I’m preparing a lesson for preschoolers (ages 3–5) on family members and their roles, such as mother, father, siblings, and grandparents. I want to challenge gender stereotypes early, showing that both mothers and fathers can cook, clean, care for children, and share household tasks.
Has anyone taught this to young children before? Would love some insights on this. Thank you!
by Usual_Humor_5016
6 comments
Oh, sure! I’ve done this. Usually one or two kids will say something like “Mommies cook, not daddies!” And then other kids chime in with “My daddy cooks!”
Most kids will just nod their heads. It’s pretty easy, just have pictures of both genders doing the tasks and it should be a non-issue.
My personal view is that your morals are in the correct place, but we are English teachers and guests in the country. It’s not our place to comment on their culture and beliefs system to the children. That is the parents and Japanese teachers job. Teach the material as it is and focus on how to be the best English teacher you can be. Learning English will open their world view to new ideas in the future.
And apparently teaching about family members is a bit of a sensitive topic. Do check with your Japanese English teacher or company about this.
If you are going all in on the moral high ground, don’t forget that some of the kids won’t have a mother, or a father, or will have deceased parents, or be adopted, or be abused…etc.
Yes, I am being cynical. Personally, I think it is ok to show a dad cooking, or a mom working. But that is about as far as you should go unless you want to create more harm than good.
I have a set of flashcards with male nurses and female doctors. One if my first culture shocks was how 50’s the gendered power dynamic feels here
I just recently did this with my kindergarteners…what I did was have a chart with a list of chores/duties, next to each chore there was an empty circle, and I asked each kid to color in the circle of the role mommy, daddy, or themselves did. Choose any colors for any person. And ask open-ended I.e. “who does the dishes?” Have them color in green for dad or purple for mom etc. That way I can explain everyone has a part they can help with.
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