”Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.
Austin KleonSteal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
As a child, who excelled at math and science, I pushed myself into the science world (I have a Bachelor of Science from Smith College and a nursing degree from Johns Hopkins). But I always enjoyed working with children and communities. While at Smith, I minored in education and I was a pediatric nurse for 8 years. Most recently, I earned a Community-Oriented Public Health masters degree from the University of Washington. From all these experiences,
I learned the importance of education, culture and community
and thus I strive to integrate these elements into my life and the life of my family. I started ArabishWay because, as an American mom of Arab descent with two young children
I craved ways to connect my very American children to their family’s culture.
Because I can barely read Arabic at a kindergarten level, after alphabet and picture books lost their thrill, the joy of reading Arabic left our home. Looking outside of my home, there were very few story times or Arab events in my community and the local language programs seemed to offer everything but Arabic.
And so, I started my own toddler circle time and created my own books that were
Arab . . .ish.
Why Arab-ish, because even though I feel very Arab when I’m the only Arab in the room, in a room full of Arabs I suddenly am very conscious of how much of my culture and language I have lost.
For my kids, I know they will never feel fully Arab and I have no intentions of moving back home and immersing them in “their” culture. But I have worked really hard to introduce language, music, food and other aspects of the Arabic culture into their lives.
I am so so excited to have this platform to share my Arab-ish ideas and my collection of Arabic toys, games, decor etc. with you. I’m hoping it makes your life a little easier and inspires you to incorporate Arabic language and culture into your home or classroom. And hope it becomes your go-to place for Arab-ish ideas and connections.
