Crash Course in Global Awareness

One of my favorite books for children is a favorite because of the impact it has made on my family. We live in a land of freedom with an amazing amount of rights and privileges. Most of us have enough food, access to education, freedom of religion, and the blessing of medical care. Many of us have air conditioning and heating. We go to the dentist. Our children have shoes. And toys.

Imagine the mind expansion that happens to a child when she reads the direct words of a girl her own age in Africa whose only toy is a ball made out of a wild tomato wrapped in grass! Suddenly she feels quite humble that she is privileged to live in such lush circumstances when others have so little. This is the incredible effect that Children Just Like Me had on my children, and had on me!

Part of feeling grateful is the awareness of differences. If everyone has shoes, I may feel whiny about what color my shoes are. But if no one has shoes but me, I am rich indeed. In my homeschool, we used Children Just Like Me along with our geography studies, reading each child's first person description of his daily life: what he eats, what he plays with, where he lives. Becoming more globally aware of how the rest of the world lives can have the effect of intensifying gratitude for our blessings! It also makes us realize that in regard to the important things in life—like being in a family or the joy of a new baby—we share these common experiences with other human beings all over the planet.

The authors of this fascinating book spent two years meeting and photographing children from more than 140 countries. The book is divided by continent, and introduces each country with photos of children, their names, and nationalities. Then a double-page spread shows you just where each child lives, what they eat and what type of utensils they eat with, where they go to school, their friends and family— all in color photographs! Learn about each child's favorite games, friends, and hopes for the future.

Children Just Like Me—a mind-expanding children's book that I highly recommend!
See it here.