"How was school today?" is a frequent conversation starter for many households across the world. Sometimes this occurs in a car, on a phone, or at the dinner table. This is an important part of the day for both students and parents/guardians. It's a chance to leave school or the workplace behind and also a chance to reconnect with family. It's also an opportunity to have a deep and thoughtful conversation with your child(ren). Learning doesn't have to (and shouldn't) stop when the school day ends.

According to an article published online by National Public Radio (NPR), "A majority of parents rarely, if ever, discuss race/ethnicity, gender, class or other categories of social identity with their kids, according to a new, nationally representative survey of more than 6,000 parents conducted by Sesame Workshop and NORC at the University of Chicago."  Consequently, young people are making sense of these differences based on what they see, based on what they hear or read, based on stereotypes, and through guesswork.

For some families, talking about identity, race, and culture is a regular part of daily life. For others, these are subjects that can be difficult to discuss. But for everyone, these are incredibly important conversations and shouldn’t be avoided. Help your child(ren) navigate their curiosity by taking the lead and beginning these conversations in the car, on the phone or at a meal together.

As the article states, "Differences like class, skin color, gender, and religion don't have to divide us, but ignoring them won't unite us either." The key is communication and being willing to lean into a difficult conversation or to things that make us uncomfortable. Great learning can occur at these times.