Creating Affirming Environments

When I envision what my own Family Child care home would look like, it would of course include the obvious correct developmental toys and activities but on a anti-bias learning environment, I would certainly be diverse as possible. Upon walking into the home, music would be playing, a combination of child friendly rhymes or songs and music from various cultures. Each possible book area would be stocked with multi-cultural books and books featuring many types of families, in addition the visuals on the walls would also be pictures of individuals with different abilities or with disabilities, diverse families and cultures doing everyday things or practicing various customs. I also plan on having many boards for the classroom, the children and their families. A holiday board, which we will feature any and all holidays along with the calendar month of when they all occur and once they arrive, we use each day as a lesson to understand all holidays, not just one. A culture board of the world will also be placed on the walls, listing various information about each country, their languages, lifestyle, traditions, or any new fun fact about the area. Tying in with this would be a family board, with interesting facts about each child’s background, favorite thing that their family does, celebrations or traditions they practice here, and where they are from. Lastly I would also include a parent board that would have information for the parents but would also include anything they would like to share or suggest with the classroom and/or teachers, wither it be anonymous or not. This plan would of course be altered slightly if certain things appear not to work, but it would be mild changes and maybe new additions and it may even be from a parent’s suggestion. Everything is a work in progress and the lesson plans itself would focus more on these issues and boards, but I think visuals make such an impact with children, no matter their age, and it will benefit them strongly, the children, the families and the center as a whole.