The Sexualization of Early Childhood

While reading the book excerpt, So Sex, So Soon I was picturing what my eldest daughter asked me when she was just a kindergartener, or better yet what she informed me of.  Her question was “Is this finger (holding up her middle finger) dirty?”  My response was to carefully look at her finger and I said “It doesn’t look dirty to me. However, there are people that associate dirty thoughts when holding up that finger.”  A couple of days later she comes up to me and says “Mom, do you know what this means?” While she moves her lose fisted hand up and down.  She did inform me of what the little boy told her it meant.  This book excerpt also reminded me of a time that my young daughter was sing along with a song on the radio.  Something like “I want to sex you up” I do not remember if that was the title or just some lyrics in the song.  Anyway, I asked my daughter what it meant and she told me that it only meant kissing.  I told her that I only asked because she should not sing or say things that she does not know what they mean.

 The images that society puts on young girls are really tough to follow.  To be sexy and popular you have to fit a certain image (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).  I have never fit that image and probably never well.  The fourth-grade girl that wrote that letter on page 3 of the book excerpt could have been me.  As a young child I always felt unloved and a failure.  I felt this way because I was not thin or pretty (at least no one ever said I was pretty).  The image that we are giving children about sex and being a sexual being is hurting them (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).  It is no wonder that children cannot figure out who they are and have relationship issues.  How do we move past the images that society has been giving for many, many years?  I still feel that my looks hinder my abilities to be loved and I am very insecure in my relationships.  Knowing this about myself helps me to look past societies images when working with others; however, I can only see what I think others see when looking in the mirror.

Reference

Levin, D. & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Isms: Evaluating its Impacts on our Professional Practices

            Growing up in a lower economic class with a big family left me a victim to many isms.  People face isms all around us.  In my experience a lot of people have difficulty with change.  Without change we cannot break the cycle of isms, bias, or prejudice.  Isms can be taught to us in a covert or overt manner (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012).  Often we do not even realize that we are being stereotyped when it happens naturally in your culture.  For example I was always called a tomboy and often dressed and acted the part.  I was always teased about it.  The one thing that really got me as a young teenager was when my cousins and uncle called me Cindy the cow because they used to have a cow named Cindy and my nickname was Cindy.  I refused to answer to Cindy anymore and often thought of myself as fat.  Talk about self-esteem issues.

            I think that if we as professionals were the victim of isms it would affect how we function in our life and in our classroom.  Being the victim of an ism would harm our self-esteem and self-worth.  This would make us unsure of our teaching and communications with families.  Without being able to build trusting and reliable relationships with the children in our care and their families we would not be able to partner up with them and provide a safe learning environment.  We might pass on the bias, stereotype, or prejudge on to the children without even realizing that it was happening.  This would be detrimental in our work to become anti-bias educators.  As professionals we need to work to overcome isms, biases, stereotypes, and prejudges so that we can help children to become anti-bias.

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2012). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

WK 3: Observing Communication

            My observation of adult/young child communication took place in a preschool setting.  I observed the communication between a mother and young child during the arrival to school.  They were talking about an event that happened the night before and what the child was going to tell his teacher.  The mother demonstrated listening to the child by repeating and responding in a purposeful manner.  They demonstrated the purpose of the communication to be informational and extending thoughts of the child.  The mother was very respectful in her communication with her son.  The mother and son were walking so there was not much eye contact or observing body language or gestures.

            After reading Kovach and Da Ross-Voseles (2011) article Communicating with Babies, Stephenson (2009) article Conversations with a 2-year-old, and listening to Laureate Education, Inc.’s (2011) media segment Communicating with Young Children I came up with three guiding principles to communicate with young children.  Theses principle can be tied to this observation.  The first principle that I thought was important was active listening and observing body language and gestures.  This mother actively listened to her son; however, observing body language and gestures did not occur because they were walking down the hall.  The second principle that I came up with was to be mindful in your communication.  This mother was talking to her son not to someone else about her son.  She was being respectful in how she communicated and was deliberate in her style.  The third principle is to understand the purpose of your communication.  It was clear that the purpose was to extend her son’s critical thinking and to give information and feedback in a respectful manner.

            This communication would be beneficial to this child’s self-worth.  The mother was very encouraging as the child spoke and feedback was done so that the conversation could continue.  The child was motivated by his mother to continue with this conversation.  The only thing that I would change would be the amount of observing of gestures and body language though this did not affect this communication process.  I feel that I communicate effectively though I need to work on my observational skills so that I actively listen with my whole body and acquire the communication that children do through body language and gestures.

References

Kovach, B., & Da Ross-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC; Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011a). EDUC 6357-6 Diversity, Development, and Learning [Webcast]. Communicating with Young Children. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2819834_1%26url%3D

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95.

Creating Affirming Environment

Setting up a Family Child Care Home

To set up my child care home I need to think about what I need that will reflect every family in my care (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012).  I like the way that Ms. Castillo had a greeting room for parents to come in and spend time helping children transition into her home, therefore I will have a greeting room that has the daily schedule, plans for the day, sign in sheet for the parents and one for the children.  My greeting room will have a pillow area for those children that need a quiet comfortable area before they are ready to start their day.  I will also have favorite books as well as teacher made books that depict what the children have been doing throughout their day.  I will have books that are written in the languages of my families.  I will have a classroom photo album depicting all the families.  It has been my experience that children love exploring everyone’s family. 

