Child Centered, Social Justice
“Children need #AntiracistKidLit” graphic was compiled and designed by Lark Sontag —she is a Children’s Book Author and #AntiRacistKidLit Advocate. Please reference this site, when using this graphic. Antiracist is a verb! They are not too young, to listen, read, and learn about stories that combat racism. There is no such thing as apolitical books. …
Happy Juneteenth! Support the Black English of the grandchildren of the US South in your classrooms. Juneteenth and Black English “The nonlinear relation between AAE (African American English) use and language and emergent literacy skills, coupled with systematic differences in AAE use across contexts, indicates that some preschoolers may be dialect switching between AAE and …
It is 2020 and once again Toni Morrison’s book, The Bluest Eye has been banned, this time in California by the Colton USD. When I was a 10-years-old I read Judy Blume’s Dear God It’s Me Margaret. While it is a book that is frequently challenged by school districts, it is a book that most …
Read moreDon’t Censor Black Girlhood, The Bluest Eye is a middle grade book
A story about community care in early learning. Community care in early childhood education. One day I had a one student say to me, “We have to listen to you, because you’re in charge of us. You are our boss.” I explained I am not “the boss” and I am not in charge of anybody, …
Read moreA fun anecdote about community care in early learning
In my 15 years of classroom experience, I’ve never met a 4-year-old that frightened me enough to suspend or call the police. In early childhood education, we need to reject narratives that justify anti-Black actions in the classroom and on the playground. We need to reject the false narrative of the white (and sometimes Black) …
The differences between preschool and childcare are much deeper than the amount of time spent there and location. The differences are rooted in race, socioeconomic class, and gender. “During the 19th and early 20th centuries, two tiers of early childhood programs evolved in the United States. One tier, rooted in the social welfare system, was …
The 17th Annual State of Preschool, 2019 commentary transcript: I was excited yesterday when the State of Preschool, 2019 Report was released. I figured this report would provide the evidence most needed to fight back effectively against cuts in Early Childhood Education and, I applaud the report for its vivid picture of the preschool landscape …
Childcare Ratios Must Be Lowered If we want developmentally appropriate practices to occur in early childhood education, we must lower the children to staff ratio. A child-adult ratio of 3:1 produces a significantly higher quality of teacher and child interaction than a ratio of 5:1, especially for younger children (Williams, Sheridan & Pramling Samuelsson, 2019).For …
Women essential workers need childcare and women childcare workers deserve fair pay. Primary caregiving is an essential service and primary caregivers that work need childcare. Workers and owners in the predominantly women’s field of early childhood education have been devastated by the COVID-19 virus. A devastation that has hurt all workers owing to the unreasonable …
Read moreCOVID-19 has amplified the point that the fight for equitable childcare is a feminist fight
Teaching collective care through group-centered learning When I began teaching, I was initially a great believer in child-centered education. I thought the center of the classroom should be children, and each child should individually be centered. The idea of teacher-centered education was dubious to me. I didn’t want to have a dictatorship where …
Read moreTeaching collective care through group-centered learning