I personally cannot translate every great resource I find and I feel like my multilingual families are missing out. But I’m also not the greatest Spanish reader myself and cannot go through lots of pages trying to find good resources in Spanish. – Workforce Survey Participant The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute in…
Confronting our Discomfort with Self-Compassion
In each of the three books that I have written these past fifteen years or so, whether they are about reflecting on how we developed our biases, the way we were disciplined, or how we sought attention as children, I conclude with a chapter on compassion. Developing compassion is critical when working with children and…
Making Millions off of the 30-Million-Word Gap
Many of us in early childcare and education are part of movements for racial and economic justice in our society. This work can be understood as a component of broader national movements, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, to end structural racism. At the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, we take an…
Tell Kids the Truth
When I was 4 years old, my parents split up. I didn’t understand it at the time – though I was aware of tension and conflict. And while it certainly felt like it at the time, it wouldn’t be the biggest upheaval in my life. My mother tried to be honest with us and did…
Reimagining Systems of Care
As early childhood educators, we embrace our role as caregivers. In our practice, we design and re-design systems of care to make them more people/child-centric. Our priority is to increase the well-being of all children through a strength-based approach. All educators must counter societal racism with special attention to Black children, whether they be girls,…
In Solidarity with Educators and Activists Fighting for Racial Justice
To be an early care and education professional is to be an activist. It is our job and our joy to foster young children’s healthy sense of self and sense of belonging, to teach fairness and empathy. It is also our job to center the voices of Black and Indigenous People of Color whose leadership…
What Happens to Equity When My Classroom is 18 Homes?
Early childhood educators around the globe are learning to work in a new way. We hear families refer to remote learning during coronavirus closures as “homeschooling.” However, homeschooling is different. Homeschooling means that there is an adult at the house who has chosen the responsibility of intentionally supporting the child’s development. Now, for many children,…