A couple of years ago, we had a little girl in our Center who had some pretty challenging behaviors. At the age of 3, she had already been kicked out of 6 centers. The mom came to us because she appears that our program will work with families and kicking a child out was not an option. We enrolled the child and within the first three days she displayed some pretty aggressive behaviors. Throwing chairs, running around the Center, hitting other children, and at times even threading the teachers. We pulled all of our resources together and for the next two years we worked intensely with her and her mom. Today, that little girl is a successful third grader! I have walked into basketball games where she was politely selling Girl Scout cookies. It was amazing to see how much she had transformed! When I spoke with her mom she told me her daughter was in sports, had lots of friends, and the teachers enjoyed her. She thanked me and my staff for not giving up on her daughter. It's stories such as these that makes me realize the impact that high quality care, positive relationships, and family partnerships can have on a child.
I love this quote because I believe that in order for us to continue to move coward with accepting each other as individuals and celebrating diversity, we have to start teaching about diversity at a young age.
One of my favorite children's books is Shades of Black: A celebration of Our Children. I love this book because its shows the differences within my own race. Growing up I can remember countless stories of people within my race determining beauty based on the shade of a person's skin. My hope in having book available for all children is to show that ALL shades are beautiful!
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