Media Review: American Cultures for Children Video Series

by Pam Connell | More from this Blogger

21 Apr 2008 02:40 PM

The American Cultures for Children series, available on VHS and DVD, provides excellent introductions to other heritages for children. These videos give an overview of the cultural history and experience of ethnic groups in America. Their strength is that they show not only the distinct culture and scenes of a foreign land, but Americans of that culture in the U.S. today.

There are twelve videos available: African-American Heritage, Arab-American Heritage, Central American Heritage, Chinese-American Heritage, Irish-American Heritage, Japanese-American Heritage, Jewish-American Heritage, Korean-American Heritage, Mexican-American Heritage, Native American Heritage, Puerto Rican-American Heritage, and Vietnamese-American Heritage. Each video follows the same format: A diverse group of children is seated with the host, actress Phylicia Rashad. One of the group shares something he or she knows or wonders about a country (on the Korean-American Heritage tape, a Caucasian-looking boy named Mohammed talks about his tae kwon do class), and Rashad and the kids all enthusiastically agree to take a look.

The show's segments are introduced by brightly colored titles accompanied by enthusiastic children's voices. The segments begin with Let's Go To [Country]!, which shows urban and rural scenes of the country with a bit of historical background. Next is Field Trip!, showing an ethnic neighborhood in the U.S. including food at an ethnic restaurant and greetings from adults and children of that heritage shown at work and at play. Let's Learn [Language]! teaches Hello, Goodbye, Thank You, Friend, and Counting (one to ten) in the language of the featured country. The last segments are Story Time, Art Time!, and Music Time! A traditional folktale of the culture is told with accompanying animation. A cultural craft, such as kite-making, is demonstrated with clear directions for children to follow. The videos conclude with Rashad and her group joining singers and musicians from the target heritage to sing a song from that country.

These videos are among my favorites for introducing children to another culture. They are respectful and pack in a lot of information about both the country of origin and Americans of that ethnic group. They are fast-paced and colorful, with many segments hosted by children.

The videos are marketed for the kindergarten through fourth grade levels. I feel that even as an adult I learned a lot in a short time, although the graphics and children's exclamations may feel childish to older youth.

Our public library has these videos and your school library may as well. In my opinion they are an underused resource which are great for family nights as well as for school presentations.

And you needn't limit yourself to your child's culture of origin either. Showing an interest in other cultures helps your child feel you are sincere in appreciating different backgrounds.

Please see these related blogs:

A Caution About Introducing Children to Other Cultures

Seeking Out Diversity

Adoption and Heritage Presentations at School

Learn more about Pam Connell

Pam Connell is a mother of three by both birth and adoption. She has worked in education, child care, social services, ministry and journalism.

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