Homophobia
and heterosexism have permeated the world of young children in several ways. In
our culture it is implanted that the traditional family that consists of a man
and female has the norm. In the early childhood centers and schools you have many books
on families in which have a mother and father that live in a happy home usually
with a pet. When it comes to toys of families it is the same way. When watching movies in the
classroom you never see one where the couples are of the same sex.
I believe that has an educator childhood center should not
exclude books that depict gay or lesbian individuals especially since we live
in a world that allows them to be a married couple. In our world there are many
same sex couples that are raising children and they will be going to these
schools so it means we need to teach the other children this can be counted has
a family too.
If I were in a situation where a parent didn’t want their child
in a classroom with a homosexual or transgender person I would tell them that we
have a curriculum that we follow and that the sexual orientation of the others
should not be a problem when it comes to their child’s education. But after
explaining all this and they still feel that way I would tell them maybe they
should look elsewhere.
I cannot ever remember using any of these terms but have heard
people use them. My nephew called his uncle gay along with friends even singing
a song. This made him horrible because he is gay and he thought that his nephew
cared about him. When children hear this from an adult or parent they will do
the same and more than likely they do not know what the word means they are
just repeating what they hear. This can lead the child to being prejudice to
others. This can have a negative effect on a child and make a child feel bad. I
have a boy in my class that is being raise by his gay grandmother and her partner
and a child ask her if she was a man or woman. This was because he had heard
someone else made that comment.
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very informative and I feel the same way when you stated schools should not exclude books that depicts homosexual because it will teach them it's ok to be different to love different things and someone from the same sex. Also it teaches children not all kids have a mommy and a daddy, some just have mommies and some have daddies. As an educator I believe all students have the right to choose any toy he/she feels comfortable playing with. In my earlier days I use to have an issue with boys playing with dolls or girls playing with trucks but as I studied and did more researched on gender stereotyped has helped me to view things different. When students play with toys helps develop their imagination in cognitive skills and to explore freely to finding out who they are. In my class I develop a strategy for all students to love yourself. Moreover, because loving yourself will help them to embrace confidence, self esteem, and view themselves from another perspective that no one can ever take away. Overall your blog was enjoyable to read.
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteLast week I read the story Ouch to my 2-year-old students, when they saw the last page, the hedgehog finally got rid of all the food on his back and be able to go back to his “home”, a girl asked, “So where is the daddy and mummy?” I was a bit surprised about the question, but also made me to re-evaluate the books I chose for the young children. Another book I hesitate to use is How much I love you. The book is about the conversation between a mummy rabbit and a baby rabbit describing how much they love each other. I wonder if the children might ask for the father, because I think for my 2 year old childhood are too young to understand the single parent family. Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010, p.43) pointed, “an environment rich in anti-bias materials invites exploration and discovery and supports children’s play and conversations in both emergent and planned activities”. In the future, I am going to try for the method of showing the pictures and letting the children to tell about what they think about the gender of the characters. Also I am going to let me young children to explore on gender difference and discuss about what girl or boy can in the whole class. Thanks for the sharing!
Reference
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young
children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteLast week I read the story Ouch to my 2-year-old students, when they saw the last page, the hedgehog finally got rid of all the food on his back and be able to go back to his “home”, a girl asked, “So where is the daddy and mummy?” I was a bit surprised about the question, but also made me to re-evaluate the books I chose for the young children. Another book I hesitate to use is How much I love you. The book is about the conversation between a mummy rabbit and a baby rabbit describing how much they love each other. I wonder if the children might ask for the father, because I think for my 2 year old childhood are too young to understand the single parent family. Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010, p.43) pointed, “an environment rich in anti-bias materials invites exploration and discovery and supports children’s play and conversations in both emergent and planned activities”. In the future, I am going to try for the method of showing the pictures and letting the children to tell about what they think about the gender of the characters. Also I am going to let my young children to explore on gender difference and discuss with the whole class what girl or boy can do in their daily lives. Thanks for the sharing!
Reference
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young
children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Including families is an important theme in the early childhood classroom. I also feel that diverse books should be included inside the classroom, because children deserve to see their families portrayed in the course of their everyday life throughout the school year.