A Family Child Care Home is not far from what I have always dreamed. I had high hopes of opening my own at one point. My focus is now on opening my own Child Care Center, out of home. While thinking back on my center and how I would change it, many ideas come to mind.
We live in a fairly rural area I would include many aspects of our overall culture. Agricultural is common among families, home gardens and farms are not unfamiliar. A large portion of our outdoor education would revolve around this aspect of people's lives and educating young children how to properly care for crops. In addition I would make sure there were books, music, dolls, dramatic play props, puzzles, drawing materials, blocks, and wall hangings that express different cultures.
Anti-Bias education would be a priority of mine, as this is a reflection of my teaching style and my home. Some of the strategies I would use would be:
Encouraging children to express their emotions and work out conflicts
Support discussion and activities about people's attributes
Help children try ALL activities
Incorporate children's family traditions
Partner with my families to ensure acceptance
These strategies and a loving environment would allow children to thrive and learn in a judgment free space.
Megan, you have some great ideas for your center. I believe that fighting gender stereotypes is also important, situations like scenario 1 in this week's second discussion should be avoided. Additionally, including the families is fundamental. Children need to feel their parents are accepted and represented as well as themselves. Great post!
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of having the children learn about farming and agriculture. Not only does this give the a sense of knowing there are many families that rely on the crops they grow for food, the children are hands on in nature.
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I like the mission you set forth in your family childcare and home center. I particular like the idea of introducing the children to agricultural and farming this not only gives them hands on experience it could also possibly lead to a career in the future. Likewise, you are keeping the families in the center of your curriculum.
I do currently operate a family child care home and I was appreciative of this exercise for forcing me to really think about better ways to incorporate anti-bias education into the program to get away from the tourist type education. I realized that I could simply ask parents to bring in items from their homes that fit into the classroom. This way the children would have items that are representative of their family culture present in the classroom. This is a more authentic, organic way to incorporate other cultures into the classroom culture that I have set up. It is almost like show and tell except it is representative of the parents' view and not just the child's.
ReplyDelete