During the month of February, the teachers in the Children’s House program will be reading books that lead to conversations about race.
Most of these conversations are framed to acknowledge and appreciate the differences among us and to challenge negative stereotypes that children may have already encountered in the world. We want to give children experiences talking about race in an open, unbiased way that help them understand skin color as one of many beautiful differences among humans. We hope that when they are eventually presented with the idea of assigning more or less value to a particular group of people based on these differences, they will already have a narrative that challenges that notion. While our conversations are not specifically geared toward addressing racism at this stage, we do discuss it when it comes up, using language children can understand and in a developmentally appropriate way.
Some of the books your children’s teachers will be reading include Who Are Your People? by Bakari Sellers; All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka; Black Magic by Dinah Johnson; Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi; Emi's Curly, Coily, Cotton Candy Hair by Tina Olajide; Skin Again by bell hooks; and Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas.
If you are looking to have a conversation with your child about skin color, race, and racism, here is a resource that may be helpful. This resource takes into consideration the complexity of these conversations with children of color and provides guidance on how to approach them in a way that respects their developmental stage and honors their sense of self.
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