Website Archive - December
Spotlight on Diversity
Children
In December, our spotlight was on DIVERSITY and websites which offer activities for children to explore.
The Kids Page at Teaching Tolerance Website offers several stories about diversity and tolerance, including The Barking Mouse - a bilingual tale about a family of mice, and their response under pressure and A New Friend - a personalized storybook featuring the child as the main character when a new student arrives in class. Will the child be accepting of the new kid in class?
PBS Kids Maya and Miguel and their friends welcome new kids to the neighborhood and share new experiences and languages. This site offers a multicultural neighborhood with activities offered in English and Spanish.
Parents
Ten Ways to Nurture Tolerance from the Teaching Tolerance website is a list of ten basic steps parents can take to help children grow up to appreciate diversity.
Alike and Different: Article for Parents from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and PBS Kids shares ideas with parents on how to help their young children appreciate not only their own uniqueness but that of others.
Teachers
We Are Family: A Musical Message for All is a DVD featuring over 100 beloved children's characters including Arthur, Barney, Bear, Big Bird, Clifford, JoJo and SpongeBob, that celebrates friendship and diversity. Produced by the We Are Family Foundation, the free DVD celebrates our common humanity and the vision of a global family by creating and supporting programs that inspire and educate individuals of all ages about diversity, understanding, respect and multiculturalism; and to support those who are victims of intolerance. Preview the DVD at http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org and order it (you pay shipping and handing only) by sending an e-mail to: dvd@wearefamilyfoundation.org. Even without the DVD, you will find the activities included on the Teacher’s guide easy to adapt to your classroom. Download the Teacher’s Guide (PDF format).
Everything Preschool’s Articles on Diversity offers a selection of approaches and insights into addressing diversity in the early childhood classroom, including: Celebrating Diversity: Resisting Bias (Wendy C. Horikoshi); Insensitivity to Physical, Racial or Ethnic Differences (Lesia Oesterreich); Responding to Stereotypes: Issues for Parents and Child Care Professionals (Karen DeBord), and many more thoughtful lessons on developing diversity in the classroom. Articles are provided by the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the National Extension Service Children Youth and Family Educational Research Network.
From NAEYC’s Journal: Resources on Embracing Diversity in Early Childhood Settings. A bibliography of Young Children articles and NAEYC books on diversity.
Classroom teachers qualify for a free copy of Starting Small: Teaching Tolerance in Preschool and the Early Grades. Visit the Teaching Tolerance Website at to learn more about this resource and others, including the Teaching Tolerance Magazine and the Kids page.
Need more ideas on integrating diversity into your curriculum? Two good classroom approaches are described in Individual Differences/Diversity from Promising Practices under Wisconsin’s Early Childhood Excellence Initiative.
[Posted on November 29, 2005]
