The United Nations has set aside January 27 as International Holocaust Day. It is the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of 7,000 prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp by Soviet Troops.
The State of Maine has a great kids website complete with games, coloring sheets and interesting programs and fun facts about Maine’s wildlife.
While Maine is famous for lobster, Maine has a variety of black bears, moose, puffin, etc. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has compiled a list of fun animal tracks for bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes and more for children to explore.
There are a variety of cool programs for youth. During Indigenous Heritage Month, Maine offers a Native American Essay Program for Maine’s student residents. Essays are reviewed by a panel of judges, who will select top entries for middle and high schoolers. Deadline for submission is November 12.
Indigenous Heritage Month is a celebration of the contributions and achievements of the people of Indigenous descent and Native Americans.
Charles Vanderhoop, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, served as assistant light keeper at Gay Head Lighthouse from 1913-1919. In 1919 Vanderhoop possibly became the first Native American Head Light Keeper while serving at Sankaty Lighthouse. He returned in 1920 as the Head Light Keeper of Gay Head.
Thousands of African Americans migrated to the North between 1900 and 1920 to escape economic hardship and racism and to search for human dignity and financial opportunity.
The veterans of World War I who had fought “to make the world safe for democracy” were determined to make democracy work at home.
From this mass migration, urbanization, and military participation, a dynamic artistic community evolved. The excitement permeated many communities, but New York’s Harlem became the center.
Experience New York during Open House New York October 16-17. There are not many fun cities like New York.
Open House New York fosters diversity and exploration.
Families can enjoy “access to thousands of places with architectural and cultural significance. Choose from in-person and virtual tours, talks, self-guided walks, and more.”
Lily Brown’s Painting by Angela Johnson and EB Lewis is a positive and uplifting book that younger children will enjoy. This book highlights the creativity, strengths and love of a delightful African American girl. Lily has a zest for life, adores her family and especially her baby brother.
Lilly is a compassionate and kind girl with an active imagination. She explores the world through her art.
While there is a reference to art by Van gogh, Lily also finds inspiration and appreciation in everyday occurrences and elevates them to imaginative heights. There are no limits to her creativity. Lily becomes one with her art often immersing herself in the paintings.
I love that the author, Angela Johnson shares center stage with the illustrator. There is a nice foreword by the artist, EB Lewis, about his creative progress.
Check out my website for lesson plans for this book and other art workshops.
I love the artist Jacob Lawrence. I’m not alone —-one of his paintings recently broke an auction record to become among the most expensive works by an African American Artist. Lawrence depicted many social events in his paintings.
In the Jacob Lawrence workshop, students will learn about the US executive, legislative and judicial branches of government and discuss the role of the artist in society. Students will create a painting inspired by Jacob Lawrence. This curriculum meets National Educational Standards.
Jacob Lawrence’s painting “Bus” depicted life in the segregated South. The painting shows a bus with whites comfortably seated and blacks jammed in the back with empty seats separating the two races. It is painted in his signature gouache on paper with brown, blue and red color scheme.
To learn more about the Jacob Lawrence workshop and others, visit my website.
In 1992 Crayola introduced Multicultural Crayons. Last year it introduced Colors of the World its most inclusive product line so far.
According to an article in the New York’s Times “Remote school may be attend to dropping out… “ The article lists a lot of data to discourage Black and Latino parents from homeschooling without addressing obvious reasons besides Covid that these parents are opting to home school.
After years of being ignored by school systems, these parents are tired of discriminatory tactics by the educational system. It’s a system that often degrades students of color and ignores parental concerns about racial insensitivity of teachers. School books and curriculum reinforce this narrative by routinely overlooking the contributions of non-whites.
All the data in the world will not convince parents whose children have faced bias treatment. This article in the New York Times proves that the educational experts are “tone death.”
Multicultural Art 4 Kids 