How do families select a strong family support group or system and what can educators do to help?

During this weeks reading in Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 189-195 "Who Cares for Our Children" the author talked about low income families who may be in poverty, homeless etc, which they are searching for safe and affordable childcare. According to the text on p.191 the author talks about human rights for child care and the importance of creating a "Positive State" for women and children. How do families select a strong family support group or system to help their child get into childcare programs? Today there are child care programs that can help low income families send their child to school such as Head Start programs etc.

As I read, "It's All of Our Business" on p. 197-200 the author discussed the issue of employment on which, the government needs to take action to create business standards that reflect on public values (p.199). I feel that it's our job as educators to help support families as much as possible so that their child can get the education they need.

The last two readings from p. 201-208 talks about a similar issue that discuss wages for childcare and providing improvements on working conditions for educators in childcare programs. Is there an easier way to handle public financial investments on wages?

What can educators do to help children learn more about different types of famillies and diversity?

As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education on p. 177-182 "Heather's Moms Got Married." The author talked about a subject the children were interested in learning about, which was different types of marriages and families such as, white and brown people, gay or lesbian marriages, and having two moms and two dads. She also mentioned family diversity. How do you feel about mixed marriages and families? I feel that everyone comes from different life styles and people should have the right to do what makes them or others happy. I enjoyed reading about the different activities and ideas for children who are learning about stereotypes on gender differences. Some activities that I found interesting would be having the children share and display their family stories and pictures, and by making a class book of the boys and girls drawings as they engage in non-stereotypical behaviors. When is it appropriate to teach children about stereotypes on gender differences? I recently experienced four children playing in the dramatic play area where they were playing house. One child wanted to be the baby, another child wanted to be the sister, and two other girls both wanted to be the mommy, However one of the children said, "their can only be one mommy" and another child said, "you can be the daddy" that child didn't want to be the daddy, so she told one of the teachers that she wanted to be the mommy too. The teacher told them that they both can be mommy's. Then they both decided to be the mommy and went to look for another child to be the daddy.

What's an appropriate or inappropriate way to discuss race and culture with young chidlren?

As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 3-6 "What Color is Beautiful?" the author talked about her Kindergarten class and a child named Ernesto who is Spanish. He didn't like his skin color because he wanted to be white. The author also discussed her experience on teaching children about skin color. For example, she read children stories that related to her topic such as, "The Ugly Duckling" and "Nina Bonita" those stories both discussed the issue about changing the way you look and feel. What are some appropriate and inappropriate ways that preschool teachers can do to discuss race and culture to young children? Some appropriate ways could be like the text explained, reading children stories that can relate to multiculturalism, using puppets of different cultures, sing songs, role play or using photo's etc. Some inappropriate ways would be stereotyping etc. We haven't really experienced a child who didn't like the color of their skin or the way they look. However, if we do experience this I feel that it's important to observe the child.

While I was reading "Why an Anti-Bias Curriculum?" the author talked about children and how they should appreciate who they are because everyone is unique. I feel that it's important for children to learn from an anti-bias curriculum because it may help them to understand more about cultural diversity and gender.