[katarina-astley]

The components of human diversity influence children to understand and accept that, although others have different cultures than their own, all cultural backgrounds deserve to be recognized and respected. There is no culture that outweighs the others in importance. They are all equal, and should be seen as such.

Not only do the children’s’ individual cultural components influence their acceptance, exposure to differing cultural backgrounds influence it as well. When children interact with people of different language backgrounds, religion, family history, ability, socio-economic class, and race or ethnicity, they learn about the differences among people in the world, and we as childcare staff guide them into learning that these differences are to be celebrated and that they bring us together as a community.

[katarina-astley]

My favorite ages are infants and four- to five-year-olds. I love the infants because it’s so exciting to see them develop so many motor skills in only their first year of life! The four-year-olds are so eager to learn about everything they can! They’re also honing their verbal skills, so it’s much easier to have a conversation with them than younger age ranges. They’re so excited about life!