I have really grown in my understanding of what culturally inclusive means in just the last few years, and this module was a great source of validation and information. We are open to all races, ages, and abilities in our home but I’m not sure that we truly understood that when we first began. We had some blocks of people “from around the world’ which were people in their traditional native garb and we had some puzzles with people of both genders and many races doing all types of jobs. But we pretty much stopped there. Now that we have taken several trainings on the topic we are better stocked with supplies that more normalize diversity. We have multi-cultural baby dolls, food, images, books, and music in the home. We have diversity within our enrollment too which has led me to purchasing books in French and depicting children with Down Syndrome. I purposefully searched these out because I want to make sure our kids feel included and “normal”.

I liked the discussion on privilege. I have just about every entitlement there is due to my race, education, religion, etc. and I have recently come to realize how that is tainting my views in many different ways. I want to empower my daughters who have the same heritage to feel strong and heard and bold. But not at the expense of other young girls of other backgrounds and futures. I want to be aware of when we are using our privilege negatively and be able to step back and take a corrective course. I want the children in my daycare to be learning that their various backgrounds are not negatives to be overcome but strengths that make them who they are. However, it is also realistic to know that some barriers with be in their lives because of the way privilege plays into our culture. I want to help empower them to carry on strong and confident!