my first blog ever

Photo credit:  https://www.123rf.com/photo_103830740_stock-vector-tree-with-colorful-human-hands-together-community-team-concept-illustration-for-culture-diversity-na.html I have been working as an early childhood educator for twenty years now. It is hard to believe that it has been this long, yet I find it pretty rewarding to work with such a diverse group of children, families and coworkers. My hope is that I can continue doing what I am doing for a lot longer and to learn new ideas from the children and their families. I enjoy being with “my children” because they keep me on my toes and teach me new things almost every day, especially since they are all unique individuals. One goal I would like to set is that everyone in the early childhood field would treat all children and families with respect. I understand that this may be difficult to accomplish since we have conscious and unconscious biases towards our own and other groups. However, if we all make a conscious effort to

     This scenario happened to me four years ago when I was teaching a prekindergarten class. The child and his family had recently moved to America from Russia. Although I knew where the country was located, I did not know many other details. I did not think about preparing myself prior to the child/family beginning at the school because there were children from other countries who seem to fit right in and acclimate well to the program. Plus, there always seemed to be a staff member from that country or know enough about a country of origin to offer support and/or insight.      With this particular family, the only person who spoke some English was the child's father, so communication was difficult. In addition, nobody on staff could offer any strategies to help communication. If this were to occur again, which I am sure it will, I would prepare myself differently than before.      If possible, I would invite the child and his/her family to the classroom before her first day of

     A couple of years ago, I was sitting in my bedroom when I heard shouting coming from outside. I looked out my window and saw a white male walking across the street while he was shouting at several Hispanic men sitting on a porch. He was yelling at them to turn off their music which was a little loud; however it was still early and it wasn't disturbing anyone but this particular man. When the men wouldn't turn down their music, the man proceeded to call them derogatory names. There was no reason for him to be using such racist remarks, especially since these men were not doing anything wrong.      This whole situation made me feel uncomfortable for one. I mean who knew what could escalate out of this? It made me wonder if the men on the porch would retaliate for his racist comments or would the man do something more than yell racial slurs. Secondly, I felt like how dare this man try to tell others what to do just because it was bothering him. These men had every right to