Words of Inspiration and Motivation

I have identified two persons for this week’s discussion :

Abigail Elliot - a pioneer in the nursery school movement in public education.  Of her Unitarian faith, Eliot said, "Religion has always been an important part of my life—a subconscious influence, as well as a conscious directive."

1926- Dr. Abigail Eliot and Patty Smith Hill found NANE-the National Association of Nursery Educators-the precursor to the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Janet Gonzolaz Mena – was very instrumental in childcare being diversified in its operations and an advocate of professional development. In the care of young children she states ,“Part of being who you are has to do with feeling your feelings, which means you'll have a wide range of emotions--not just constant sunshiny happiness.”
― Janet Gonzalez-Mena

Teaching "Diversity": A Place to Begin By Janet Gonzolaz- Mena

How can we best prepare children to meet the challenges and reap the benefits of the increasingly diverse world they will inherit? We can raise children to celebrate and value diversity and to be proud of themselves and their family traditions. We can teach children to respect and value people regardless of the color of their skin, their physical abilities, or the language they speak.

How to Begin

As our nation grows increasingly diverse, there has never been a better opportunity for us to learn to live respectfully together and benefit from one another's wisdom and experiences. But sometimes fear, uncertainty, or discomfort prevent people from talking to each other. This is especially true when it comes to the topics of race and racism, cultural differences, language and bilingualism, and the myriad questions that arise in a world where these issues have such a powerful place in children's lives. As professionals who partner with families to nurture young children, parents often regard us as a resource on a wide range of issues connected to diversity. We are in a unique position to engage in conversations that ask us to consider important questions such as;

·         What does it mean to be a parent raising a child in this diverse world?

·         What does it mean to be a young child growing up in this diverse world?

 To read more of this article by Janet Gonzolaz –Mena click on to the following link;

 http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/teaching-quotdiversityquot-place-begin

Passion, Motivation, and Wisdom

Here is a quote that really caught my attention from the first professional,     Louise Derman –Sparks, on the week 2 multimedia presentation,

“I researched how young children develop identity and attitudes and discovered that the preschool years are the most critical, the most fundamental period where in fact children are noticing who they are and noticing the attitudes and stereotypes and discomforts of positive and negative messages about their skin color, racial identity, their ethnic identity and teachers did not know they were interested in that.”

 

I did not know this information by learning of it, but inherently I knew the issue of children’s identity in early education was important.  Here again is a nugget of knowledge with which to hang my hat on to be an effective EC professional.