Our country is beautiful but has an ugly past and often an ugly present. Equality, slavery, racism, and profiling are difficult topics to address to our children. As an African American mother and teacher, I often find myself struggling with "the how and when" to introduce these topics to my own children. I have 2 little boys and it is my goal to instill in them a positive view of society but I must also prepare them for the realities that may occur in society. Overall, I have not experience many encounters of overt racism but I can remember my first. My paternal grandmother is an Irish, Caucasian women while my grandfather is African American. I used to go to the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade every year when I was little. I stopped going after an incident occurred at the parade where I felt left out because I am African American. I won't go into the details because I feel its irrelevant but my take away from that day is that everyone has different beliefs and they are entitled to those beliefs.
My oldest son is almost 4 (next month) so I will tell him briefly about the holiday but I will not go into detail until he is old enough to understand. I am sharing some of the resources I found so you can have them if you need them. Disclaimer: As with any videos, preview them before your child watches to just make sure you approve of the content.
Articles
This resource is for parents written by Oprah's staff, "The True Meaning of the Juneteenth Flag, Explained"
I love this article by Care.com as they explain how to introduce this topic to your kiddos.
https://homeschoolsuperfreak.com/juneteenth-for-kids/ (This is an EXCELLENT resource that includes lesson ideas, activities and crafts)
Educational Child Friendly Videos
The History of Juneteenth | Videos for Kids | Storytelling By Miami Children Museum
This video was featured on the show "Blackish" (might be appropriate for children 6 and up)
Crafts and Celebrations
Juneteenth Crafts, Books, Food, & Activities by Right at School
by Beelieve Academy
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