- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- babies today articles
- babies today q&a
- toddlers today articles
- toddlers today q&a
- breastfeed.com articles
- breastfeed.com q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
A Toddler's Heritage
Introducing Children to Their Culture
By Shannon McKelden
Toddlers and preschoolers love books. Why not choose stories that represent their heritage? Of course, reading is another practice that can begin very young.
Cecille Hansen teaches her daughter about her husband's Scandinavian (half Swedish, half Norwegian) heritage with books. "I'm very much a book person, and Elsa was reading at age 3," says the Seattle, Wash., resident. "I like to get her story books with Scandinavian themes and/or authors. Jan Brett's incredibly beautiful books are prominent. Elsa has the whole set of the Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books, which tell about three little Swedish girls and their simple, gentle adventures."
Like stories, songs bring heritage alive. "Early Jewish sources say that from the time a toddler begins to speak his/her first words, one should begin teaching them the verse 'Torah was commanded to us from Moses, as an inheritance to the congregation of Jacob,'" says Rabbi Yerachmiel D. Fried, Dean of DATA, The Adult Learning Center, Dallas, Texas. "This is taught, in the Hebrew, with a well-known tune, and becomes the first song a Jewish child learns." This is a way of teaching children the core concepts of Judaism. "All this is done in a fun way, by way of song, as we believe that music has the power to penetrate directly to one's heart, especially the tender, impressionable hearts of children," he says.
Rabbi Fried and his wife go all out to make learning about their Jewish heritage fun. "Often we ourselves act out the story, or get [the children] to, making it fun," he says. "At my Passover seder, each year my wife and I go to a toy store and get some new toys for the Passover story. I get the kids, on Passover night, to help me set up the table as a mini-Egypt. We set up colored paper for the Nile river, lots of army men representing the Egyptians and another color as the Jews, lots of animals, trees, etc." The children are encouraged to ask questions, give answers and read the commentaries they learned in school. "This works for all ages, from toddlers to very advanced 'toddlers' who have their own toddlers," he says.