The question that I chose to respond to form Chapter 2 of the Anti-Bias Unit was :What is your earliest memory of realizing that some people were different from you and/or your family?
I can remember one day, I think I was in first grade, when I realized that there were some families that were different from my own. I realized this when I went over to one of my friend's house to play. We were talking about what we had done with our families over the weekend and my friend shared with me that she had gone over to her dad's house. I was shocked to hear that her parents did not live in the same house as mine did. I went home and discussed this with my mom, and she told me that my friend's parents had gone through a divorce. Before that moment, I had always assumed that everyone's family was like my own, and that everyone's parents lived happily together under the same roof.
I think that as early childhood teachers, it is important to understand that kids are dealing with a variety of differences within their families. It is important for teachers to be sensitive to this. Furthermore, it is important that the teacher helps children to understand that even though they may come from a different family background than other children did, they are just as important to the class as anyone else is.
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Hi Liza, I enjoyed reading your post and I can relate to it in some ways. I can remember when I first learned about divorce. My friend's parents were living together in CT with her and I can remember I thought both her parents were so nice. When I used to go play at her house her dad wold bring us cases of costume jewelry rings home from work (I still have no idea what he did) and her mom always came up with the most creative activities for us to do. Just before kindergarten I moved to CA and in third grade my mom told me that my friend, Cristina's parents were getting a divorce. For some time after that I was so scared my parents would too. I can remember talking to Crisitna on the phone but my mom had told me not to bring it up. It wasn't until 4th grade that my mom told me that her father had been abusing my friend's mom and I realized that maybe things are not always as they appear. It made me very sad for my friend and also made me appreciate her mother and her as well because they were so positive and resilient throughout it all.
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