I am Alexis, World Traveler and I would love for you to join me on my many travels to different countries. Together we will learn about the children and families of these lands. We will learn it is ok to be different, that we are all God's Children.
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Alexis's mother and I feel it is important to teach Alexis about diversity and cultural awareness. We want Alexis to know that people of different cultures may be different from us but that it is ok to be different. We want her to know that if we understand their culture that the differences are not really that great. From the time Alexis was born we have been talking to her about world events, and racial tolerance. She has never heard a racial slur in her six years of life. The foundations for racial attitudes are laid as infants and toddlers and after the age of nine their racial attitudes tend to stay the same. That is why it is so important that we never let our children hear or see any form of racial intolerance. When you live in rural Indiana it makes it more challenging to teach about diversity and different cultures. We came up with the idea to have her study about a different country each month and we will do fun activities such as eating at restaurants, playing games, visiting museums, dressing , and listening to music depicting the country we are studying. Follow Alexis on her many travels around the world and feel free to join her as she learns about the many different cultures.

~Mamaw~

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Yeh-Shen: A Chinese Cinderella

One of our goals as we study different countries, is to also read Cinderella stories from around the world. This month we found Yeh-Shen: A Chinese Cinderella, at our local library.



This version of Cinderella dates 1,000 years earlier than the European version. It is similar to to the European version , Yeh-Shen has an evil stepmother and half sister. They force Yeh-Shen to wear rags to hide her beauty. Here is where the story differs, Yeh Shen's only friend is a fish, who she visits and feeds everyday. Her stepmother, who does not want Yeh-Shen to have any friends not even a fish, takes a dagger and kills the fish to serve for dinner. Little does she know that the bones of the fish are magical. Yeh-Shen hides the fish bones in a safe place, away from her stepmother. One day, when Yeh-Shen tells the fish her desire to have beautiful clothes to wear, her wish is granted and the fish provides her with a beautiful dress and golden slippers. The story continues in similar fashion to the European version, so I'm sure you can imagine what happens next.

It always amazes me that stories hundreds or thousands of years apart can be so shockingly similar. We do truly live in a small world.

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