Thank you Wildflowers

One hope that I have when thinking about working with children and families who are from diverse backgrounds is that when they come to a center or school setting they feel comfortable, accepted, and encouraged to share their differences. I hope that through education and time I am able to help families get to this point in their journey.


 One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field is to accept all children regardless of their background and experiences. That instead we embrace their background and learn from it. Also I would hope that we could all be wildflowers. 

WILDFLOWERS 

Without our differences our world would be bland
Individuals need to be able to shine no matter what 
Learn to accept each other’s culture, beliefs, and languages
Differently abled doesn’t mean they can’t 
Follow your heart 
Level the playing field with education 
Open the mind to acceptance 
Willingness to learn about others 
Ears open to listen for clues and hurt hearts
Respect
Strong enough to stand up for others rights 




Thank you-
I would like thank all my colleagues for traveling this path of reconstruction with me. We have had to confront some demons and have had to correct misinformation. I thank you all for being thoughtful and considerate during this process. There are not a lot of groups where you are able to feel comfortable enough to open up and reveal the truth. Again, thank you and the best wishes for the next class.

Wildflowers

Take time to think about what you have learned in this course about children’s identities and development and the ways in which each is impacted by bias, discomfort, and trauma. What you have learned about anti-bias work, yourself, and others.

WILDFLOWERS
Without our differences our world would be bland
Individuals need to be able to shine no matter what
Learn to accept each other’s culture, beliefs, and languages
Differently abled doesn’t mean they can’t
Follow your heart
Level the playing field with education
Open the mind to acceptance
Willingness to learn about others
Ears open to listen for clues and hurt hearts
Respect
Strong enough to stand up for others rights

Wal-Mart is never boring

I can remember a time not too long ago when I was in Wal-Mart with my son. We were working on our weekly shopping list and there was a man who had prosthetic legs. He was also completing his weekly shopping list as well. He was wearing a Vietnam Vet vest that displayed many different patches. I can only assume that he was injured during the war. As I was scanning the aisles for what I needed I see out of the corner of my eye my son gazing at the man’s legs and reaching out to touch them. I quickly grabbed his hands and shook my head “no” and we walked down the aisle. The man was not the friendliest and glared at us as we continued on our way.

The message that I was hoping to convey to my son was that we don’t reach out and grab people. Especially we don’t grab at people when they are not expecting it. The message that could have been received by my son was that we don’t touch people who have plastic legs. He could have received the message that people who have legs that are different than his are not to be touched.

How, as an anti-biased educator, I should have handled it was to quietly explain that we don’t just reach out and grab at people. I would have to explain that we don’t want to startle people by grabbing them. We should keep our hands to ourselves and look with our eyes. Then if he had questions about the man’s legs we could discuss why they look different than his.