Teaching kids about poverty

[Embassy]

What age have you or do you plan to teach your children about the extreme poverty found in the world? I put together a little study for my 6 and 8 year old this year. Because of their age I avoided some topics like the sex trade and exposure to violence. Although I have talked to them about some issues before, I haven't really exposed them to the facts or heart wrenching pictures.

[angela in ohio]

Because of our faith, my dc learn much (and get to act) through missions information from an early age.

 

We also discussed economic conditions (number of doctors per capita, infant mortality rate, etc.) as part of our geography study. My olders were very interested in impoverished countries and war, especially in Africa, because of their interest in missions.

 

Also, dh has taught and dc and I have done a Bible program in our inner city, so they see less drastic but closer to home poverty.

[mommaduck]

We've taught them since they were little. They are never too young.

[homeschoolally]

Have you looked at the book 'Material World' yet?

 

I thought it was a great introduction to these issues, without anything too shocking in it. Basically they have families from around the world pose for a picture in front of their home with all their belongings unloaded out in the front yard.

 

It was very eye-opening for my kids, yet gentle and age appropriate for school-age children.

[Embassy]

Have you looked at the book 'Material World' yet?

 

I thought it was a great introduction to these issues, without anything too shocking in it. Basically they have families from around the world pose for a picture in front of their home with all their belongings unloaded out in the front yard.

 

It was very eye-opening for my kids, yet gentle and age appropriate for school-age children.

 

 

Yes, we have that book. I love it and have used it with my boys for a couple years. It doesn't show the extreme poverty that exists in the world, but does show the difference between the West and the developing world.

[creekland]

Besides our teaching, we joined with a church once that encouraged members to eat nothing but beans and rice for 5 days and save the rest of the money for giving. That was eye opening, and we got to eat it 3 times a day, not just once. It did a lot for real life appreciation of what we have here (including spices and drink options). Now we occasionally do it on Sundays just to remember and be thankful.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

We do things through our temple, like make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after services every Friday night, which one of our congregants passes out to homeless people living in various places around the city. We also collect things for different places throughout the year. The kids are starting to learn about giving to the less fortunate through these activities.

 

My sister is also hosting a boy from Haiti while he has surgery for an eye damaged in the earthquake. We have talked extensively about Haiti and the poverty and devastation there.

 

Since dh has siblings adopted from El Salvador, we have also talked about poverty and life style in El Salvador.

 

I plan to continue talking about how fortunate we are here in this country and how we can work to make others' lives better.

[Carrie12345]

We haven't tackled EXTREME poverty (like 3rd world) with the youngers yet, but ds is somewhat familiar from our random studies and conversations.

 

We mostly focus on local charitable acts that the kids can relate to - food, clothing, etc. My dds are very sensitive about those ideas, and I don't think they're quite ready to handle the idea that there are people without access to food banks or even a water supply. Soon.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My kids have seen shanty towns (many of the homes are just made from cardboard) in the Philippines. They've also visited an aboriginal village in the Philippines where I taught the kids while they all squatted on the dirt. It wasn't a "look at them" sort of thing though - from the kid's perspective we just went and met some new friends.

 

Closer to home - we've had a ministry to low income elderly. In fact we're going to visit people from there today.

[MBM]

Several years ago, we watched PBS's The New Heroes which shows how individuals have worked to alleviate suffering in poverty-stricken areas. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth watching as a family. Very inspirational.

http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/

My two eldest have traveled to different parts of the world to work with people living in poverty. Their most recent trip was to Peru. They both have engineering degrees and try to help in that capacity but are willing to help in other ways, too.

Our youngest does volunteer work, mostly at a soup kitchen and food depository, through his school. I don't know if that's extreme poverty, but it's a start in the right direction.

[Dobela]

We see some poverty first hand since we live in a low income neighborhood. And as former foster parents our ds has seen children whohave come from homes with no food, toys, or even a bed to sleep in so he is very aware of poverty. We have started having discussions about it more (he is age 10 now) and I have been careful to point out that while there are 3rd world countries in serious poverty, there are also areas of the US where children live similarly.

[Dobela]

I want to add tht if you happen to live near a Heifer International program, they have wonderful educational experiences for children.

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.183217/

[stripe]

The discussion was really opened up when a young girl and her baby sibling asked us for money. So depressing to see homeless children without parents. I was shocked to see a baby literally toddling down the street, whom my husband assured me was alone. (This was not in the US.)