Dear TAS Families,
This August, as part of Taipei American School’s DEIJ initiatives and focus on building community, we’d like to celebrate our first of a 10-part series celebrating different marginalized identities within our community.
For more information on this monthly-series, please be sure to read the original post, published on August 25, in the Parent Post, written by E-chieh Lin, the Director of Inclusion and Wellbeing.
August – Diverse Families and Self
Long gone are the days of a stereotypical nuclear family. Families might comprise of foster children, half-siblings, a single mom or dad, parents of the same sex, a blended family, multiple cultures and languages, grandparents as their guardians, and more.
At TAS, it’s important that all kinds of families are recognized and celebrated to ensure that every child feels accepted and represented.
How can your family actively celebrate diverse families this month?
- Be conscious of your language: It's quite easy for many people to naturally refer to 'mom and dad' when talking to children. Be conscious of these patterns and change the narrative so it's not a set example of a typical family unit.
- Discuss the importance of family: Discuss how important loved ones and families are, regardless of their make-up or what they look like. It's never too early for children to be taught to respect and value not just their own family, but other people's families; and to understand that being different or having different people around you helps to expand your understanding of the world.
- Take a family photo or display a new photo in your home: Kids will love seeing their loved ones around the room and it's a great opportunity to lead discussions about different types of families and encourage children to talk about their own parents, grandparents, siblings, and guardians or family members.
- Read a book featuring diverse families: Take a look at all of the books in your home. Do they involve characters from different cultures or with different family make-ups? If not, this month might be the time to consider adding some new titles into the mix. There are many books that depict children with diverse family dynamics outside of the stereotypical family structure.
Questions for the Dinner Table:
- Who are the people in your family that we are celebrating and why is it important to your child?
- Involve your child in choices about any potential gifts or special meal preparations if these are part of your day.
- Think about how you can encourage your child to be involved in making a gift for this person.
- Encourage your child to draw a picture of their caretaker. If you do this every year, it will create a story of your child's developing skills and how they see this person/people as they grow up.
- Help your child write a letter or story for the person/people you are celebrating.
- Help your child make a list of things we know about this person/people.
- Talk to your child about all types of families and what they look like. During play time with your child, you could use dolls, cars, or other items to model what different family structures may look and sound like.
Resources for Further Exploration and Celebration:
- Celebrating the diversity of families – Innovative Resources
- Diverse Families Bookshelf
- Diverse Families | NAEYC