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A Toddler's Heritage
Introducing Children to Their Culture
By Shannon McKelden
Whether your family hails from Germany or Africa, the Netherlands or Mexico, passing along to your children knowledge and pride about your heritage is very important.
"Living one's heritage becomes an element in the formation of identity, a sense of 'who I am,'" says psychologist Aaron Cooper, director of FamilyMattersOnline at The Family Institute at Northwestern University in Illinois. "Identity is richer when it's built on multiple components: family, community, heritage/culture. The more ingredients that shape [their] sense of identity, the sturdier [their] identity will be."
The great thing about teaching toddlers and preschoolers about new things is that they're eager to learn – if you make it fun.
"Very young children may not understand, cognitively, what heritage is all about," says Dr. Cooper, also coauthor of I Just Want My Kids to Be Happy! (Late August Press, 2008). "But through participation in ritual experiences that stimulate their senses and emotions – through music, food, song and dance, lights and colors – young children will begin to develop an attachment to their heritage. That attachment will live in their memory and become a positive foundation for the understanding that can come later." Dr. Cooper believes when it comes to exposing children to their heritage, earlier is better.
How about "teaching" about heritage right from birth? Margaret Dilloway gave her kids names from her mother's Japanese heritage. "It's been hard because my mom, who was Japanese, passed away before I had any children," says the San Diego, Calif., resident. "But my son has a Japanese middle name (Akira, after my uncle) and my youngest daughter has a Japanese name (Kaiya)." Dilloway's father helps keep the memory of his late wife's culture alive by having Dilloway's children call him "Ojiisan" (Japanese for "grandpa").