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Resources for using names (of children or adult learners) to explore issues of identity, culture, family tradition, and more. Ideas for how to use the resources are included.
Publication Date
October 2023
Resource Type:
Handouts/Tipsheets
Types of Diversity:
Children and Families who are Culturally, Racially, and Ethnically Diverse
UDL is a set of practices, in the words of CAST, that “bust the barriers to learning that [children] experience every day.” Take a look and see which of these practices you are already using and which might extend your creativity and resourcefulness even farther.
This issue's Natural Resources focus on family stories. You’ll find examples of how to gather and effectively use family stories as part of early childhood emergent curriculum, professional development, family engagement, and more.
This issue focuses on ways in which young children may be a terrific resource in supporting the learning and development of their peers. While several of the items in this issue focus on ways in which children may support peers with disabilities, others invite our consideration of how educators may use peer to peer learning to support any child.
With the start of the new early education year, it seemed like a good time to acknowledge opportunities to learn outside and the benefits that may come from contact with nature. A talented colleague, Elandriel Lewis (elandriel.lewis@unitedwaygn.org), has assembled resources to support you in doing this.
The NAEYC position statement on developmentally appropriate practice or DAP (https://www.naeyc.org/resources/ position-statements/dap/contents) highlights core considerations that should inform the decisions of early child-hood educators. Rather than viewing development as a single measurement or domain, DAP reminds us to consider the intersections among commonality in children’s development and learning, individuality reflecting each child’s unique characteristics and experiences, and the context in which development and learning occur (page 6). This issue shares examples of intersections across these and other dimensions.
This is a collection of free resources about and for fathers. Please note that the use of the term “father” in this document, consistent with Head Start protocol, refers to “fathers and other men who play a significant role in raising a child. This person may be a biological father, adoptive father, or stepfather. He may be a grandfather, another adult male family member, a foster father, a guardian, or a significant other.”
This issue includes resources for learning more about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, resources for children and families, and resources for early childhood educators.
Publication Date
May 2022
Resource Type:
Handouts/Tipsheets
Types of Diversity:
Children and Families who are Culturally, Racially, and Ethnically Diverse
Whether you use children’s books to provide mirrors and windows, invest renewed energy in supporting positive identity, or consider new research possibilities to support each and every Black child, we hope you will use these resources beyond February, as part of ongoing practice.
Publication Date
February 2022
Topic:
Family
Interaction
Social-emotional development
Resource Type:
Handouts/Tipsheets
Types of Diversity:
Children and Families who are Culturally, Racially, and Ethnically Diverse
This January issue of Natural Resources opens with a very recent article highlighting that while teacher candidates may have a positive attitude toward trauma-informed practices, they may not be well-prepared to implement them. What comes next is a set of curated resources for learning about and implementing trauma-informed practices that we hope you will use to help address the aforementioned gap.
Publication Date
January 2022
Topic:
Interaction
Social-emotional development
Resource Type:
Handouts/Tipsheets
Types of Diversity:
Children and Families who have Experienced Maltreatment and Trauma
In 1990, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop published an essay about the importance of providing young readers with diverse books that reflect the “multicultural nature of the world” in which we live. In the essay, Dr. Bishop coined the phrase “Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors” to explain how children see themselves in books and how they can also learn about the lives of others through literature. Dr. Bishop makes the point that it’s crucial for children to view themselves in the books they read. Here are resources for learning more about Dr. Bishop and how she has influenced the early childhood field
Publication Date
August 2021
Topic:
Interaction
Social-emotional development
Literacy
STEM
Resource Type:
Handouts/Tipsheets
Print
Types of Diversity:
Children with Disabilities
Children and Families who are Culturally, Racially, and Ethnically Diverse
Identifying similarities and differences is the process of comparing information, sorting concepts into categories, and making connections to existing knowledge. Supporting each young child’s full and equitable participation requires early childhood professionals to build the capacity for children to recognize and talk about differences in ways that are honest and accurate, but also thoughtful and kind. This takes intentionality on the part of professionals, and daily practice and modeling by children and adults. Here are some resources for supporting those capabilities.
Publication Date
July 2021
Topic:
STEM
Inclusion
Resource Type:
Handouts/Tipsheets
Types of Diversity:
Children with Disabilities
Children and Families who are Culturally, Racially, and Ethnically Diverse
Frameworks from both NAEYC and DEC highlight the importance of gathering information about children over time and use that documentation to support wise decisions. Here are some examples of resources that support progress monitoring and/or ongoing child assessment to support educators and children.
Here’s a set of free articles, videos, checklists, and graphics that provide information about what UDL is and how to use it to support diverse young learners so they can show us what they know and are able to do.
The 4th edition of NAEYC’s position statement (2020) defines “developmentally appropriate practice” as methods that promote each child’s optimal development and learning through a strengths-based, play-based approach to joyful, engaged learning (p.5). Yet recent shifts to virtual learning and single-minded emphasis on academic achievement have hampered some efforts to support play-based approaches. This collection of resources is designed to provide both evidence and examples of how effectively play may be used to facilitate learning, development, and connections across domains.
In the last year or so, a number of new and excellent resources related to learning about and supporting infants and toddlers have been developed and made available at no cost. This issue shares several of them.
Open-ended questions, the ones that require more than one-word answers such as yes or no, can stimulate a child’s thinking and help to develop their language skills. Open-ended questions encourage a child to focus and make meaning of their experiences and enable them to see various possibilities. The curated resources from this issue of Natural Resources provide examples that will connect rich, thoughtful questions to curiosity, vocabulary, and all domains of development.
Visual supports are an evidence-based practice that can support the engagement and participation of diverse young learners. Consider how to use the resources below to support children with disabilities, children who are dual language learners, children who are new to a setting, or any child who benefits from looking and learning.
As a result of COVID-19 and other stressors, many families are experiencing adverse changes and uncertainty. October 2020's Natural Resources include a set of free resources that may be useful for families and practitioners.
