Go to School

• Schools can help or hinder kids to grow up global. Parents can assist schools or supplement the curriculum at home to provide a global perspective. It is important that international awareness be integrated into the general curriculum and not treated as an add-on topic. Reading lessons can feature non-American authors, or stories about life in different cultures. Even math story problems can feature diverse cultural situations and names. A look at most social studies curricula shows a US focus. We even spend a year just on our state’s history and only one on global studies. Focus on other countries usually deals with wars.
• Parents should start young and let students form their own opinions. This chapter contains lots of ideas parents and teachers can use. If I still had a young child in school, the first thing I would do is give the teacher a copy of this book as the great examples are too numerous to mention here. One thing I did with my daughter as I traveled was visit schools and try to let her spend a day in class with kids her age.

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