Hi Stephanie,
I recommend listening to the webinar "Using Loose Parts to Create Culturally Sustainable Environments" with Miriam Beloglovsky and Lisa Daly:
https://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/webinars/using-loose-parts-create-cultural-sustainable-environments-miriam-beloglovsky-lisa-daly/They also have a book on red leaf press by the same title that is 3rd in their loose parts series and goes deeper into the topic with beautiful photos, but the webinar outlines the main ideas and provoked me to change the way I think about classroom materials. They talk about the way prepackaged "cultural" materials often reproduce stereotypes, and how replacing things like plastic tacos and spaghetti and meatballs in the play kitchen with loose parts allows children to map what they actually eat and know at home onto their classroom play. They also focus on building relationships with families and working with families to source loose parts from materials that have meaning in their home life or cultural memory.
Intentionally curating our book collection with anti-bias education in mind has been another huge change in my classroom that has led to many meaningful discussions as well as mirror and window moments for children.
I'd also recommend auditing your current materials to see if dominant-structure experiences (white, english-speaking, heterosexual, cisgender, thin, non-disabled, two-parent families, etc) are overrepresented in things like books, dolls, figurines, games, & images, and also noticing whether multicultural figures/images are represented in a stereotypical light (i'm thinking especially about the many collections of "children around the world" from Kaplan, Discount School Supplies, and other major players that depict figures from different countries in historical dress.)
An ongoing project I started a few years ago during a fall prep week was to find and print out images of people doing things that interest children-- dancing, performing, gardening, flying kites, making & demanding change-- curated with diversity across many domains in mind, and with a focus on people involved in projects local to our area. I read about each person/project so that I'd be able to have conversations with children if they asked about something, then laminated and posted them in an area of the classroom, and have added over the years. Some I keep loose in a folder to pass around after a story or project that's on topic with those people. Some teachers do a similar thing with creating books or binders because their wall space is reserved for child art only. It was more time consuming than buying a prepackaged curriculum piece, but has led to many meaningful conversations and contributed to my own learning as well as children's.
Hope this helps!
------------------------------
Encian Pastel
Children's Community Center, Gender Justice in Early Childhood, Bay Area Childcare Collective
Richmond CA
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 07-20-2021 04:18 PM
From: Stephanie Larson
Subject: Classroom toys and curriculum that promote diversity and inclusion
Hi all. I am looking for some options outside of Lakeshore or Discount School Supplies that have meaningful toys and classroom curriculum to help promote diversity and inclusion. This is for a preschool with children aged 6 months to 5 years. I thought this forum would be a good place to get some ideas. Thanks for your help
------------------------------
Stephanie Larson
Director
San Diego Cooperative Preschool
San Diego CA
------------------------------