Kaleidoscope’s Ethos Statement and Community Guidelines
THE BOTTOM LINE
Kaleidoscope, KLDSCP team members, and unpaid volunteers have a united heart and mission to make every child we engage with feel valued, loved and heard.
We act that out by creating safe spaces for all third culture kids (TCKs), regardless of their personal story and cultural complexity.
THE ORGANIZATION
Kaleidoscope is a non-religious, non-profit organization. We work with cross-cultural families, international agencies, and individuals of all backgrounds.
We welcome, respect, and celebrate every TCK story, journey, faith system, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability and disability, career choice, gender preference, heart language, sphere of influence, and everything in between.
We believe in the power of fun and creativity to create safe spaces and build community for TCKs. We are not professional counselors, coaches, or therapists. Kaleidoscope programs complement, but do not replace, those services.
We follow a hybrid non-profit model in which we receive income from both financial donors and those who pay for our products and services.
THE PROGRAM
Our TCK care philosophy welcomes TCKs ages 4-16 from all different backgrounds, celebrates every unique TCK journey, and creates safe spaces for all TCKs to access consistent debriefing and ongoing friendships.
All Kaleidoscope Event and TCK Club lesson plans are child-lead, meaning we create the space for TCKs to tell their own stories as they need. Our job is to provide the tools and listen well, not to provide advice, critique, or comparison.
Our curriculum and TCK Club lesson plans focus on TCK themes, because that’s what we're good at! They are: I Am Colorful (discover your unique identity), My Story Matters (process your feelings and debrief your recent experiences), and I Am Homeful (build belonging muscles and navigate good goodbyes).
We encourage and provide materials for all lessons to be discussed and continued at home where you can build on the three TCK themes with your own values, beliefs, and perspectives. Any lesson plan or recordings of virtual events are made available upon request.
Child Safety is VERY important to us and is the baseline of every child feeling valued, loved and heard. You can read our Privacy and Child Safety Policies here.
THE TEAM
We believe diverse stories are valuable and that representation matters. Our TCK Club leaders, in-person and online volunteers, contractors, and full-time staff represent a beautiful–dare we say it–“kaleidoscope” of cultures, backgrounds, stages of life, sexual orientations, personal beliefs, levels of education, and languages spoken.
All our paid and unpaid team members are carefully vetted, background checked, and extensively trained in Child Safety and our TCK care philosophy before engaging with any TCK, age 4-16.
The current Kaleidoscope staff, and many of our volunteers, identify as followers of Jesus and come from the international missions community. This does not mean that someone must identify as a Christian to volunteer or work with us in any capacity.
THE COMMUNITY
Kaleidoscope, and all of our teams and programs, have always been committed to making every child we work with feel valued, loved and heard. We continue to act that out by being an open, welcoming, and affirming community and creating safe spaces for all TCKs!
We acknowledge that a professional partnership does not automatically equal agreement in all areas. However, if you choose to join this global community, we hope that you extend the same commitment to value, love, and hear your fellow third culture kids, TCK leaders, parents, and any travelers passing through.