Teaching Young Children about Indigenous Peoples
I am a Kindergarten teacher in Ontario, Canada. I am not an Indigenous person. For many reasons I don’t feel as though I should speak for Indigenous peoples, so I try to share their words directly through stories and videos.
Conversations are also important, so I’m learning more so that I’m able to address issues and questions with knowledge, developmentally appropriate information for the students I teach, and feel confident in how I speak about issues.
Through lots of research and learning, I’ve created a resource to help Kindergarten and Primary teachers share basic information about First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people. It includes stories from Indigenous authors, embedded video clips, and developmentally appropriate information about sensitive topics.
Where to Start
Teaching about residential schools is likely not an appropriate beginning to learning about Indigenous people, especially in Kindergarten. Start by teaching students who Indigenous people are and learning about the land where your community and school are.
Look up your treaty land at https://native-land.ca/ and talk about Land Acknowledgements.
- What is a land acknowledgement?
- Why do we acknowledge the land we live on?
Videos for Kids about Indigenous Peoples
- What does “Indigenous” mean?
- Who are Indigenous people?
Teaching About Residential Schools
When talking to Primary students about Residential Schools, think about the message you are trying to convey. Here are some words you might use:
Indigenous children were taken to live at schools. These schools were very different from the school we go to. The children were not allowed to speak their first language. They were not allowed to wear their own clothing or have long hair. They were not treated fairly. A lot of awful things happened at these schools.
We know that what happened to Indigenous families was wrong and now we are trying to make things better. Talk with students about how we can be allies.
See a preview of my unit on Indigenous Peoples
Visit my TPT store now to get your copy and start teaching before Orange Shirt Day.
Here is a list of my favourite books about Indigenous people.
