One reason I love working at the center I am currently at is that we respect and embrace all the family’s differences and cultures. I have been here for three and a half years and I have learned so much from these children! I have learned about other culture’s holidays, I have eaten so many new foods, I have found a new respect for people. My boss is very good with accepting diversity and I appreciate that about her.
One method you mentioned about teaching kids about diversity is books. I think this is a great way to get through to the kids about how people are different. We have almost ten bookshelves filled with books about everything imaginable. The kids really take to these stories and learn from them. The most amazing part about reading to them is all the questions they have afterwards. Two of the topics they seem to be most intrigued by are gender identity and economic class. Since most of the kids at this center come from upper middle class families, they seem to be in shock when we read stories about the less fortunate. “Why can’t they just go to the store and buy this? Why don’t they have a car to get there? Why do their clothes look like that?” Or with gender identity, it’s questions like, “Why is that boy wearing a dress? Why is that girl’s hair short?” I love their curiosity and I love teaching them about all the different kinds of people.