How to Raise Happy “Global” Children

We live in a world of connection. In one respect, this is a negative. For example, the notion of quality family time has been replaced with everybody lingering on their devices. But the other side of the coin is a diverse and cultured world. As parents, we want our children to thrive in the world but this means that we need to prepare our children for a more global mindset. Becoming globally aware is something that we don’t necessarily consider, especially when we are slaves to our algorithms, but one of the most fantastic benefits that our children have is that we can mould them into children that can thrive in the new world marketplace. But how can we turn our children into cultured and globally aware individuals?

Prioritise Learning a Second Language

Languages are integral to developing a more global mindset. Learning languages isn’t just about communicating, though it helps us to cross cultures easily and help us understand and appreciate differences. There are considerable benefits to learning another language for our children and us but learning a second language can be a challenge unless we take our children into the environment. When it’s possible, we should take our children out and across the world to truly immerse ourselves in another culture and language. And while our children need to stay in school, we should use the summer holidays to our advantage. As our children will have 6 weeks off during the summer, we can use this as the perfect opportunity to go somewhere for a month. You can very easily find properties provided by the HDB for rent in places like Singapore, giving you the ideal opportunity to immerse yourself in another culture on the other side of the world. But in order to learn a language properly by immersing yourself in another culture, you have to prepare. If you try to set deadlines to learning certain aspects of the language far ahead in advance you will have a distinct advantage.

Incorporating Cultural Exposure Into Your Children’s Lifestyle

We can try to force diversity upon our children but this doesn’t make it fun. When our children are enjoying themselves, this is when they will learn more about the world. This means that we need to take into account the entire culture. This means it is not just about the language or the music but it’s about everything that encapsulates a culture. This is probably the most exciting part of incorporating a plan to raise cultured children. You can do pretty much anything, as long as it’s within the desired country’s cultural touchstones. From the music to the movies, literature, art and food, you can do everything. And when you start to expose your children to other cultures as part of your everyday life, you have got to do it small and gradual. 

Making Your Children Feel Comfortable at Home

If our children are to feel comfortable in the big wide world they need to feel comfortable at home. This is what we need to address because we may not provide a solid grounding in many ways. If we want to raise children that are cultured and inquisitive we need to turn the mirror onto ourselves. Are we creating a homely environment? If we are providing diverse experiences for our children to draw upon, this sensation of “home” can be with them almost everywhere they go. In fact, when our children are young their sense of what they call home develops early on in life. And when we become more focused on providing a solid culture in our home that is nurturing and supportive this is when our children will feel secure in an emotional sense to go through the out into the big wide world.

We all want to raise children that are culturally aware and have a global mindset but we have to remember it’s not just about knowledge of geography or speaking another language; it’s about providing the basics as well. Encouraging soft skills such as curiosity or observing can help to develop a more global mindset. As parents, we may feel that we need to protect them more. As our children get older, we soon realise what their attitudes are to the world based on what we have provided for them. If we want our children to have a big wide vocabulary of the world, we have to practice what we preach. But even if we don’t have it ourselves, it is the ideal opportunity to learn alongside our children about what is out there.