With all that is going on right now (thinking about the marches and protests) it’s important that we don’t forget to include our kids on the conversations that are occurring around them.
It’s filled with tips and activities on how to incorporate more culturally diverse lessons for your preschoolers and teach kindness and equality above all.
This post can serve as a supplement to that. One of the activities that I include in that post is story time. Story time is a huge opportunity for sharing a variety of stories covering super diverse subject matter. And you better believe that the focus in our preschool right now is all about respect, kindness, and appreciation for everyone.
Therefore, I wanted to provide some resources, a book list really, that you can access whenever you’re struggling to find a new story. Below you’ll see some of the stories we’ve been reading with our preschoolers this week to help promote positive and kind behavior.
Also, just a reminder that this is the tip of the iceberg! There are so many more wonderful titles that cover amazing topics. So don’t be afraid to jump right in and get to researching. Your kids will only be better for it.
Okay, let’s take a look
*Texts!
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Jen Hill: This is a beautiful story about standing up for your friend in school, standing up for what’s right, and has two beautiful female protagonists. One of Asian decent and one of African American decent.
Morris Micklewhite and The Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant: This story is all about being who you want to be, not letting anyone get in your way, and being accepting of yourself.
Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo: This is a wonderful story about being kind to friends who are different. In this case it’s about pets, but the message is the same. It teaches to be inclusive of all and that it can be hurtful if doing the opposite.
All Kinds of Children by Norma Simon, illustrated by Norma Patterson: This book follows more of an informative narrative. It discusses all the beautiful differences we have around the world and how diversity should be celebrated.
The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, illustrated by Patrice Barton: This is another story that talks about how important it is to be inclusive of all and the happy and sad emotions that come along with that.
Same Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki- Shaw: This is a wonderful story about two pen pals who live across the world from each other, but learn how much more similar they are to one another than different. It is a wonderful dive into different cultures as one character lives in the US and the other in Asia. They end the book as best friends.
We Are Alike, We Are Different by Janice Behrens: This story is non-fiction and compares and contrast the different trait of an array of children. It focuses on how despite having some different features, we are all people, and we are all one.
Crazy Hair day: This is just a silly and fun story teaching us that it’s much better to be kind to one another and that teasing can hurt someone’s feelings.
Mixed, A Colorful Story by Aree Chung: This is a happy story that teaches the important to leave each other no matter what. It celebrates difference and new experiences, and has two colors as the main characters! What a fun read!
Same Difference by Calida Garcia Rawles: This is a sweet story about two cousins who are best friends but begin noticing how different they are from each other despite wanting to be the same. They try to navigate between who’s good and who’s bad but end on the message that we are all the same in many ways but our differences make us special. (One of my favorites!)
*Why an Abundance of Books About Cultural Diversity and Kindness Matters
This is a great place to start to help your kids understand what it means to be inclusive, nice, and accepting of all. But you really need to understand why having a diverse library covering this topics is important.
The only way for your child to be able to expand their perspectives on things (even as young as preschool) is by learning it and experiencing it. The dual process is imperative.
So if you are trying to teach them something, especially as important as this, reading one book on how the protagonist was kind to the other character won’t exactly make it stick. You need to have new and fresh material to keep the learning fun and keep them engaged.
Look at this way, if you or I are trying to learn a new topic, reading one article or one book on the subject is a good start. But that’s really all it is, a start. So keep the learning going at home and keep revitalizing your children’s library with new titles. This above all, is the basis of positive human worth and relationships. So this topic should be revisited as often as possible. There is no excuse for your any child’s library to be lacking in this.
*Summary
A good rule of thumb when handling story time is to plan your reading schedule ahead for the week. This will take a little extra effort on your part, but it’s a great way to make sure you include certain topics you want to introduce to your kids. Of course you’re going have a handful of your kids favorite stories and those are good to fall back on. But it is your job to also utilize new stories discussing new topics, or new stories discussing old topics that maybe need a refresher.
Most importantly, we all need stories that teach us how to be decent to one another. The world could use a lot more of that right now and your kids will get a head start if you make it a priority to include 2-3 of these books every week.
I know you can do it! It is very doable. Most story times utilize 2-3 books per sitting. And who knows, maybe one of these books will make it to their favorites list. 🙂 One can only hope.
I would again recommend revisiting the previous post on how to teach equality and kindness to your kids. There are some great ideas for simple ways to make it happen.
And, I hope you found this post helpful and informative. Please give these books a chance and discuss the importance of the message behind them.
And as always, If you have any questions, comments, or ideas please share them in the comments section below with your fellow parents! And definitely subscribe to the newsletter for updates and ongoing happenings at TylekTeaches.com. The subscription link is just at the bottom of this post.
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