Deb Lee – mother of 4 says, “This is America, this is Chinese, this is Armenian, this is Indian, and this is what America is about.”

The Lee kids have had a taste of several cultures. Chinese, because of adopted sister Taleen, Armenian, because that’s their heritage and they’ve traveled to Mexico more than 20 times to help in poverty-stricken areas.

David Lee – father of 4 says, “They’re more open to different cultures because they’ve been introduced to a lot of different cultures and we’re the melting pot anyways.”

Linda Stahnke -- Focus on the Family says, “Sometimes Americans tend to be a little closed in and a little isolated in their view of the world, but we need to understand and appreciate those other cultures more.”

Kreston Lee – age 17 says, “Knowing another culture kind of opens you up a little bit, it gives you someone else’s perspective, and when you see someone else’s perspective I think it helps your perspective on things, too.”

Learning about other cultures can be an inexpensive and fun activity for the entire family. All it takes is some books and videos from the library and a little ingenuity… the Lees have immersed themselves in Taleen’s native culture.

Deb says, “We’ve done language classes, we invest in all types of books… she has videos of China, she has songs and teaching tools that she can listen to.”

Linda says, “In a lot of other cultures the food is very different, that’s a fun thing to talk about, you can try it out.”

And discussing other cultures, when they’re in the news, can give your older kids valuable food for thought.

Linda says, “When we first went into Afghanistan and fought there, there was a lot of discussion about the women with their faces covered, with the burkhas, and how strange that was, and that’s a culture where girls didn’t get to go to school, what great conversations to have with your kids and prepare them for life when their life touches someone else’s or when their life takes them to one of those places.”