Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World

Growing Up Global! What a great book! so appropriate for today

I read a lot of books on this subject but I must say this is the best I've read. It is so helpful and the author gives so many good tips. It is great for parents, teachers, and anyone who is interested in a globally aware population. Homa Tavangar gives us very creative ideas on how to naturally familiarize our children with cultures and peoples around the world by watching movies, reading stories, even having birthday parties from around the world, and so many other activities. It is truly a fun and inspiring book, and I highly recommend it.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

So Appropriate For Today

This book is an ideal tool to create in us awareness of other cultures. It is easy to read and has lots of information for teachers, parents and anyone who is interested in making the world a better place. It is a unique book, in that the author gives us information on how to have a global family and bring the rest of the world into our homes without having to travel to other countries. It guides the reader and gives the names of books to read with the children, films to see with the family, global games, birthdays, and even how to greet people of different cultures in order to naturally train the children to see the world and all humanity as one family.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Growing Up Global close to home!

"Growing Up Global" is an excellent resource on ways to bring the world into your home & your family. Since our children will be competing on the world stage for education and employment, it is not only appropriate, but necessary to help them accept diversity, learn from differences, and celebrate the variety of customs, cultures and opportunities available to them. "Growing Up Global" provides realistic and doable projects, both big and small, to ease anyone into a global mindset. You can read the book cover to cover, or pick and choose what means the most to you. After reading the book, my family immediately adopted some of the ideas presented and we all look forward to the discussions and games that have resulted. Give Global a try!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

THE RIGHT BOOK AT THE RIGHT TIME!

I recently received a copy of this book for the Parent and Teacher Collection of my library and want to recommend it to others. If you are interested in learning about the world around you, if you want your children to be globally literate and to feel at home in the world, this book is for you. It provides a wealth of sound advice and is filled with information and activities. Tavangar focuses on raising our children in a world growing smaller each day due to technology and travel. The text is accessible including boxed sections with suggestions for creative ways to gain global literacy. There are sample tips for those that want to start by making small changes. The entire book is written in an encouraging style for all those that realize that the time has come to explore and get to know their fellow citizens of the world and starting at an early age is Tavangar's premise. She gives the example of her youngest child and how it was so much easier for her to bond with the people and pick up the language. Her pronunciation was perfect! She gives other powerful examples of how following through on teaching global literacy is necessary in this day for our children. She stresses the two fold benefits in doing this - the benefit for the future of the world at large and the benefit for our children as they expand their horizons and become "world citizens". As a true world citizen herself, Tavangar has taken a respite from her travels to take the time to encourage the rest of us to follow in her footsteps. Because of travel and technology there has never been a better time to do this. This book is really the right book at the right time!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting!

I got this book to help my kids and found it to be just as useful for myself if not more. The author should be thanked for her extensive research and clear and easy presentation of the topics. A great every day family resource and perfect for our present time. Excellent.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!

Thank you, Homa Tavangar, for giving us this book! I have always wanted a book that gives me ideas and actually suggests movies, games, books, etc. to help me raise my children with a global perspective; and this is the book!

The best thing we can do for our children today is raising them with a global mindset and aware of cultures and religions around the world. This book has been so helpful to me in doing just that.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I didn't love it.

What an amazing experience for a family....to have the opportunity to live and work in Africa for an extended period of time. Those children will be forever changed in ways that those of us without said opportunity can only imagine. Unfortunately, I don't think that any book, game, movie, etc... can really have even a moderately similar impact on our youth. I certainly agree that it's a wonderful idea to teach our children about other cultures, but do I think that it will help them become better or more successful individuals? Probably not. Not in the same way that immersion could.

On a side note - 2 things stand out to me in a slightly negative way. The author recounts an experience when she and her children shared a meal with the local people using a shared pot/bowl. She did so willingly, and while I have no doubt that she was friendly and gracious, internally, she was cringing. I guess it's only human - or rather - American of her, but it does seem to indicate that she didn't exactly embrace the experience.

