out the history as well as why "Black History Month" is a more accurate term than "African-American History Month."
My Chinese Mother-in-Law Comes to Canada
Would she feel irritable about the language barrier, hate the food or complain so relentlessly that I’d fantasize about leaving her stranded on a downtown street corner?
Why Racism Destroys Us All: Lessons from the Documentary “American Promise”
The criticism that the filmmakers of "American Promise" have faced for filming their kids over the course of 13 years misses the point entirely.
8 Awesome Pinterest Boards for Bilingual Kids
8 pinterest boards you should be following if you are raising bilingual kids.
A California Public School Snapshot: What Makes Berkeley so Great?
Berkeley, California has a unique school system, compared to most of the U.S. Here's what I love about it.
Infertility and Alternative Methods of Conceiving
It can be devastating for you to hear that your chance of giving birth with your own eggs is less than 1%. As women, we are restricted by the number of eggs we have, and as we age, the quality and number of our eggs begins to decrease
Are French Kids Better Behaved Because They are Spanked?
There are a number of us in the States who seem to be falling over in toddler-styled apoplectic fits over the positive press French parenting has been receiving of late. One of the most common complaints I saw emerging from the comment discussions is the French propensity for la fessée or spanking.
Travel to Beijing with 5 Children’s Books
Here are five books to introduce your little one to China whether to prep for an upcoming trip or explore the world from your own home.
Giveaway: Go on a Scavenger Hunt and Win TONS of Cool Prizes!
Want to win some really cool multicultural prizes like a three-month subscription to Little Passports, Little Pim DVDs or some great books? Then come have an adventure with us and a bunch of our multicultural blog friends.
Exploring Quito with Kids: Things to Do
As I relive the city of Quito of my childhood with my kids, so much has changed. There are many more possibilities for families to experience the city. Here's a bunch of things to do in Quito with kids.
Celebrating Holidays as Global Citizens
One of the challenges of living abroad is combining the traditions of your home culture with the traditions of your new country. Have you ever tried to hold a traditional American Thanksgiving in Kerala or a 10-year-old's birthday party in Osaka? Although there are ways to combine traditions, sometimes you just want your own type of celebration, like a Canadian Mother's Day instead of a Chinese one.
Bilum Craft: Learning about Papua New Guinea
One thing you will likely notice upon arriving in Papua New Guinea is that the majority of people are carrying around bright, woven bags called “bilums.” These bags are made all over the country, although in different styles and patterns, and are worn by men and women (and children!) alike. Follow these instructions to make a bilum craft with your child.
China Bumps & Triumphs: What Ties This Expat to China
My husband is Chinese and our journey as a couple has been full of bumps and triumphs, hence the blog title, "China Bumps and Triumphs." When we met and fell in love—a process that was frightfully fast but thrilling—my Chinese was very rudimentary and his English was virtually non-existent. Now our daughter is 17 months.
My Native Son’s Search for Identity
When did my son begin to find his heritage? Not an easy thing for non-Native parents, despite my research and graduate degree in educational experiences of First Nations’ women artists. He knows that there was a man who fathered him for a year and then left. This he should know is not part of the Native American culture, nor part of a tradition, but just a bad call by a young man who couldn’t be a father to him for more than that.
How I Reclaimed the House from My Mother-in-Law
Ever since my daughter was born 14 months ago, there’s been a war between cultures in my household. As the Canadian underdog surrounded by Chinese culture, I’m the one who has had to be more flexible, particularly related to the Chinese tradition in which extended family comes to care for both the infant and the new parents. In my culture, the new grandparents might come and stay for a week or two after a baby has been born, but then they leave.
How My Chinese Mother-in-Law Replaced my Husband
When my daughter was born, my mother-in-law left her hometown and moved to Beijing, separated from her husband for the first time in their 35-year marriage. She left behind a prominent career as well as her aged father (my husband’s grandfather) for whom she was the primary caregiver for the past decade. A new generation is that important. Her role is clear. She has to be here.
New Year, New Giveaway
We wanted to start off the New Year right and give you all some very cool things as a thank you for being part of our InCultureParent community. We’ll be giving away three cool items, all related to raising little global citizens.
Mixed Up about Racial Politics and Parenting
This black American father ponders the language we use to talk about race and wonders, what exactly should he call his child that his white wife and he have brought into the world? Is he mixed? Multicultural? Biracial? All these terms have their own set of difficulties.
The International Adoption Experience: Living in the Great Unknown
The international adoption process is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. With our dossier (legal documents and official application) submitted, approved, signed, sealed and delivered to Bulgaria, there is nothing to do but wait. And it's not easy.
Want to Raise a Global Citizen? Follow Soccer!
Soccer teaches kids eight key lessons about global citizenship
The Only Things Your Baby Needs
Jail is an interesting place to observe parenting in practice and illuminates what it is that babies really need.
Why I Don’t Buy Made in China for My Baby as a Beijing Expat
China is a country full of knock-offs. Everyone here knows that to be true and so my Chinese husband and his parents have been adamant that we need to buy a stroller that wasn’t made in China. After all, they say, “made in China” doesn’t always mean solid. But that proved a little tricky.
Discovering Culture Through the Olympics
The melodic foreign names (Surya Bonaly, for example), the vibrant flags, the robust strains of the medalists’ national anthems and the inspiring, personal stories of athletes’ struggles and victories provide windows to different parts of the world.
Open Letter to Barnes & Noble
We love the diverse selection of books your offer and how much fun our children have browsing through books and games every time we come in to your store. We frequently purchase books for presents on our way to a birthday party but we always notice something is missing when we browse the children’s section: more multicultural children’s literature.
