There are many strategies used in childcare services to help the children understand and respect the cultural identities. Display different languages children songs DVDs in the childcare centre and play them on routine to educate the children about the different languages though the songs. These days’ nursery rhymes are available in YouTube in different languages and different version and educators should encourage the children to imitate them. Allowing the children, a dramatic play using the props such as cooking utensils, disability aids Provide art materials handy for the children to draw, colour and talk about their images, using a range of skin tones in pencils, markers or paints give an opportunity to play different musical instruments
It is important to respect, understand and include a child’s culture as it helps each child feel a sense of being, becoming and belonging. Knowing about each child’s cultural identity will also help you to promote an equitable environment by building trusting and responsive relationships with children and their families and to demonstrate acceptance of diverse family structures and perspectives (OpenSpace, 3.2.1). For education and care services, understanding and valuing cultural diversity is key to countering racism in our services and community. Including a child’s culture into the centres environment gives the individual child a chance to grow with their culture and to include the other children in it. Showing children an individual child’s
Including the child’s culture can take many forms some of which are through storytelling, games, arts and crafts, and community participation. It is important that we include a child’s culture so that they can further develop their sense of belonging and feel safe, secure, and supported in the care of the service. It will also allow educators to further understand the child’s culture.
In a culturally component childcare setting it is fundamental to understand the cultures, languages, traditions, beliefs and values of a child, as all cultural traits vary. This will help build and maintain relationship between the educator and child and the educator and parents/guardians.
Language development is one of the most important milestones fulfilled during infancy and early childhood. Though, there is no exact answer as to how an infant learns language. I believe that the ability to learn language is something that comes from our interactions with people, such as parents, teachers, other children, and just about anyone who is in our lives for extended periods of time that may aid us in this stage of development. Though this may not be the way infants learn language, empirical research has been done that supports my belief. One such study relates the quality of center-based childcare to cognitive and language development. Another study found an association between infant gaze following and pointing and vocabulary growth. Lastly, a third study found a significant relationship between book reading and the development of language.
In order to understand the role of language in a child’s life, it is imperative to be able to understand the importance of language that a child sees. This includes having the ability to both read and write. In 1871, Charles Darwin wrote that man is born with the natural instinct to speak, but not with the instinct to write (Perera, Aparici, Rosado and Salas, 2015, p. 18). Writing was invented by humans to aid in the process of communication, and is deemed a necessary aspect in the process of a child’s language development (Ljungdahl, & March, 2014, p. 261).
Early childhood professionals have understood the importance of language and literacy in young children for quite some time. Early literacy plays a key role in facilitating the kind of early learning experiences that corresponds with academic achievement, reduced grade retention, higher graduation rates and an increase in productivity during their adult life. (Elliott) A child’s journey towards literacy involves learning to speak, listen, read, understand, watch, draw, and write. The building blocks for constructing these skills begin at birth. Throughout this paper, I will explain the components of a well-designed literacy activity, why each piece is important, and how
Role-play is one of famous activity among the young children, they learn to use different expressing words or phrases to interpret the situation and express their feelings, fear, excitement or anger (Stone, 1993). Teaching bilingual children lots of repetition is needed and they only learn new words through activities moreover, I use the visual aids to introduce the vocabularies (Supporting Bilingual Children in EYFS). Activities provide them opportunities to closely interact and reflect their linguistic experiences. It helps these children to practice their language and provide the best outcomes of their learning for example, daily story telling, singing, introducing new words through games and using visual aids to describe them (Clarke, 2009).
Involving people ,using a curriculum or educational environment where each child is welcomed and included, being made to feel they are on equal terms, where they feel they belong, and can progress to his/her full potential.” (National Childcare Strategy 2006–2015)
We (educators) need to put social clichés and stereotypes aside and provide fair, non-discriminative and welcoming environment for all children within the service (and avoiding any tokenistic approaches). As I have discussed earlier (in the Module 3 Part 1 of this Assessment), ‘respect for diversity’ and ‘cultural competency’ are key aspects of the National Quality Standards (NQS) and the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). Since supporting children to follow their cultural traditions and to participate in cultural activities enhances their wellbeing and can contribute to their resilience, social confidence and protection from prolonged isolation, emotional trauma or exclusion (EYLF: Outcome 1- Children have a strong sense of identity & Outcome 2 - Children are connected with and contribute to their world). Australian government today provides number of policies, projects and programs to celebrate diversity and inclusion for Indigenous Australian (and other communities) (like Aboriginal Children Support and Parent Awareness – ASSPA Program, National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and Indigenous Education Ambassadors Program) (Price, 2015). However, apart from
Strategies you can use to enrich children’s understanding and respect for cultural identities within the service’s community is being aware of one’s world view around them, by developing and gaining knowledge towards cultural differences. As an educator you will need to pay attention and acknowledge the diversity within your service. Strategies that can assist children to develop positive self-images and concepts by talking about differences through stories, photos and celebrations by integrating it throughout the day. An example would include a child asking some information about someone’s clothing or food, this is a good opportunity to discuss differences and expand it by having multicultural lunch day activities, outside activities or dress
An educator must be mindful of social foundation of each individual in order to comprehend the Tyke. In this regard, every kid is considered an exceptional individual each with something unique to give. Likewise the objective of multicultural projects is not just to show kids about different gatherings or nations, but instead to get acclimated to all the different possibilities and ways of life in various societies and perspectives. As a rule a guardian may be confused and not educated on the best way to instruct a kid.Ultimately, there are a few things which cover an assortment of issues, so instructing is exceptional when Childcare is concerned. Specialized curriculum, teachers special training instructors work with understudies from little
Every individual have a diverse experiences of belief, values and attitudes. As an educator staying aware of these differences in our professional practices is a must. As an educator you need to reflect upon on how your life experiences have shaped your beliefs, values and attitudes. This involves making a conscious decision to children’s cultural competence in order to build an inclusive and just society. This practice can help the educators to address any difficulties and discrimination children face in early childhood settings. Further educators can develop a sense of belonging and connectedness in families by providing them opportunities to meet with other families at the service. In this process mental health and wellbeing of children
To acknowledge and understand the diversity of childrearing beliefs and practices among families, we must first acknowledge and understand our own beliefs and practices. Children are very diverse people who have been raised a specific way and must understand that they are vastly different from others. It is important that “helping” professionals show their students compassion, support, and understand the many different family and cultural backgrounds.
Activities that would be suitable for young as sensory experiences as touching and moving. Sounds, visual activities, a variety of forms of communication, and let my students explore their environment.
Some strategies that I would use include engaging children in various activities which focuses on cultural identity. Identifying and exploring different