As an example of cultural differences, she describes two different school lunches, one American and one Asian. The meticulously rolled sushi in the asian box is indicative of a culture that takes the time and care to provide a lovely meal for a child, whereas the American lunch would indicate that the our culture merely slaps together 2 pieces of bread because we prize speed and can't be bothered to do more. Perhaps we parents make this lunch (with just as much love as the Asians) because that's how our culture eats. It was a bit short sighted, and I found it rather offensive.

2 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Eh.

There's really nothing in this book tha you can't find on any internet search engine. As a matter of fact, many of her suggestions to learn about other cultures are simply suggestions of other books or websites. Her life and experiences are clearly fascinating, and I think her time would have been better spent on a book about that instead.

2 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

An Outstanding Contribution to Parenting Literature, a Timely and Valuable Tool, A real Pleassure to read, and a True Gift to Parents and Children

Homa Tavangar manages to deliver a seemingly impossible message, being at one with the world, with natural ease and impressive comfort of a close family friend. She brings to our homes ideas which can at once entice us or make us feel out of place. Growing Up Global takes a pragmatic approach to help parents find practical ways to raise our precious children as global citizens. All the while it awakens us as parents to an important fact, that we live in a diverse society and we should be educated about it. For many of us parents, grand parents, or friends of children living in the U.S., my beloved melting pot of peoples of the world, this book is a real and true gift, it inspires us to partake of all the beauty diverse individuals around us have to offer, and enrich our lives by their friendship.

Neda

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Must read!

I found out about this book through the principal at our elementary school. She wanted to start a book group to spread global awareness in our community. We live in a rather small town in southern Maine, so you might say that we have to work hard to teach our children about the world. This is a WONDERFUL book to help do just that! We were also very lucky because Homa was willing to do a skype session with us when we were finished the book. It inspired me to start a "Global Kids Club" at our town's elementary school. Two teachers jumped on board and we had about twenty students join. What fun we had last year... the book was a great resource and gave us MANY fantastic ideas. I highly recommend this book to every parent and educator, especially if you live in a place that is a little less diverse. I hope you appreciate the book and Homa as much as I do!

YES! Growing Up Global is THAT GOOD!

I went out and bought this great book after reading the super-positive review on Huffington Post and Boston Globe and I am so glad I did. I feel compelled to go out of my way to post this review for Growing Up Global - it's just that good! I am REALLY impressed by all the information the book packs in, the research, the great ideas and the smarter, kinder vision of the world we can embrace without resorting to simple PC-ness. And I can't believe no one else has written anything else like it. When I searched for Growing Up Global I looked for similar books and couldn't find anything comparable. Growing Up Global is the real deal and I hope more families will benefit from it, as mine has. Seems like good homework for my kids' school, too!

MUCH More Than I Expected

I was intrigued by the title but the inside is what really hooked me. I expected a feel-good treatment and got that, but also got a profound vision of my connection with the world and clarity on how to pass that along to my kids. I am going to give this as a holiday gift to my friends and children's teachers. I'm looking forward to the conversations we'll have once we've all looked at this. I will also recommend to my book club!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not that great

I hoped that this book might add something new to my personal interest in global perspectives on child rearing, but I was disappointed. Much of what was discussed we are already doing in our family life or is happening in our schools.

More deeply, I felt the topic was approached from a very narrow perspective. She is from one of the wealthiest urban suburbs in the United States and the suggestions and commentary reflected that mindset. I did not find that very satisfying as most of the world doesn't live that way. It's likely that soccer moms from her neighborhood may find some of what is written curious, but perhaps not so convincing.

As a final thought, I question the entire premise at some level. Our children may do best to deepen their identities in their own communities and cultures, whatever they are, and then find more genuine opportunities to experience cultures later in life. Media, including music, provide plenty of opportunities to vicariously experience world culture without creating an Epcot-like experiences for them. Many of the experience suggested here seemed candied, and it may do the children a disservice in the long run to present cultures in that light.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.