Creating Affirming Environments

In creating an Anti-Bias Family Child Care Home, I would begin by setting my goals and philosophy of what I would want to accomplish.   I would strive to provide a safe, caring, and nurturing environment for children where parents and families feel welcome and valued.  Children would be provided with enriching materials and care that help them to develop a positive identity, feel free to be whoever they want to be, and are comfortable with the diversity that our world has to offer.  They would also learn to see and stand up against injustices, unfairness, and stereotypes when they encounter them.

Next, I would begin purchasing materials.  All materials would be culturally responsive, representing diversity and countering stereotypes (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).  I would be sure to include books that show human differences and similarities.  A diverse selection of many different types of music CDs would be made to use throughout the day.  Dolls and figurines would be purchased or made that feature diversity of age, race, gender, body types, and physical disabilities.  This way all children will have dolls that they can relate to, and will be exposed to the many different types of people.  By having a variety of identities represented, children are getting a message that everyone is equally important.  Different types of dress up clothes and toys for both genders would be available to children that reflect various cultures.   Homemade puzzles would be used featuring pictures from magazines or the internet that show a range of diverse people in many different roles.  Different drawing materials such as a variety of flesh colored crayons, markers, and paper would be needed.  Blocks, Legos, and cars would be available (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).

I would then arrange the home by creating play areas and decorating with posters, paintings, and fabrics that represent many different cultures.  Especially featuring the cultures of the children I plan to service (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).

In finalizing my curriculum and philosophy, I would be sure to include the following elements:

• In this environment, children would be encouraged and feel safe to talk about the differences they observe in others.  Questions and observations would be welcomed and answered.
• Children would be encouraged to express their feelings and emotions.  Books and games portraying different emotions would be utilized regularly.  All children will learn to and be encouraged to express their anger and frustration using appropriate vocabulary.  To assist with this, dolls would be used to role play and children would be given the opportunity to discover ways to solve their own problems.
• Children would never be allowed to exclude others due to their identity.
• All children would be encouraged to at least try and participate in a different activities and types of play. 
• Children would learn to recognize stereotypes, unfairness, and injustices.
• Family traditions, holiday traditions, and celebrations would be used in a variety of ways.  The importance of holidays such as Dr. Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day would be discussed.  Cultural holidays such as Chinese New Year and Cinco de Mayo would be celebrated.  And conversations would be had about the different winter holidays such as Kwanzaa, Chanukah, and Christmas.  Children will be exposed to materials and traditions for all of these and learn that different people may or may not celebrate different holidays (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010)

Finally, I would create a parent informational packet explaining my philosophy for anti-bias education and curriculum, along with my expectations for both parents and children.

I believe that this would be a strong foundation for setting up anti-bias Child Home Care.

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).