Saturday, January 19, 2013

Blog Assignment: Creating Affirming Environments

In my Family Child Care Home I would like to foster a center that is welcoming and respectful to all of the children, parents, and families that I serve. Through the center there will be diversity of posters and educational materials that reflect diversity. 

In my Welcome center I would display pictures of the child and the family.  I would display these pictures in a section “All about Us”.  Parents can bring pictures from home and with permission pictures will be taking doing the course of the day while child is engaged in learning experiences and transitioning time.

In my Reading Center, I would have books that focus on diversity. These books will convey messages that represent the culture, language, and identity of all children.  The pictures of the books will be age appropriate that depicts familiar pictures that has representation of the child’s family history.   Books are one of the richest resources for helping children meet the anti-bias education (Sparks-Derman & Edwards, 2010).  Books give children a sense of identity and allow them to learn new things.  I would also allow parents to bring books that are a part of their child’s and family culture. 

In the Language center, there will be words that are spoken in different forms.  For example, there will be “hola” for the Spanish culture, “hello” for the American culture, “ni-hao” in Chinese culture, and yia sou in the Greek culture.  

In the Dramatic play area, I want to display dolls that represent various cultures.  I want to incorporate all forms of working people in this area.  I want women to have on hard hats and the men to be in nurse’s uniforms.   Want children to be able to identify with all kinds of people; people who do stay at home work and those who pursue professional careers. I would also have dolls that represent disabilities and abilities in various cultural backgrounds.

 In the kitchen area, I would have foods that represent the culture of the children; as well as different utensils that the child’s culture utilizes.  I would also encourage the families to collaborate and share ways to include their family’s culture of food in the classroom setting, including how they sit and how they eat their food.

In the Music center, the parents are encouraged to bring lullabies, songs, and music about their culture.  The parents are also encouraged to come to center and sing songs that reflect their individual culture.

In the Math center, I want to be diverse in how children learn numbers.  In the science center I also want the children to be able to learn science from a different perspective through diversity.

In the Social Studies center, I want the children to explore the world through pictures, maps of the worlds, and learning animals and toys that are a representation of different cultures. 

In the manipulative and block area, I want the children to recognize the different forms of diversity through puzzles.  Children can use magazines to find diverse pictures of families and foods. 

In the Computer area, children will be able to explore learning activities from a diverse and educational perspective.

In the Soft area, there will be puppets and pillows that are a representation of different cultures.  Each of the puppets and pillows will be a part of the child.  They will make the child feel safe and basically make them feel like they are at home.  This area is a secure play for the child to reminisce and talk about their families.

My reason for choosing these centers and materials is that I feel that they will meet the individual, cultural, and developmental needs of the child.  I believe that the parents will feel welcomed and valued.  I believed by including the family and child culture in the curriculum the child will feel important, safe, and inclusive.   I choose this information because I believe that it is my responsibility to create a responsive, cultural, and family oriented  educational learning center so that the child can thrive to become a important community leader.



Sparks-Derman, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. Washington: National Association for the Education of Young Children.


  1. I love the title of your "All About Us" area!
    My question for you is:
    In your book areas and kitche/dramatic play areas, would you include portrayal of cultures not present in your program? For example, if you did not have any same-sex parent households, would you still include books on two mother and/or two father families? Why or why not? Would you include, let's say, pretend sushi in the dramatic play area even if you did not have any Japanese children?

    1. Hello Gregory
      Of course, I would represent all cultures, single parents, and same-sex parents so that other children can broaden their interest in other cultures and they will be aware of the diversity and different family structures. I would also do the Japenese culture and food because children love learning about something new. As professionals it is our goal to prepare children for the world, and I believe that our classrooms are a great place to start.

      Thanks for the comments!

  2. Hi Tamieka,
    I think your centers sound very welcoming and inclusive for all children and families. I like the addition of puppets too. I have puppets in my classroom that represent a mulititude of diverse characters. The children asked about each one and then we had a little lesson finding out where they came from and what are some things we know about them.

  3. Tamieka,
    The soft area represents making sure the children are comfortable with their surroundings. The magazine activities will allow children to identify how people are similar and different from each other. I love how the welcome center gives the families and children a understanding of the other children in the child care center. Great Job!