Hey Reader

A few months ago, I started thinking about my colleagues who come from different cultures and a lot of those cultures have a culture school; whether it's Greek, Hebrew, Ethiopian or different Asian cultures who have their own. The children born here go and learn about the history and culture of where their family comes from.

I thought to myself does the Caribbean or the different countries have something similar? There's an argument to be made for a Caribbean culture school; but there are so many nuances within each Caribbean country’s culture that I can see different countries having their own.

What I’m talking about isn’t the informal way we teach about Caribbean history or culture. Instead I’m referring to formal organizations that some immigrant communities have where the children go on Saturdays or after school. Anyway, I thought about it. And I decided to run an experiment with my sons and my niece.

I planned out a loose curriculum.

I knew my niece would be visiting for a few weeks this summer and I thought it would be a great time to try it. Particularly because she's an only child and she's not around too many Jamaicans. My brother doesn't really talk much Jamaican to her, so she doesn't really understand it compared to my boys. Over the last year I became intentional about teaching my sons how to speak the language more and I notice a change in their confidence and frequency in speaking Jamaican more.

So given what I was planning, I began talking it up for a while that this summer was going to be Jamaica Culture School (JCS). My boys were very excited and by the time my niece came they asked when it was starting. So to capitalize on their energy, I pulled out the handouts I had prepared and began the first lesson.

The first lesson of Jamaica Culture School was a success. They loved it. My son gave me the biggest compliment: "Mom, this is amazing..."

I learned some things

1. The first thing I recognized was that I was trying to condense too much into a short time period.
2. The second thing was that I was loose about JCS on purpose. I didn't want to give it too much structure, because it was the summer and I didn't want to make it too rigid. Plus, I still had to work and on top of that, my boys still had their summer programs - basketball and swimming. As I mentioned last week, mi deh pon road and we were doing a lot of different things. So I didn't really force the curriculum.

The takeaway is, even if I want to keep it loose, fun and enjoyable, JCS still needs structure. If I'm going to do Jamaican Culture School with my kids and with my niece, it can't be limited to a couple weeks in the summer; it has to be a year-long thing.

And of everything we covered in Jamaica Culture School, the language was the thing they enjoyed the most. I covered the alphabet, phonics, the structure around it and they had a good time with it. I shared some of the videos of me teaching them with a few friends and Mikey T sponsored some Jamaican books for them. That meant a lot because they really enjoyed the learning. In addition to language we covered some geography and history which includes me giving them some research to do.

Mini culture schools

I'm not saying a formal school should be started. At least not right now anyway. But I think the takeaway is that within our own families, or friends circle, we can have our own mini culture school. I can also imagine this looks different for those of you in multicultural Caribbean families. My other niece and nephew's mom is Guyanese, and of course my brother is Jamaican, so there's the whole question of navigating both cultures within one home. Regardless, structure and intent around it is necessary to reflect what we want them to learn and to help guide us and keep them on a path because both them and us need it.

Talk Yuh Mind

How do you teach your kids, nieces, nephews, or godchildren about Caribbean history and culture? Let me know your thoughts on culture schools from a Caribbean perspective. I'd love to hear them.

Until next time, walk good.

Kerry-Ann
​
Carry On Friends + Breadfruit Media