• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Kampuchea Crossings

Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

  • Home
  • Public Health Portfolio
  • Work Posts
  • Contact

multicultural kid blogs

#KidLit for encouraging girls’ education

5 June 2016 by Nathalie Abejero 2 Comments

The challenge of educating girls (worldwide) is a complex topic, involving the myriad responsibilities placed on them by their households and communities. High opportunity costs make this a volatile issue for many poor rural families. With firsthand exposure to this important issue, it’s not a new conversation to our kids. This book makes it approachable.

Read around the world Running Shoes

It’s a particularly common problem in Cambodia. It’s capital, Phnom Penh, adapted quickly to the fast-paced world around it soon after emerging from decades of conflict.

But progress is slow to reach those less affluent and villages outside of the capital city and tourist towns like Siem Reap with Angkor Wat and Sihanoukville with its beaches. The gap between the educated and those still living out traditional agrarian cultures is vast, with girls and women bearing the brunt of poverty and its effects.

20160605_115904 sm

Running Shoes, by Frederick Lipp, introduces this topic in a kid-friendly story about a girl whose one wish was to get running shoes. Her father died years ago because there was no health worker in her village. She spent her days helping out with farm chores and wasn’t able to attend the one school that was eight kilometers (5 miles) away on dirt roads. When a kind stranger finally granted her wish by sending her a new pair of running shoes, she was able to convince her mother to let her go to school. In the one-room schoolhouse of just boys, she was laughed at for telling the teacher she wanted to learn to read. “But you’re a girl!” they taunted her until she proved herself.

20160605_120005 sm

20160605_120032 sm

20160605_120050 sm

The publisher is Open Book, an NGO that also maintains a library in Phnom Penh for children of all ages. It publishes a series of bilingual Khmer/English storybooks that gives readers a glimpse into the rural and city lives of aspiring young Khmer kids.

Travel and cultures are a large part of the homeschool curriculum for our kids. One of our lesson plans ties this theme in with research they do on causes that they wish to support. They’re just three and five, but their experience living, traveling and reading books like this one, helps them to appreciate their luck of birth.

The kids are old enough to get and manage an allowance, and a portion of it goes towards a cause they choose. One activity we’re exploring is supporting the education of girls. And possibilities for the next project include an effort called Proteep (ប្រទីប), meaning”light”, which was begun by our old Khmer tutor to educate girls in her village of Kampong Thom. See their story here, or check out their Facebook page.

Running Shoes is a short story that had our kids asking questions. Can’t anyone in her house teach her to read? Why does she have to go so far away? Why are there only boys in that school? Can she buy her own shoes now? I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on it!

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Cambodia, change the world, empowerment, girls' education, kidlit, kids books, learning to read, multicultural kid blogs, read around the world, Soun Neang

Tagalog book: Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut)

4 June 2014 by Nathalie Abejero 4 Comments

Bahay Kubo(2)

This folk song is a catchy tune (in tagalog), and my son picked up the lyrics in a very short time. He was 2 years old then and spoke no Tagalog. It’s a good introduction to the language and culture of the Philippines.

Anak Books has a great description of the book, so I copy it below in its entirety from their website. Please visit them because it also features a lot of great books in both Tagalog and bilingual Tagalog/English.

The classic Tagalog folktale ‘Bahay Kubo’ is lovingly told and beautifully illustrated through classic Filipino vignettes. This book includes lyrics and score. “Bahay Kubo” is perhaps the best-known and best-loved folk song in the Philipines. Its composer is unknown. Its Tagalog lyrics have been passed down through the generations by way of the oral tradition. The words and music which appear in this book represent but one of the many versions of this folk song. The song’s diatonic melody and walts-like rhythm suggest European influences. The lyrics include plants which are not indegenous to the Philippines, such as peanuts (mani), eggplant (talong), and mustard (mustasa). These foreign elements could mean that the folk song originated or evolved during colonial times. Bahay Kubo tells of a family living in a small nipa hut, surrounded by a garden filled with vegetables. It is a song that celebrates the bounty of our land.

 

This post is for the Read Around the World Summer Reading Series from Multicultural Kid Blogs!  Now through August, bloggers from all over the world will share their recommendations of great multicultural books for the entire family!  For more details and the full schedule, visit the series main page.  You can also follow along on our Summer Reading Pinterest Board!

Filed Under: Life, Travels Tagged With: bahay kubo, book, filipino, folk song, folk tale, kids, multicultural kid blogs, nipa hut, preschool, read around the world summer reading series, reading, Tagalog, traditional song

Primary Sidebar

Those little feet pitter-pattering about rule our lives lately. But on the occasional free moment I get to tap out scatterbrained bursts of consciousness about raising toddlers in Cambodia, traveling with them and working abroad. These posts are my personal updates to friends and family. But since you’re here, have a look around. Thanks for stopping by…

Read More…

Tweets by nabejero

Blog Post Categories

  • Interests
  • Life
  • Travels
  • Work

Latest posts

  • Kids project: Micro-loans to women entrepreneurs
  • I ran the 50th NYC Marathon!
  • Bok l’hong with Margaritas or, memories from the Mekong
  • Getting the kids to like ampalaya (bitter gourd)
  • Gender differences in athletic training
  • Commuting and office work in the time of Covid
  • Until Covid-19 messaging improves, who do you turn to?
  • Filipino snack

Tags

aid baby Bangkok bush Cambodia christmas coconut covid-19 cuisine delivery development expat expatriate Filipino food food foreign aid holiday hurricane inauguration katrina Khmer Khmer cuisine Khmer food Khmer New Year kids levy louisiana mango Manila medical tourism mekong new orleans nola nyc obama parenthood parenting Philippines Phnom Penh Poipet running Thailand travel US xmas
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in