by Eva Fannon (USA) | Feb 10, 2011 | Culture, Education, Eva Fannon, Kids, Motherhood, Multicultural, Music, Parenting, Preschool, USA
A few days ago my four-year old daughter informed me that one of her pre-school teachers is Native American. I asked her how she knew about this, to which she responded that her teacher told the class. Her teachers use a developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) framework (see more on this at http://www.naeyc.org/dap/faq) for teaching.
The topic of everyone being different and coming from different cultural backgrounds emerged after the class read The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf. Each family was asked to work on a family tree with their child and brought it in to share with their classmates.
(Check out the Global Grover Initiative for ideas on this – there are facilitator and caregiver guides).
My daughter kept bringing up the topic of Native Americans. She told me, “Pocahontas is Native American you know.” I started to think of what I could do to help her learn more about Native Americans… (more…)
Eva Fannon is a working mom who lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her hubby and two girls. She was born and raised on the east coast and followed her husband out west when he got a job offer that he couldn't refuse. Eva has always been a planner, so it took her a while to accept that no matter how much you plan and prepare, being a mom means a new and different state of "normal".
Despite the craziness on most weekday mornings (getting a family of four out the door in time for work and school is no easy task!), she wouldn't trade being a mother for anything in the world. She and her husband are working on introducing the girls to the things they love - travel, the great outdoors, and enjoying time with family and friends. Eva can be found on Twitter @evafannon.
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by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Jan 17, 2011 | China, Family, Family Travel, International, Kids, Motherhood, Multicultural, Travel, USA
In the fall of 2007, when our daughter was just 16 months old, my husband studied the fall semester of his two-year Masters of Business Administration program abroad in Beijing, China. He left in September, so he could settle in and get the majority of his fall semester completed. Then in November, my daughter and I planned to join him for the last two months.
As most mother’s know, traveling with kids can test your moral fiber.
So, imagine the daunting prospect of a solo, 14-hour, transpacific flight with a “lap infant” (meaning, in order to fly our daughter over for free, I had to risk traveling with her on my lap if the flight was full). My biggest tests were: my lap infant was actually an active and inquisitive toddler and the flight was full.
But desperate means call for desperate measures. (more…)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
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by Jennifer Burden | Jan 5, 2011 | Communication, Culture, Education, Family, International, Kids, Language, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Preschool, USA
My husband and I loved living just outside of Washington, D.C. for the culture — the public events at the embassies, the international schools and night classes, the monuments, the free and approachable museums, the diverse people and the interesting volunteer opportunities, to name a few.
We looked forward to someday raising our children on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. and exposing them to the world from this cultural vantage point. But, things didn’t happen as we’d planned… (more…)
Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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by Astrid Warren (Norway) | Dec 14, 2010 | Culture, Family, Family Travel, International, Motherhood, Multicultural, Norway, Parenting, Travel, UK
When I think about the perfect Xmas I think about waking up in the morning and seeing snow outside my window. (I guess I should mention that I am talking about a Norwegian Xmas, where we celebrate on Xmas Eve, not Xmas day.) As a child I enjoyed getting up really early in the morning and going into the living room to see the decorated Xmas tree with its light, and for the first time seeing all the presents underneath it.
Then, I’d spend the rest of the day looking at the presents, just looking. I never touched them or picked them up. I remember, especially, the afternoons when my mother was busy blow drying her hair, whilst I would watch the traditional Disney cartoons on telly. This was my perfect opportunity to look at all the presents. To this day, my parents do not believe me when I say I didn’t touch them, but honestly I didn’t! (more…)
Astrid is a Norwegian thirty something, married, working mum to a wee lad who is almost three and a baby born in 2012! She grew up in Norway, but moved to London, England after she met her husband. After living there during her twenties, she has since returned to Norway and settled down in her nation's capital of Oslo to raise her family.
She finds herself slowly turning into her own mother as her free time is spent reading, walking, knitting and meeting up with other mums for coffee. (Ok, she still secretly loves going to the pub, too!). However, there isn't much time for any of the above, as she now enjoys spending most of her time crawling around on the floor, while playing with her children! Check out her blog, Quintessentially Burrows. She's also on Twitter @MrsSWarren.
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by Jennifer Burden | Dec 7, 2010 | Bilingual, Canada, Culture, Education, Family, International, Kids, Language, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, USA
I’ve started to buy my daughter’s gifts for under the Christmas tree this year, and I’m on the hunt for fun things that will excite her imagination and curiosity about the fascinating world that we live in (short of actually jumping on a plane to a different country). With this in mind, I’ve come up with a bunch of “around the world” gift ideas for children… (more…)
Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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by Kirsten Doyle (Canada) | Dec 6, 2010 | Being Thankful, Canada, Family, Health, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, South Africa, Travel
Six years ago today, my Dad lost a brief but excruciating battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed just three months previously, and he had gone through rounds of crippling chemotherapy, as well as a ten-hour long operation. Although Dad had been so desperately ill during the last weeks of his life, I had held onto the hope that he would survive and grow old with my Mom.
And so, when my Mom called from the other side of the world with the news that Dad was gone, I went into immediate denial. What do you mean, gone?
This is the man who raised me, played with me and read to me as a kid, gave me financial advice as an adult, watched an entire Olympics with me when we both had the flu, attended father-daughter dances with me and helped sell my Girl Scout cookies, and so much more. Gone? It just didn’t seem possible. (more…)
Kirsten Doyle was born in South Africa. After completing university, she drifted for a while and finally washed up in Canada in 2000. She is Mom to two boys who have reached the stage of eating everything in sight (but still remaining skinny).
Kirsten was a computer programmer for a while before migrating into I.T. project management. Eventually she tossed in the corporate life entirely in order to be a self-employed writer and editor. She is now living her best life writing about mental health and addictions, and posting videos to two YouTube channels.
When Kirsten is not wrestling with her kids or writing up a storm, she can be seen on Toronto's streets putting many miles onto her running shoes. Every year, she runs a half-marathon to benefit children with autism, inspired by her older son who lives life on the autism spectrum.
Final piece of information: Kirsten is lucky enough to be married to the funniest guy in the world.
Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Be sure to check out her YouTube channels at My Gen X Life and Word Salad With Coffee!
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A few days ago my four-year old daughter informed me that one of her pre-school teachers is Native American. I asked her how she knew about this, to which she responded that her teacher told the class. Her teachers use a developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) framework (see more on this at http://www.naeyc.org/dap/faq) for teaching.
