As an educator I have frequently been a part of research. Often, this involvement was on the periphery, as a subject, without much knowledge of the study design or implications. Seldom was I privy to even the outcome of the research. As part of its work, the New York City Early Childhood Research Network seeks…
Incorporating Linguistic and Cultural Diversity into Early Childhood Practice
When I began working at the Division of Early Childhood Education as an Instructional Coordinator in 2014, I noticed that teachers often did not have the tools they needed to address the full range of Emergent Multilingual Learners’ (EMLL) needs in Pre-K practice. Children who speak a language other than English at home have different…
Laleña Garcia Publishes “What We Believe: A Black Lives Matter Principles Activity Book”
We are happy to share that Laleña Garcia, who works as a facilitator of Gender, Sexuality and the Family trainings at the Institute, in addition to teaching at Manhattan Country School, has announced the publication of her book What We Believe: A Black Lives Matter Principles Activity Book, illustrated by Caryn Davidson. The guiding principles of…
Black Babies Matter
A recent article from CNN discusses a new study from George Mason University that analyzed data capturing 1.8 million hospital births in Florida between 1992 and 2015. The study found that when White physicians cared for Black newborns, they were about three times more likely to die in the hospital than White newborns. This disparity…
Supporting Multilingual Learners in Remote Learning
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…