Teaching Your Kids about Turkey

Mention that topic to your children right now and they will think you are going to give them some wishbone strategies. Or, teach them how to make stuffing. When people hear the word Turkey, they automatically associate it with Thanksgiving. We’ve got bellies on our minds and not struggling countries. But, it’s time to feed the brain instead. Here are some things you should be teaching your kids about Turkey.

First, let’s discuss the issues the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) seems to think is of the greatest concern. Now, this part isn’t for your kids, this is strictly for your knowledge. The FDD thinks that the US should reassess its military deployment in Turkey. The Turkish government has restricted US usage of the 17 bases located within its borders. And, Russia has been concerned, since the beginning of the year, that Turkey is shelling Syria. So, there’s a lot of turmoil over in that neck of the woods.

Getting Your Kids Interested in Turkey

Despite what you and your kids might hear on the news, Turkey is home to plenty of regular people with kids just like yours. They live ordinary, redundant lives just like the rest of us do. And, they deserve the right to be portrayed in a fair light. That’s why we think it is a good idea to teach your kids these pieces of trivia about Turkey to get them interested in the other lessons to come:

• Amazon women are said to have originated in Turkey.
• The oldest church on the planet, St. Peter’s Cave Church, is located there.
• Nicholas was born in Turkey (your kids probably know him better as Santa Claus).
• The first coffee houses were established in Turkey, and from there coffee was introduced to Europe.
• The Smallpox vaccination came out of Turkey.
• Robert College was the first internationally located American college.
• Turkey gave refuge to Jews, including Einstein, during WWII.
• Turkey has 20,000 more animal species than Europe.
• Noah’s Ark landed there, on Mount Ararat. Read all about it.
• It’s the home of the famed Trojan Horse.

If you’d like to read some more trivia click this.

Real Lessons on Turkey

It’s always best to start an educational session with something entertaining that will spark the interest of your children. Now, you can delve into the more substantive facts about the country itself. Be sure you include the following topics in your lesson plans:

1. Geography- Turkey is a peninsula bridging Asia and Europe. Seas surround it on three sides. It is larger than Texas.
2. Nature- Migratory birds consider Turkey to be a great resting place. It is home to what was once known as White Castle.
3. People & Culture– Kids who want to attend high school have to move to a nearby city. Most of the population is Sunni Muslim. A fifth of them are Kurdish. Yogurt, eggplant, and lamb make up the greatest part of their diets. And, kebabs are particularly popular there.
4. Government- Turkey helped found the United Nations. It is a member of NATO, but has never been accepted as a full member of the European Union.
5. History– The Hittites (from the Bible) ruled there for hundreds of years. King Midas ruled Turkey in 700 or so BC.

We have only given you a brief break down of the topics suggested. There is more information for your educational pursuits available here.…

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