It was always important to me that my children embraced and respected diversity. I was glad to have Montessori ideas to help them along the way. When my children were preschoolers, we especially focused on holidays such as Martin Luther King Day to encourage a respect for other races through books and hands-on activities.
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What Research Says
According to research results shared in the book NurtureShock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, it’s important to talk to children about race as early as age three. Talking about race with children (rather than trying to create “color-blind environments” for them while ignoring the topic of race) will encourage children to embrace diversity.
Montessori Education and Race
Montessori education doesn’t ignore race. Even during the preschool years, children are exposed to the continents and peoples of the world. During the elementary years, the peoples of the world are studied from a historical perspective.
Maria Montessori was a strong proponent of peace education for children. She said: “Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education.”
In my post “Montessori Inspiration for Martin Luther King Day,” you’ll find some wonderful activities such as Celebrating Skin Color with Paint Activity by Jessie from The Education of Ours at Mommy Moment and Collaging Kids Around the World from The Work Plan.
One of my favorite diversity activities isn’t necessarily a Montessori activity. It’s the classic egg activity for showing that we’re all the same on the inside. The What is Diversity? egg activity was shared by Mari from Inspired by Family Magazine at Kids Activities Blog. That activity would fit well in the Montessori curriculum – or in any educational program encouraging diversity.
The Montessori Continent Boxes can also be used to directly focus on the peoples of the world from an early age.
Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Teachers (My post at Bits of Positivity with resources from 2020, especially focusing on resources for parents and teachers of young children)
More activities for peace education and conflict resolution can be found in my roundup post “Montessori-Inspired Peace Education Activities.”
You’ll find many free Black history resources in my post with free Black history printables and Montessori-inspired Black history activities.
You’ll find a focus on diversity and multicultural colors in my post with free colors & diversity printables and Montessori-inspired colors & diversity activities.
Same unit: Free Multicultural Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download) and Free Multicultural Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
You’ll find many peace books, including recommendations for multicultural peace books here.
Songs to Celebrate Diversity
While this post is specifically about respecting racial diversity, Maria Montessori would want us and our children to be kind and loving toward anyone different from us. I have some roundup posts with some beautiful songs that are perfect to share with the children we love at home and in the classroom.
Free Equality and Fairness Songs {Character Education Resources} – my post at Bits of Positivity
Free Multicultural Songs Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion {Character Education Resources} – my post at Bits of Positivity
Free Peace Songs and Educational Videos
A Variety of Diversity and Inclusion Resources
In my post with Montessori diversity and inclusion resources for preschool through elementary, you’ll find a variety of diversity themes along with book recommendations.
My Multicultural Family
My Family in April 2018
Whether it’s from Montessori-inspired activities, honest talks about race and acceptance from a young age, or a combination of a number of factors, I’m happy to say that my now-adult children have friends from various heritages around the world. In fact, my daughter-in-law, Chea (Will‘s wife) is Black, Caucasian, and Cherokee. My son-in-law, Tom (Christina‘s husband) is British (and a new U.S. citizen!).
My ancestors are Finnish and Norwegian with a touch of Swedish. My husband’s ancestry is a mixture of Polish, English, Irish, French, and German. We love the diversity and unity of our multicultural family! (Note: The photo above was taken by BE Studios last year, when Zoey was 4 years old, Sophia was 4 months old, and Caleb was 1 month old. See my grandchildren in action in my blog posts and on our YouTube channel!)
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“Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education.” Love that! I’m so pleased to hear Montessori education is so intentional about teaching respect and awareness of cultures. I’ll be pinning the activities you linked.
And, congratulations!!! I bet you’re thrilled about becoming a grandmother. 🙂
Thanks so much for pinning my post, Lauren! And thanks for the congratulations … I’m over the moon about becoming a grandmother! 🙂
The egg activity looks great! We have something local to us called the Peace Pavilion; its focus is on instilling respect for diversity through children’s programming. We love it!
Thanks for your comment, Dionna! The Peace Pavilion sounds awesome! 🙂
If we want our children to be part of the solution to violence against others, we have to start talking to them now.
I totally agree, Mandy!
Your family is so cute! I have to be totally honest, I thought the “color blind” idea was the way to go. I figured I just wouldn’t bring up the topic of race until the boys brought it up. My niece and nephews are all adopted from China. Those are their closest playmates. I thought the boys just didn’t notice and that was great. But your post has made me rethink that. It’s great information/ resources and good food for thought. Thanks for such a well-written, informative article.
Thanks for your sweet comment, Jackie! NurtureShock really has some thought-provoking information, doesn’t it?! It’s often different than what would be expected, but it really does make sense. 🙂
I love the quotes you share in this post, particularly the one from NurtureShock. I wish everyone could read that book and realize that promoting color blindness is not the right approach to take as so many believe it is, as it doesn’t give children the right tools they need to understand and talk about race and ethnicity (which children do notice but don’t always have the vocabulary to talk about). To be true friends in this world to people from all backgrounds and really be able to practice inclusive behavior as well as recognize racism when they see it (which includes being able to stand up against it), kids need to understand that people can be different colors, religions, cultures etc and differences make the world beautiful. When we don’t teach them there are differences, that is when kids can respond negatively to people who are different without meaning to (an example from real life with my kids, which really bothered my four-year-old: “You don’t eat pork? That is so weird!” because this child probably wasn’t taught people have different religions). I published a really good article on how and why to talk to your kids about race for anyone interested: http://www.incultureparent.com/2013/05/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-race-whats-appropriate-for-ages-3-8/ Also, I love this quote from Maria Montessori you shared: “Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education.”
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Stephanie. That is a great article about taking with children about race. Thanks so much for sharing the link! 🙂
I’m from Finland. Nice to hear you have also Finnish roots! I have two sons and You have been such a great inspirer to me. Thank You for keeping this blog!
Thanks so much for your kind comment, Sani! My grandparents on both sides of the family spoke Finnish, and the community where I grew up in South Dakota has many people of Finnish ancestry.
I loved having the opportunity to visit your beautiful country twice … for my son’s Junior Grand Prix Final (in pairs figure skating) in 2004 and my daughter’s European Championships (in ice dance) in 2009. 🙂
Hey Deb,
It is nice to see that they do activities to celebrate many cultures. Very very important. I don’t agree with the approach of doing nothing – as to not bring attention to the differences. Children notice the differences, they do. I would rather see them talked about and celebrated, rather than ignored which leads to ignorance.
Thanks so much for this post!
Thanks for your comment, Lisa! It’s so true that children notice the differences. They definitely need to be talked about and celebrated.
What a great post! I loved the picture of your own family in the end. It’s so inspiring to see mixed marriages that are supported and blessed by older generations. It wasn’t the case just so very recently…
Thanks so much for your kind comment, Natalie! It’s too true that wasn’t the case too recently in our society.
I think recent current events reiterated even more the importance of raising children who embrace diversity and are taught not to fear those who are different than they are.