Creating Affirming Environments

            If I was to have my own childcare center it would be called. “Children’s Palace”. The center would be for children 6wks-5yrs and operate 24 hours. I always wanted to an center that operates 24hrs, because there are a lot of people in my community that work non-traditional hours, and my center would be a safe place for their children to attend while they are at work. The center would consist of four classrooms, which are broken down into age groups: infant, toddlers, preschool, and pre-K.

            Each classroom would be equipped with age appropriate materials. Each classroom would have a library with different diverse books. The dolls would be diverse. In the pretend area there would foods from all over the world and clothing from different cultures.  The walls would be filled with different pictures of children with different disabilities and children without. Also at the beginning  of the school year child would be asked to bring in pictures of their families to display in the classroom.  In the art area there would be the skin color crayons. I would have an open door policy where the parents can con in and observe their children in a observation booth. There would also be cameras in every room on every angles. I would make should that my staff have top education and trained in anti-bias education. Families would be treated with respect and like family. I envision my staff and families to be just like family. Families would be given a weekly lesson plan, and we would have family night out once a month.  My center would be everything that I am looking for in my baby girl’s child care center.

What I Have Learned

 When it comes to working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope that I can make them feel welcomed and comfortable in my environment. I hope they would be happy to see that I incorporate them and their families into our classroom and lesson plans. One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field is to educate myself more on diversity and get in tuned with my own personal bias, so that I can better serve the children and families I work with.

These last eight weeks has been wonderful. I really enjoyed reading discussion post and blog post from my colleagues. I have gained so much insight from everyone and new ways of thinking about diversity. I would like to thank everyone for sharing. I also would like to thank you all for giving me feedback and insight on my post. It was a pleasure working with everyone and I wish you guys well on your future endeavors.

 

Creating Art

This is a drawing that I did myself. Sorry I am not a good artist. But this sums up diversity to me. When I think of diversity I think of how the world is so big and made up of many different types of people. My picture represent all of the diversity in the world. In the center you have Earth, and all of the surrounding colors represent the people of the world. Race, able ism, abilities, age, gender, culture, all these things make up the people that live here on this earth. 

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

I am 5’0 and that is pretty short for an adult. Most children are taller than I am or almost the same height as me. My friend and I were out and her son asked me “why are you so little if you are an adult”? My friend tapped her son and said what he said was not nice. I went on to explain to my friend that I was not offended by the question he asked and that children usually say whatever is on their mind. My friend then told me that she understand that but she want to teach her son that it is not good to point out if someone is different than they are.  I understood what lesson my friend was trying to teach her son and I do not believe she should of popped him, but reminded him of the what they have been discussing about people that look different. If an anti-bias educator would of witnessed this in her classroom she would of positively redirected the student and read a book to him about people whom may look different from the child.

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

Your response to those who believe that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families.

When it comes to the topic of inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families, I am torn about the subject. The parent side of me would like to talk to my own child about gay or lesbian individuals. I do not believe that it is up to the school to teach my child about this topic. I believe that learn starts at home and we should not depend on teachers to teach our child everything. Gay or lesbian individuals can be a touchy topic that most people are not ready to introduce to their child yet. Being a professional I know that there are children whom have same sex parents and other children observe that and ask questions. By having books to help the teaches assist with the subject can be very influential.

How you would respond to a parent/family member who informed you they did not want anyone who is perceived (or self-reported) homosexual or transgender to be caring for, educating, and/or interacting with their child.

If a parent/family member informed me they did not want anyone who is perceived (or self-reported) homosexual or transgender to be caring for, educating, and/or interacting with their child, I would explain to them that that teachers personal life has nothing to do with them as a professional. I give them facts about how good of a teacher the individual is and how our program has a nondiscrimination policy. I would give the parent the option to change their child’s room but that would be all that I can offer.

Best Wishes

This last 8 weeks I have gain so much new insight about communication and while learning about communication I have learned about myself. I appreciate all of the support from my colleagues. They have shared their experience through blog post and discussion boards. I have enjoyed reading about the way we all perceive things differently as well as the same. I have enjoyed learning new things and ways to approach situation from all my colleague. Most of us have been in the same group throughout the program and it has been a joy growing with you all. I wish the best for all of my colleagues new and old on your future endeavors. And as I stated in a previous post, I hope we get to meet each other during graduation time.  

 

Five Stages of Team Development

One of the hardest groups that I had to leave would be my last job. We were a small team and worked so hard to start up a new program with trial and error.  I believe that is what made us so close. We were like family, working longer hours trying to get the program off the ground without help from our director. When  it was time for me to leave, my team was very sadden by the news, but they wanted nothing but the best for me. My last day there they threw me a going away party. I really miss my team but  not the environment that we worked in.

When adjourning from this program I imagine that we will all get a chance to meet at the graduation. I have had several classes with most of the ladies in this course. I have gained so much insight from them and also learned about them without actually meeting them. We have encouraged  and supported each other throughout the program and I will miss being able to read blogs and discussions for the ladies I have been with for the last year. Adjourning is an essential part of team work because it shows growth.