Welcome to day one of this special series, as 60+ bloggers from the Kid Blogger Network focus on exploring child-related topics from A-Z!

My chosen topic is the ABC’s of Raising A World Citizen, all about raising a child at home in the world, from language learning, books, and geography games, to talking about race and appreciating diversity!

For a list of all of the posts in the ABC’s of Raising a World Citizen, you can visit our main page.  For a full list of the blogs in this series, go to the ABC’s of… Main Page.

“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” – Bahá’u’lláh

Raising a world citizen is something near and dear to my heart, as I described in this post on what a world citizen means to me.  Many of the blog’s features – such as the Worldwide Culture Swapper and World Citizen Wednesdays – center around the desire to raise children who consider the whole world as their home.  It is also a driving force behind our involvement in groups like Multicultural Kid Blogs and Baha’i Mom Blogs.

Below are some tips we have found helpful in our journey.  We would love to read yours as well, so please share them in the comments!

A is for…Attitude

Kindergarten Basics

When it comes to raising a world citizen, a key ingredient is your own attitude.  As discussed in this thoughtful essay by Meera Sriram on InCulture Parent, the first step towards teaching our kids to be globally minded is “treating it as a virtue.”  When we show our own willingness to try new foods and make friends from other cultures, our children are more likely to follow.

In her list of multicultural activities for kids, Susan of Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers notes, “Young children learn from their parent’s attitudes and behaviors. They are great imitators of what you say and do.”

B is for…Books

Books are a great way to introduce your child to the world.  They can help teach another language or show traditions from other lands, all in a way that is fun for everyone.

Not sure where to begin? Your child can travel the world with the 2KuriousKids, or enjoy a book from one of these amazing book lists.  Both include sections for each continent:

Playdough to Plato shares 62 Kids’ Books from Around the World.

Delightful Children’s Books provides a book list to Read Around the World.

C is for…Celebrations

A really fun way to teach your child about other cultures is through holidays and celebrations. The best way, of course, is to celebrate with friends, so if you have the opportunity, follow the example of Mud Hut Mama and don’t be shy about participating in festivities from other cultures.

Kid World Citizen

But what if you don’t have such opportunities?  A great place to look is your local library, which often have activities related to cultural celebrations, as Hartlyn Kids found for Día de los Muertos and Kid World Citizen for Diwali.

And when the holiday season rolls around, don’t forget that there are many other holidays that you can explore, such as those highlighted by the Good Long Road or featured by the Multicultural Kid Blogs in our recent fall traditions and winter traditions blogging carnivals.  And of course there are also cultural heritage celebrations, such as Hispanic Heritage Month and Asian Pacific Heritage Month.

Not sure which holidays there are to celebrate?  Check out this incredibly comprehensive calendar of celebrations from around the world from Kid World Citizen.

But you don’t even have to celebrate an exotic holiday to teach your children about other cultures.  Hartlyn Kids has great tips for incorporating other cultures into your own holiday celebrations, and every year Living Life Intentionally sponsors a Christmas Around the World series, in which bloggers explain how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.

D is for…Diversity

Bilingual Babes

Learning about the world means learning to appreciate diversity and think beyond your own cultural surroundings.

Sprout’s Bookshelf has a wonderful post (“How White Is Your World?”) about the importance of teaching our kids about diversity and the need to take a good long look at how diverse (or not) our own lives and communities are.

So where do you begin if you want to diversify your child’s world?  Bilingual Babes has assembled an amazing collection of multicultural products you can use, and Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes shares a great book list for teaching kids to appreciate diversity of all sorts.

And what if you have the opposite situation, in which your children are different from most of the other kids in your neighborhood or school?  Here are some smart tips from Bilingual Babes, about helping kids deal with being different.

E is for…Empathy

Moms Gone Global

It is one thing to teach your kids to appreciate those who are different, but even better is to go one step deeper and help children learn to empathize with others, which ultimately helps them feel a kinship with those who may seem different.

Moms Gone Global gives a passionate argument for the need to include empathy in children’s education.  What can you do? Here are some great tips from Kid World Citizen about teaching kids about empathy, and Pragmatic Mom has compiled a list of top books that teach kids compassion.

Thank you to all of the bloggers who let us share their posts and pictures here.

ABC’s of…Mom Tips and Tricks

Check out these other great ABC’s series from the bloggers of the Kid Blogger Network:

• Being a Hands on Mom from hands on : as we grow
• Connecting with your Kids from One Perfect Day
• Family Field Trips with Kids from Edventures with Kids
• Fun Healthy Snacks for Kids from Juggling with Kids
• Kids Party Ideas from Mama Pea Pod
• Mama Survival from The Dizzy Mom
• Organized Home from Mamas Like Me
• Printables from Mama Miss
• Raising Boys from Boy Mama Teacher Mama
• Raising Eco-Friendly Kids from Kitchen Counter Chronicles
• Raising Girls from Mess for Less
• Raising a Healthy Kid from Living Life Intentionally
• Raising a Thinking Child from The Outlaw Mom
• Raising Toddlers from Home Learning Journey
• Raising a World Citizen from All Done Monkey
• Simply Celebrating Holidays as a Family from Inspired by Family Magazine
• Teaching Kids about Money from Carrots are Orange
• The Family Dinner Table from Connecting Family & Seoul
• Trying A New Experience with Your Children from 52 Brand New
• Values for Children from True Aim Education

For a full list of the ABC’s topics from the Kid Blogger Network, including School Activities, Learning Through Play, Literacy, and Arts and Crafts, go to the main ABC’s Series page or click on the image to the left.