Search Results for: blog celebrating all cultures

Free Fall Festivals

Fall is here and it seems everyone is encouraging you to get out and enjoy Mother Nature. The leaves are glorious, the temperatures are comfortable and the mood is relaxed. But, you’re broke and there are only so many free walks in the woods you can take before you get tired of looking at falling leaves. Fortunately, there are other options for penny-pinching families. Free festivals are amazing places for frugalistas to spend fall weekends. Simply pack up the gang and head out to these kid-friendly events that don’t require you to spend a single dime to partake in seasonal … Continue reading →

Month in Review: June 2008 Adoption Blogs

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I kicked off the month by attending a Cultural Fair with exchange students and au pairs. In my blog Celebrating ALL Cultures, I assert that celebrating all cultures makes our kids believe we truly accept diversity and aren’t just accepting them because they are our kids. I talk about some of the history of adoption with Proxy Adoptions. This means adoptions where the prospective parents didn’t meet their children first. In the past this sometimes meant there was little in the way of a homestudy or any education for the adopting family. Today a homestudy is always done, and while … Continue reading →

Celebrating ALL Cultures

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I just returned from a Culture Day celebrated by local college exchange students and au pairs, together with their host families. We had absolutely amazing food—Thai and Chinese and Korean, Indian, South African, Costa Rican, Chilean, Swedish, German, and a cheesecake with the Canadian Maple Leaf on top. The Thai au pairs and the children they care for demonstrated children’s games from Thailand. Several South African students showed visual aids they had made with pictures of their countries’ wildlife and beaches, and its many official languages! One host family—including the parents– joined their Indian au pair in a “Bollywood” dance—in … Continue reading →

The Marriage Blog Week in Review for Dec 23-29

Whew! What a week! We started with the roll into Christmas and we’re ending it counting down to the New Year. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and we’ll be officially counting down the last few hours until 2007 is born. So let’s take a look at our last week of 2006 here in the marriage blog and the articles that we wrote to share with you. If you missed anything this week with the holidays, this is your chance to catch up on all of that. Saturday, December 23 We marked the approach of the end of the year with … Continue reading →

Celebrating with Food – Traditions at Christmas

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about creating holiday traditions and celebrating with our spouses. We’ve talked about blending traditions from our families and starting our own with our new families. Often those traditions include celebrating with a great feast or some kind of meal on the Christmas holidays. Our family often celebrates with a roast beef, others celebrate with a ham or a turkey and still others celebrate with lasagna. The food may or may not have meanings or it may simply represent bringing your family back together or bring to mind those shared meals of your youth. … Continue reading →

What is Easter Really?

It might shock some to learn that Easter is not actually a Christian holiday. Easter has very clear pagan roots that predate Christ in the flesh. The name “Easter” derives from the pagan queen of heaven Ishtar or Astarte, as well as various other names depending on the region celebrating. During some Easter celebrations, men and women would assemble in a circle around a fire each placing a piece of oatcake in a shepherd’s bonnet. One of the pieces would be blackened. Each person was blindfolded and chose a piece of oatcake out of the bonnet. Whoever chose the blackened … Continue reading →

Learning About Other Cultures and Religions Through Children’s Television

Sometimes we have a tendency to think of TV as just entertainment, when it can be much more. One episode of “Blue’s Clues” we particularly enjoyed was one where Steve and Blue were making the rounds of the neighborhood, wishing their friends a happy holiday season. They went to a home where Kwanzaa was being celebrated, with corn and goblets set on a mat, and learned that Kwanzaa commemorates the strength of community and togetherness. Then they went to a Jewish home and learned about the miracle that began the tradition of Hanukah. Their last stop was at a Christian … Continue reading →

It’s Walpurgis Night – So What’s That?

Six months ago I profiled Chernabog in my Halloween list of the most frightening Disney moments. Chernabog is a Slavic deity; not much is known about him, but as Christian traditions took over the pagan ones in Europe he was seen as a black god, even sometimes associated with or as the devil. The Night on Bald Mountain sequence from “Fantasia,” which contains Chernabog, is according to the conductor who introduces the segment set on Walpurgis Night. I’d never heard of Walpurgis Night, or at least it never registered as I watched “Fantasia,” so I thought I would research it. … Continue reading →

Fold3 Gives Free Access to Black History Collection

In the United States, February is Black History Month. This is the perfect month for genealogists to learn how to do research that will help them to learn more about their African-American ancestors. Fold3 is offering genealogists free access to their entire Black History record collection, for the whole month of February. Black History Month is a good time for genealogists to take a class, or attend a workshop, that teaches people the researching techniques that are required in order to find information about one’s African-American ancestors. Part of the difficulty with this type of genealogy is that the records … Continue reading →

The Role of Spirituality in Secular Homeschooling

Teaching your child how to be an ethical being in the world is something that every parent wants to do. As they get older, we also want children who know how to seek quiet comfort when they are in need and find joy and wonder in everyday things. The spiritual side of parenting and homeschooling is important, yet those of us who are secular in nature often neglect to discuss it. How can you encourage your child to develop a sense of herself as a spiritual being in the world? Practice ethics with your child. Whether it’s adopting rescue animals … Continue reading →