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I often worry about the lack of diversity in our area. In my four year old’s preschool class there are no “brown” kids, just “peach”. Of course she lives with two brown sisters and we frequent places of diversity and our home is full of mementos from different cultures as well as our books and movies.
I was very happy to see the topic of the week last week was “Multicultural Colors”. They had a person in to talk about Chinese culture. They ate with chop-sticks and learned about Chinese dancing. Elle was so excited that she wore her Chinese dress we bought her in Chinatown in San Francisco the next day she had school. The next day she ate chicken noodle soup with her chopsticks. Talk about a long lunch!
They learned about Haiti the next day. The kids were upset that the children they saw in a film did not have many toys or art supplies. Her class is now collecting crayons to send to Haiti and they are also going to make pillows for the kids as well.
These are simple lessons for young kids, but they warm my heart because this next generation will be learning about different cultures, languages and colors years before I was ever exposed.
Her teacher also learned of our girls from Ethiopia that week. She was pretty impressed that Elle had already been to England and Ethiopia before the age of four!
Today when I dropped Elle off at school they had a new student. A little girl who who was adopted from China. The teacher asked Elle to be her special friend.
How small our world is!
We have three copies of the children’s book Ten Days and Nine Nights by Yumi Heo to give away! Please visit our giveaway post to enter!
Ronald Steven Federici is often described as “the country’s expert in the neuropsychological evaluation and treatment of children having multi-sensory neurodevelopmental impairments.”
He is best described as a “developmental neuropsychologist,” specializing in the treatment of “institutional autism” (which he also calls “post-traumatic autism,” or “post-institutional autistic syndrome”).
Dr. Federici is licensed by the Virginia Board, and is the holder of a Psy. D. degree.
Dr. Ronald Federici is the author of “Help for the Hopeless Child: A Guide for Families, With Special Discussion for Assessing and Treating the Post-Institutionalized Child” and is the founder of Neuropsychological and Family Practice Associates, in McLean, Virginia.
He has worked with adopted children from Russia, Romania, Ukraine and Belarus. He is also the father to seven adopted children of his own.
Federici is also an outspoken opponent of dangerous practices, such as those resulting in the death of Candace Newmaker. In addition, he has also sought to provide as much assistance as possible to children living in orphanages and other institutions with deplorable conditions.
More information about Dr. Federici and his work can be found at:
http://ronaldfederici.wordpress.com (Ronald Federici blog)
http://ronfederici.wordpress.com (Ron Federici blog)
http://childrenintherapy.wordpress.com (Children in Therapy)
http://advocatesforchildrenintherapy.wordpress.com (Advocates for Children in Therapy)
http://angelinajolieadoptions.wordpress.com (Angelina Jolie’s adoptions; Dr. Federici is Angelina Jolie’s adoption consultant)