Our friends at Master Communications are back again with two new additions to their award-winning series “Families of the World.” Both new titles became available on September 20, 2011.
We’re big fans of the series. It’s a terrific way to introduce your family to the similarities and differences of growing up in other countries around the world. Just by focusing on daily routines, such as what foods children eat for breakfast, how they get to school and how their classrooms look – gives the viewer a side of the countries that one doesn’t get to see even if they travel to those areas of the world.
The series – 27 titles and growing – always focuses on two children from differing households, one urban, one rural, and narrated by children. Maybe it’s because we live in a city, but we tend to find the rural stories much more interesting.
In the “Families of Phillipines,” we meet 13-year-old Khim, a boy who lives on the rural island of Cebu with his grandparents, aunt, and her two children. In the second chapter, we are introduced to Shahani, 7, who lives in the capital city of Manilla, a thriving city boasting many modern sky skyscrapers. One of the most striking elements of these stories for me is the size of the schools – Khim attends a school of 10,000 students in Cebu and Shahani has over 5,000 kids in her Manilla school. Puts my concerns about school overcrowding here in the States into perspective, I guess.
The “Families of Germany” DVD features of the stories of Ole, 10, from Berlin and Sophia, 7, from the village of Reimershausen. The similarities between Berlin and Manhattan were striking. My kids share many experiences with Ole – from viewing tourists renting multi-rider bikes to modern art installations. Sophia’s day-to-day experiences on a farm – from feeding cows to collecting chicken eggs – was deemed much more interesting by them.
Families of the World is recommended for ages 5-11 and retails for $29.95. My five year old enjoyed parts of the DVDs, but I think 6+ would enjoy even more.
The series features families in Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Isreal, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Mexico and More Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, the USA, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Each 30-minute DVD includes a free PDF Teacher’s Guide, which features the script, copy-ready maps, discussion and activity guides, recipes, glossaries and more. To order DVDs, call 1-800-765-5885 or visit www.familiesoftheworld.com
– That’s IT Mommy, Jill
