Creating Affirming Environments

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of opening or operating a family child care is to make it a place where families and children feel welcome, respected, and valued. Derman Sparks and Olsen Edwards (2010) described that ensuring that every family feels welcome and comfortable creates a crucial foundation for mutually respectful relationships. It is an essential first step in an anti bias classroom (p. 37). There are many ways to accomplish this. The first thing that I will make sure to do is sending home questionnaires for the parents to answer about their child, their eating and sleeping schedule, their traditions, culture, their hopes and goals for their child, and any important information that will help me understand and know the child better. By doing this, I will be establishing the notion that we need to hear from the parents, and that we cannot do the best education for the child without the parents active voice as stated by Dr Julie Olsen Edwards in this week’s media presentation, Building on Children’s Strengths, (Laureate Inc, 2011).

The second important thing is arranging the environment in a way that creates a comfortable space where families can talk with one another and with me (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). I will definitely make sure to arrange my home center a way that resembles how Adriana from this week’s media presentation, Welcome to Anti bias Learning” (Laureate Inc, 2011) arranged her family child care center. I liked her idea of greeting children in a room and than transitioning to the nap room or the room where children will express their emotions when their parents leave. The family Culture Share is another thing I will also do in my center to give the families an opportunity to share special and unique things about them and their culture.

Dr. Derman Sparks and Olsen Edwards (2010) described that toys, materials, and equipment you put out for children; the posters, pictures, and art projects you hang on the wall; and the types of furniture and how you arrange them all influence what children learn (p. 43). I will make sure that my home day care center reflects the identity of every child. I will by provide learning materials that accurately and non stereotypically reflect their language, culture, family structure, their abilities, race, and the different types of jobs of parents. One of the materials that grabbed my attention in chapter four is buying a camera. Dr Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards discussed that the camera is one of the best tools we can have for anti bias work because it will permit us to make books, posters, classroom bulletin board, and learning materials specific to the families and children in the program (p.44). And of course in addition to the above mentioned strategies and materials, the free play area should include many books, puzzles, different skin color dolls that make every child feel visible in the program.

I simply want my interactions with families and the environment of my center to show parents and children that my center is a place where we appreciate and welcome diversity. I also want them to feel that having a different race, family structure, language, disability, being homeless, or any other unique characteristics are not a deficit, but they are a strength that they should be proud of and build on.

Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Laureate Education Inc., (2011). “Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community.”