Anti-bias curriculum should be grounded in a developmental approach as children’s perspectives are considered. Teachers learn about children’s perspectives by the questions children ask, what children already know and as they understanding what children are saying. Implementing such curriculum requires teachers to be sensitive and respectful of children’s individuality (Derman-Sparks & Olsen-Edwards, 2010).
Adriana Castillo gives a guided tour of her family child care home, Casa de Aprendizaje (House of Learning), which represents an intentional approach to anti-bias learning and community building and offers insights on how to create a physical setting that cultivates ABE (Laureate Education, 2011a).
In this scenario, I welcome you to Lateve’s SSMART* Family Child Care Home (L*FCCH), a stem-grant funded early childhood program, with many of the elements featured in Casa de Aprendizaje.
Derman-Sparks & Olsen-Edwards (2010) share that the materials and people resources in the classroom provide children with important data showing children what is and is not important: therefore, in L*FCCH, children see images of children from various backgrounds, genders and varying abilities participating in each of the respective disciplines associated with the program—science, social studies, math, art, reading and technology—as well as images of important individuals associated with those disciplines changed out monthly based on awareness. For example, it is now November and the poster in the Reading Center has been changed to a photo of Dianne de Las Casas, award-winning author, storyteller, and founder of Picture Book Month —
Picture Book Month shares a teaching guide designed to help teachers integrate picture books into English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science, and social studies curricula. Art and drama are encouraged throughout the guide and all activities are created in conjunction with relevant content standards in ELA, math, science, and social studies. This will help SSMART support children’s school readiness.
Families are welcomed into the program in the social studies area which features photos of the children and their families arranged on a flower which also supports math (seven circles), science (botany) and self awareness. Photos can be changed and arranged as children and families desire.
A sentence strip features words or sayings children about the photos. Adriana Castillo shares how separating from parents and guardians in the morning can be difficult for the children and ‘especially the mommies’. In the social studies area, children play with culturally diverse dolls; dramatic play materials and props. Families sign in and out from this space and can take time to discuss how the children’s time was spent after leaving the program the day the before. A pictorial schedule supports the daily routine by giving children a visual reference of daily activities and parents a concrete way of knowing what their children will participate in each day throughout the week.
As a stem-funded program, children engage developmentally appropriate materials in these disciplines in creative ways that additionally build language and literacy skills. Therefore, each area is labeled with signs and pictures of children using the materials in the areas; and literature explaining concepts practiced in the areas. The newest favorites are the Baby University series of board books in the science area—General Relativity for Babies, Rocket Science for Babies and Quantum Physics for Babies—by father, physicist and mathematician Chris Ferrie.
Further, my degree in education and reading; and training in early education continue to help children build on their language and literacy. Adriana uses music in her family child care home to soothe, calm and help children transition (Laureate Education, 2011a). Music (and the arts) is important to our family and this further made me think about Adriana’s comment on how the ‘best point to work in this field is to have the opportunity to be with my own children’ (Laureate Education, 2011a). My eldest son is a trumpeter and local musician. My youngest son dabbles in violin and guitar; and is being taught pottery by a local artisan. My middle son draws and is a local spoken word artist. Therefore, SSMART is a program that will use music and the arts to soothe, calm, transition, and support children’s natural curiosity in learning in the home and for field trip opportunities.
References
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. (2011a). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author
Neary, Lynn. Something new for baby to chew on: rocket science and quantum physics. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/07/06/535732200/something-new-for-baby-to-chew-on-rocket-science-and-quantum-physics
Picture Book Month. (2017). Media: November picture book month: A celebration! Retrieved from http://picturebookmonth.com/media/
My Life in Early Education 