            I will have a room that is set up for infants and toddlers exploration.  This room will have materials that are at the levels of each infant and toddler.  It will have soft and cardboard books, I will adapt the teacher made books and cardboard books so that children can manipulate each page.  The books that I choose will encourage critical thinking (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012).  There will be soft furniture for relaxing and an area that is more sensory orientated that would include climbing, jumping, a crash pad, and a swing.  There will be multicultural manipulatives, props for dramatic play, and block play.  There will be mirror on the lower wall so that children can explore their selves, and pictures of their families.

            The preschool room will be similar to the infant/toddler room; however, it will have higher functioning manipulatives and tools for exploration.  The preschool room will have a sensory area, dramatic play area, block play area, and a discovery area.  There will be a book area in every room.  The walls will have a variety of pictures that depict the families that are in my care. 

            Ms. Castillo has a nap room in her center that I feel is needed (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  Children need a nice calm area that they can wind down and rest.  This room will be a nice calm area that will have soft furniture, blankets, books, and soft toys to cuddle with.  Soft calm music will be playing in the background. 

            My center will have a writing room.  This room will have child size tables and chairs.  It will also have desks for those children that want to write a private note.  This room will have a chalkboard, whiteboard and easels in it.  There will be a variety of writing tools, paper in multiple colors, and paint.  The walls will have multicultural pictures and poems as well as the alphabet on it.  I will have magnetic letters and numbers.  This room will also have a variety of favorite books to read and explore.  The room will also have a mailbox for each family, student, and staff member so that children can deliver letters.  Envelopes will also be available.

            Families will be encouraged to explore the center with their child/children.  They are encouraged to read the stories that the children will be exploring and the teacher made books about what the children have been doing throughout the day.  I will send home a personalized daily journal, a monthly newsletter that will tell about what happened last month and what is planned for the month.  There will be monthly homework assignments that families can choose to participate with their child.  These homework assignments will help me learn more about each family.

            My hopes are that my Family Child Care Home will be open and comfortable for all children and their family.  Through exploration the children will learn about and respect similarities and differences.  There will be pictures that demonstrate different feelings around the center to help children understand and respect their feelings and the feelings of others.

References

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2012). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). EDUC 6357-6 Diversity, Development, and Learning [Webcast]. Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2819834_1%26url%3D

My Hopes, My Goal, and Special Thanks

My Hope:

My hope for the families and children that I work with will feel welcomed and at home in my classroom.  I hope that I am able to depict an open mind, limit stereotypical behaviors that has been learned, and move towards an anti-bias learning environment.  I hope that I can work with all the families and children and truly depict their diverse cultures and family values.  My hope is that I can share my knowledge with other staff so that all children and families within our center fill welcomed and at home in this learning environment.  My hope is to set a positive example for others so that all can become anti-bias in our thoughts and throughout our lives.  My hope is that the world will become fair, equitable, and demonstrate social justice for all.

My Goal for the Early Childhood Field

A goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field is that every child has an equitable opportunity for education in a bias free environment.  This environment needs to address different ethnicities, races, genders, abilities, and family types.  This learning environment needs to address stereotypes and help children to figure out what is a stereotype and what is a fact.  Children should learn about other groups of people and a factual manner.  Every child will have a bias free, equitable, and social just learning environment. 

A Special Thank You

I would like to say thank you to all my colleagues for your input and support throughout this course.  I have learned a lot through your experiences and thoughts that you have shared.  I thank you so very much and I hope that I have helped in your learning process as much as you have in mine.  I would also like to send a thank you to Dr. Kien for your support and feedback is this essential journey to becoming an anti-bias educator.   Thank you!!

Creating Art -- Diversity, Identity, and Bias

Diversity

Diversity is in our identities from our families and roles

Diversity is among us in everything that we do and know

Diversity is in our differences

Diversity is in our traditions and cultures

Diversity is our life

Bias

Bias is negative or wrongful thoughts

Bias is what we are taught from birth

Bias can begin as a stereotype

Bias can be stopped

Opening eyes and spreading the word

We are all who we are

Our similarities make us human

Our differences make us unique

Our families teach us what society thinks

It is up to us all to break the cycle

And send equity and justice to all

We Don’t Say Those Words

            The way that we respond to children’s curiosity about others effects the way that they see people around them.  According to Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2012) we need to talk to children about what they see; however, I like others have told a child that we do not say things like that.  Several years ago when my eldest daughter, Cassie, was three years old we were in Walmart shopping when Cassie saw a lady that had many scars on her face.  I do not remember the exact details this took place 18 years ago.  Cassie made a comment about the lady and her scars and I remember that I immediately hushed her and told her we do not talk about others.

            The message that I communicated to Cassie and the lady if she heard or saw me was the lack of value that I gave the lady.  The truth is that I did not know what to say to her about the lady’s scars.  I could have talked about the differences that we all have.  Since I did not know this lady I did not know anything about the markings (scars) that she had.  So I could have talked to my daughter about things that happen that might give us scars or sometimes we are born with different skin variations and coloring.  Hushing my daughter only got her more interested in staring and wondering about the lady.  According to Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2012) and Pelo (2008) we should talk about the things that our young children see and are interested in.  An effective anti-bias educator would expand their critical thinking skills by asking questions (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).

References

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2012). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). EDUC 6357: Diversity, development, and learning. [Webcast]. Start seeing diversity: Physical ability and characteristics. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Pelo, A. (Ed.). (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.