20+ Back to School Ideas for Keeping Chinese Culture in Your Family Life

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Creating a multicultural family life, I frequently observe, can feel schizophrenic. In my case, juggling Chinese, European and American traditions, meals and activities can be a lot to manage. The trick is to create a lifestyle that feels like a cohesive whole.

Amidst the upheaval of Back To School season, with its new routines and commitments, I think the tendency is to default to what’s easy, simple and dominant in our environments. That is, mainstream American culture.

It’s a recipe for eliminating any activity that feels out of step with what every other family seems to be doing. For me, even with my family’s proximity to a Chinese community, the risk is that we set aside our commitment to our cultural practices unless we set a specific intention to continue them.

The good news is that this annual season of change presents an opportunity to center ourselves and rededicate our families to preserving Chinese culture in our lives. To remember the simple pleasure of sharing family traditions, the benefits of fortifying a child’s identity and the invitation to participate in a bigger world.

With this spirit in mind, here are 20+ easy opportunities to keep Chinese culture in our family lives as we send our kids off to school this fall.

Your turn! What are your family’s plans for the fall? Would you add anything to this list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

At School

When I visited my son’s preschool this year to read Lunar New Year books, I was reminded how important it is for kids to hear their stories told among their peers. As parents, we can get involved at school to help kids from diverse cultural backgrounds feel seen and heard.

□ Volunteer To Share Cultural Expertise
Teachers appreciate parents who volunteer in the classroom, especially when they can help students connect with holidays and other important cultural events. Read stories, lead craft projects and share family memories.

□ Add Chinese Holidays To The Calendar
That school calendar on the fridge definitely lists Thanksgiving, Christmas and every vacation break. It’s up to us, however, to add the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year, so they can be celebrated. My Google Calendar Plug In can help.

□ Donate Cultural Books
Every classroom these days needs donations of books and supplies. We can donate Chinese American picture books to our schools and earmark additional contributions to underresourced schools in Chinatown school districts.

At The Store

I think the best children’s clothing and products help kids express their creativity and individuality. During Back To School season, there is no shortage of thoughtful classroom essentials that can help kids celebrate the Chinese elements of their personalities.

□ Choose “Kid Pride” Clothing
Positive messages affirming a child’s personality or identity make great wardrobe additions. The Good As Gold and Let’s Race t-shirts available in the Chinese American Family Shop are perfect examples!

□ Go Beyond Generic School Essentials
Many kids need a new backpack for the new school year. Why not put down the JansPort backpack in favor of a contemporary cultural design like this fun lion dancer?

□ Pick Unique Accessories
Pencil cases, water bottles, notebooks and the like round out the list of Back To School necessities. Whimsical items, like this whole fish pencil pouch (for luck and abundance), can fun hints of Chinese culture to a child’s kit.

At Lunch Time

I know eating “strange” ethnic foods can cause teasing in the school cafeteria. While I don’t advocate compromising personal values due to ignorance, I also want lunchtime to go smoothly. The solution, I think, is to send simple meals a child loves and which inspire envy instead of scorn. Here are three favorite examples.

□ Traditional Pork Dumplings
Every kid the lunch table will recognize these traditional pork dumplings, but they’re so much better when they’re homemade. When making them for dinner, it’s easy to make an extra few for school lunch the next day.

□ Yangzhou Fried Rice
A universal takeout staple, Yangzhou fried rice remains a homestyle comfort food. Sending a container of your version to school will remind your kiddo of home.

□ Coca-Cola Chicken Wings
It’s very likely these wings end up being shared around the table. A cousin to the soy sauce braised chicken wings popular in southern China, Coca-Cola chicken wings have an irresistible salty-sweet flavor.

When Learning Chinese

If teaching your child Chinese is a family priority, then Back To School season is a great time to refresh yourself for the challenges of learning the language in an English-dominant environment. Build and maintain a Chinese language ecosystem that makes sense for your family’s language goals.

□ Practice Your Chinese
Helping a child learn Chinese is a great motivator to improve your own language skills. My favorite free online resources for practicing my Cantonese are the podcasts at Pop Up Cantonese and the Foreign Service Institute’s class archive.

□ Sign Up For Youth Language Lessons
Check around your neighborhood for youth Cantonese and Mandarin classes. For example, the Shoong Family Chinese Culture Center here in Oakland offers both after school and weekend Chinese language classes.

□ Read Chinese Language Picture Books
Chinese language picture books are the easiest way to incorporate language at bedtime. While many public libraries have Chinese-language children’s sections, Asian Parent is a more comprehensive resource for selections from publishers in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.

On The Weekend

While weekends can get busy with playdates and sports teams, don’t forget to take advantage of the cultural resources in your closest city. Better yet, invite your child’s friends along to bring them into a world they may not be familiar with themselves.

□ Visit Museums
If you live near a major city, chances are you are near a museum documenting the story of the region’s Chinese community. For example, we’re planning a visit to the Chinese Historical Society of America and it’s noted Exclusion / Inclusion exhibit this fall.

□ Check In With Local Community Centers
Neighborhood libraries and community centers are wonderful sources of family cultural programming. Near us, the Oakland Asian Cultural Center’s fall calendar includes art exhibits, speakers, film screenings and a weekend night market.

□ Get To Chinatown
Stock up on mealtime and snack essentials with a shopping trip in Chinatown. Then combine basic Chinese staples with fresh ingredients from your chain grocery store to create delicious everyday meals at home.

At Home

There are so many easy and engaging ways to bring Chinese culture into family time shared at home. From the meals we cook to the TV shows we watch together, really anything can be turned into a cultural experience. It just takes a bit of effort.

□ Refresh Your YouTube Subscriptions
You can find almost any English-language show dubbed into Chinese on YouTube, along with travel documentaries taking place in China and other programs about various cultural subjects. At a minimum, make sure you watch the “A Bite of China” documentary series this fall.

□ Enjoy Family Movie Nights
Who doesn’t love a good family movie night? And while we have plenty of time for Disney classics, my son loves documentaries about faraway places, so we may add a movie like My Life in China to our lineup.

□ Read A Family Chapter Book
Once kids get a little older, you can start to incorporate longer chapter books in the reading lineup. Along with English classics like James and the Giant Peach or My Side Of The Mountain, don’t forget to enjoy cultural selections like a compilation of Chinese folk tales.

Outside The Classroom

Chinese American contributions are still too often excluded from the shared set of stories and traditions that comprise American culture. Sadly, this remains all too true at school, as well. It’s up to us as parents to fill in the gaps when Chinese American stories aren’t told.

□ Share Sources Of Chinese American Pride
Here are 101 events, experiences and role models to share with kids as they begin to define who they are and want to become.

□ Review Chinese American History
The Chinese experience in America is a story of great determination and achievement, in the face of persistent efforts to pit diversity against class and exclude the Chinese from mainstream America.

□ Read Children’s Books
For younger children, picture books span the range of Chinese holidays and the different aspects of the Chinese American experience.