Creating Affirming Environments

If I were to create my own Family Child Care Home, there are certain things I would include in the care center that would create learning environments that reflect the diversity of the children and families with whom I work.

First, I was drawn to Adriana Castillo’s idea of having places for families to communicate with staff and with their children, such as communication binders, and places to sit and read books or talk when partings are difficult. This makes families and children feel that their relationships are honored, and that the program values family connections. I would also implement some sort of sharing board where families could bring in aspects of their culture or other identities to share with other children and families, to build a sense of pride about who they are and teach others about diversity.

Play areas in this setting would include a wide variety of costumes that allow children to experience different styles of clothing and different occupation. Dolls would reflect different skin colors and physical abilities. Not only would all children of the center be depicted in the dolls, but also abilities and cultures that are outside of the child care community. The library would be stocked with childhood and family favorites, as well as literature that reflected a wide variety of family structures, socioeconomic class, cultural and ethnic differences, and “experience books”, which are photo or scrap books of the children and any special events they have done with their families or at the center. Experience books are a way for children to relive special events or daily routines, and often have captions directly quoted from the children involved. These books, toys, and clothing would reflect children’s true lives, and steer clear from anything with tokenism or tourist curriculum, as these elements create the idea that diversity is something exotic and abnormal.

Aside from physical elements of the child care center, the learning environment would also include a strengths-based philosophy of teaching that utilizes what children come into the program already knowing and what they are passionate about. Diversity and social justice would be actively taught, with conflict management centering on discussions, role-playing, and learning how to reflect on one’s own thinking. Family traditions, holiday traditions, and celebrations would be inclusive to all different cultures and religions, but would not be the only means of learning about different cultures (to avoid tourist curriculum). Families would be active participants in their child’s daily care, to the best that they have the time and/or resources to be. Through journals, conversations, sharing with the group, and family nights/weekends, they would be encouraged to share elements of their own cultures with staff and other families.

When the environment reflects the diversity of the children and families it creates a sense of pride in the child of whom he or she is, and reinforces anti-bias messages. By including aspects of diversity found outside of children’s families they learn to respect and value differences among them and among communities. What I have chosen to include in my Family Child Care Home make the invisible visible, counteracting the larger society’s message that some differences are taboo; and also fights stereotypes. It also invites children and families to feel a sense of belonging to the care center, building a true partnership between them and the program.