Connecting Community to Curriculum: Six Strategies for Increasing Awareness in the Next Generation of Global Citizens (For Parents Particularly) (Essay‪)‬

It was one of those moments a middle school student and his mom will always remember, yet perhaps for different reasons. "Morn, what's this?" my son asked, looking at his wound caused by a stingray a few weeks earlier at the beach. As I looked on, incredulous, he proceeded to pull a thin, white, worm-like substance from the still open sore. "Mom?" he asked wide-eyed, genuinely concerned, "do you think I have Guinea worm?" I assured him, lovingly, that he did not. The doctor confirmed the next day that a segment of the stingray had remained in the ankle and the body was expelling it. My son's question, however, caused me to reflect with pride that, despite a less than perfect grasp on the details of transmission, he was informed about Guinea worm, a disease not often found in his own country. Rather, it occurs mainly on the African continent (The Carter Center, 2009), a world far from his own. His knowledge of Guinea worm, a parasitic worm infection, also called dracunculiasis (The Carter Center, 2009), was gained from discussions in school and had been reinforced by our own family excursions in the community. His immediate application of global knowledge to his own circumstance underscored for me the importance of helping children link curriculum to community. This article articulates six strategies that families can implement to connect curriculum to the community and increase children's global awareness. Strategies for Increasing Awareness in the Next Generation of Global Citizens