Adopting a Culture: One Family’s Journey to Becoming Ethiopian
How this family decided to adopt from Ethiopia and the importance of culture
Diary of a Bilingual Spanish School
Stories from a second grade immersion-Spanish classroom that embraces a constructivist curriculum. Constructivist theory emphasizes concepts over facts, deep understanding over rote learning and the transfer of knowledge between disciplines.
Lessons I do not want to teach my children–about Dharun Ravi, Trayvon Martin, Shaima...
After Indian American Rutgers student Dharun Ravi was convicted of bias intimidation, I sent the very long New Yorker article about the case to my teenagers so that they can understand what kind of digital footprint they leave whenever they do anything online, and to remind them that regardless of what they might actually be doing, they need to be aware that sometimes those actions may be perceived quite differently by others, including people who do not understand technology and culture, including people with power.
Fostering Bilingual Education through Two-Way Immersion
Fluent bilingualism is commonplace throughout much of the world. How strange that it’s so difficult to achieve in the United States! Unless we came here as immigrants, grew up in homes where another language was spoken, or spent extended time in a non-English-speaking country, most Americans are likely to be monolingual.
The Power of Culture in Raising Multilingual Kids
Through use of technology it is fairly easy for us to expose our children to all kinds of languages and cultures. Need proof?
Children’s Books: 7 Global Favorites
From France to Tibet, Germany and more: multicultural books we love as well as other favorites from around the world
Explaining History and Racism to Grandpa
The importance of understanding history and politics in raising multicultural kids.
How My Kids Lost and Found Their Native Language
I feel defeated when I watch childhood home videos of my two daughters, Alina and Alexa. In the videos, they are speaking their beautiful native tongue, a bittersweet memory, as they lost their ability and desire to speak it as they got older.
Postpartum in China—Confinement or Luxury?
In Chinese culture, the moon month, also translated as “sitting out the month,” “lying in” or “confinement in childbirth,” is a month-long sojourn in the home for postpartum women. Sounds great, right? Well, part of this tradition requires that women not...
Why Kids Need the Scary Stuff Too
During one of our adoption homestudy visits, I remember scrambling to move a large framed print of a green devil from view in our TV room. Yet, the framed Korean mask dance figures which appeared far scarier to me at the time, remained on display. This was my choice, of course, but I felt it was dictated by expectations of our family and household. "Multiculturalism" is good, "devil" is bad.
Why Americans Value Independent and Competitive Kids
The primary American parenting goal is independence, as opposed to say cooperation or social integration, and it matches our society’s emphasis on individual achievement and self-reliance. It is a strategy that extends across class lines, religion and education level.
Teaching my Muslim Son about 9/11
My eldest is fascinated by comparisons of the largest tsunamis or most populated cities in the world. One night at the dinner table, he asks, “Mama, what is the tallest building in New York City?”
9 Things You Should Never Say to Adoptive Parents
Do you know what to say and not say to adoptive families?
Chinese School Dropout: Why I No Longer Torture My Son With Bilingualism
After three years of flashcards, tracing sheets, computer games and CDs, I’m giving in. I’m a Chinese School Dropout. Or rather my second-grader is.
A Different World: No Longer Brown in White America
Growing up brown in White America and wanting something different for your kids.
Nudity: Getting (Un)dressed in the Czech Republic
Strolling through Prague's parks, I encountered locals sunning themselves and even saw a few toddlers in the buff testing out the city's newly activated fountains. While I managed to keep my own and my kids' clothes on (though I lost the battle over shoes), I noticed many Czechs of both genders stripped down to their underwear in the public parks.
Dreaming of Peace and Roses
Come April, I dream of roses. Not about planting them or about cultivating them. The roses I dream of grow only in my imagination and begin to bloom there about the third week of April, during the Baha’i festival of Ridvan, when I call to mind the intoxicating scent of the sweet flower of my childhood that once grew in my grandmother’s garden—the Peace rose.
Happy O-Higan!
One of my favorite holidays in Japan and Buddhism occurs not once, but twice a year around the spring and fall equinox: O-higan. The holiday literally translates as "the other shore."
Growing Up with the Armenian Evil Eye (Tradition & Rituals)
Growing up in a traditional Armenian home in Southern California, we had many superstitions and rituals. My mother was and still is the queen of superstition. Here are just a few of the many superstitions we followed:
No whistling especially at night or evil spirits will come.
No cutting your nails at night. This will shorten your life.
Little Buddha at Home
My daughter has recently reached four years old, and has blossomed mentally and physically. What surprises me at this age is how her mind has matured and how she picks up on things that I might overlook. Recently, she started to imitate the Buddha seated in meditation as a joke.
Living in harmony in a great world house on Martin Luther King Day
I sometimes think that one reason some people resist multiculturalism and resent diversity is that it is simply not easy to live together with other people. It is no fun to compromise. It is challenging to understand and overcome difference.
Intentional vs. Default Parenting
The parenting world can be sorted into two factions: intentional vs. default parenting. Default parenting is something no one can likely wholesale avoid. It is the kid in the car seat while I cook dinner parenting, the turn on the TV and give them apple juice to shut them up parenting. It is a necessary evil produced by a society that devalues intimacy, presence and the prioritization of family life.
Bringing Diwali to Life for Children
Diwali: A Festival of Lights and Fun (Diwali: Kushiyon Ka Tyohaar)
By Manisha Kumar & Monica Kumar (Authors), Sona & Jacob (Illustrators)
Reviewed by Meera Sriram
(Reprinted...
On Beauty and Adoption
A simple fact of adoption is your adopted child will not look like you and your extended family. This can be had to accept.
Staff
Founder and Editor in Chief
Stephanie Meade has had a passion for global issues, languages, international travel and writing ever since she can remember. After...
About Us
InCultureParent is an online magazine for parents raising little global citizens. Centered around culture, tradition and language, we feature articles on parenting around the...
