Even while living in China, I had never heard the term "Third Culture Kids" (TCKs). I didn't have a kid at the time, and so it's only been within the past year I've picked up on the term. Now I'm happy to know that there's a wealth of info available about TCKs as we consider the logistics of making the move back to China.
"A third culture kid is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents’ culture. The third culture kid builds relationships to all the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the third culture kid’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background, other TCKs.”... - Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds
Thoughts about my potential TCK and education, health, activities, social interaction, and language issues are starting to keep me up nights. So, I decided I'd start by better educating myself.
Here are the books about TCKs and raising bilingual kids on my reading list:
If you've already read these books, please let us know what you think. Or if you have other recommended reading, feel free to comment!
Nice post. Great to have a nice reading list for parents. I would like to add 2 books:
ReplyDelete1. "Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child" by Julia Simens. It's worth reading, it's a new book.
2. "A Global Nomads' Guide to university transition" by Tina Quick. This is a must read for expat kids going to university and for their parents.
The most important book I would say is the book by David Pollock and Ruth van Reken "Third culture kids, Growing up among worlds".
I so glad there is an increasing amount of literature on this topic!
Thanks for your suggestions!
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