Anti-bias Activity

The activity I choose for this project was the Family Tree, found on page 220 of the book Roots and Wings by Stacey York. The objective of the Family Tree is to "help children understand that every family is different" (York, 220). Helping children understand differences is very important as they grow up and either experience new things or are maybe sheltered by parents, or perhaps in the community where they live where there is not a lot of differences.

The materials that are needed for this project are very simple, and cheap, and include: a photograph of each child's family (they can be either separate pictures of the family members or one big group family picture, whatever the child wants to do), a large piece of butcher paper (I think it can be any color the child wishes to have, for more fun and more creativity), and felt-tip markers (making sure you include a big variety of colors, including all kinds of skin colors, to not have any child left out). (York, 220).


The child can make the family tree anyway they want, it is important to not have an adult sample for them to look at. They need to use their own imagination and creativity! After making the family tree with the children they should displayed on bulletin boards or just push pinned on the walls that go around the entire classroom. When that is done you should get all the children together while you look at each family tree and count the number of family members with the children. Afterwards you should make a chart with how many people there are in each family. With those charts you can ask children who has the most family members and which child has the smallest amount of family members. Looking at the picture or family tree again you can ask the children to name family members (mom, dad, sister, brother, grandma, grandpa, family pets if they included them, and whoever else is in the picture). While the child is naming off family members we should be writing down all the names they used to describe their family members. This can also bring to light that some "families differ in who lives together and the names they call their members." (York, 220). For example if a child is describing the family members, going up the tree, and they reach their grandparents they may call them a certain name. I call my mom's adoptive parents Nana and Papa. Children in the classroom may have certain names for their own great-grandparents or grandparents. My cousins, sister and I called my great-grandma on my dads side Mea Ma. This is a great time to talk about "the many different ways of being a family" as well. (York, 220). If there are children from different cultural background this would also be a great time for the children to ask questions about it and start to understand different cultures. With everyone in the classroom participating in the conversation it can be a great learning opportunity for the children as well as yourself. The questions that they ask will help them understand and comprehend others and their families, as well as opening their minds. This will help with their development growing up.

(*These two pictures were in other classroom, each unique and colorfully made. I think they are great, but it might ruin the creativity of the children.) 

I choose this particular activity because I have always liked making family trees and seeing everyone else's in the classroom growing up, they were always interesting to me. Also with what I have been learning this semester in all of my human development classes I know now that not everyone has the "average" family, I've learned that this gives the teacher a great opportunity to show children that yes someone can have two mommies or two daddies or live with their grandparents. Or even someone who has no mom or dad and is living with a single parent. It can open up a door of new questions and understanding for children.

The appropriate age for this activity is three and four year old children, also for children to age seven. They are finally starting to make sense and are noticing differences among people at age three and four. At ages five and six the children are still asking questions and trying to make sense of the world. "They continue to be interested in physical differences and can easily describe themselves in terms of their own physical features." (York, 18). Between the ages of seven and nine is when children experience a major shift in their thinking. "Fully realizing that their culture comes from their family, they add the concept of group membership to their own identity and use it to distinguish themselves from others. Schoolagers can also consider more than one attribute at one time. This allows them to understand that they are a member of a family, an ethnic culture, a classroom, a religion, and a citizen of a town, state, and country." (York, 19). This is important because children are finally able to grasp these concepts and having a family tree activity will help them understand that others are from different ethnic cultures and religions in particular.



This is an appropriate theme because it allows the children to see what other families are like, not just their own. It can open their eyes to different cultures, religions (Catholic, Christianity, Muslim, Buddhism, etc.) and different family types (gays, single parents, adopted, etc). This is also a time to answer questions about differences among others and to help children understand that not everyone is the same and that not all families practice the same things as what others do. The children will also be working with their parent and/or relatives in completing the family tree. This can be a great bonding time for them and they will learn some more about themselves, their parents, and their family. This is a beneficial and appropriate project in many ways I believe.

This activity meets anti-bias goals by developing a positive, knowledgeable, and confident self-identity within a cultural context. (York, 138).  To name a few objectives of this would include: recognize one's own family, identify one's own culture, cultural traditions, and customs, appreciate one's own cultural heritage, recognize one's family celebrations, and use of one's home language in public. (York, 138-139). It also meets demonstrating comfortable, empathetic interaction with diversity among people. The few objections it has includes: accepting others who are different from oneself, appreciating physical characteristics of others, recognizing human similarities/differences and develop positive attitudes toward them, and pronouncing the names of one's classmates correctly. (York, 139-140). The last goal that this meets is standing up for oneself and others in the face of bias. This includes: feeling responsible to oneself and to one's family, culture, one community, cooperate with others, and experiencing democratic conflict resolution. (York, 141-142).

This book Celebrates the diversity of families everywhere while revealing how families reflect many different lifestyles and highlighting the reasons why all members are loved.
I included this book because it is about diverse families, not just one color or culture. This will help the children know that everyone is different and unique. I would use this to teach children about differences, I would most likely read it to them during circle time and see if they had any questions or comments about it or something related to it. If they did I would answer them to the best of my ability and see what other children had to say about each question and comment.

"Following the successful model of Me on the Map, Sweeney demystifies an abstract concept by presenting it from a child's point of view. In Me and My Family Tree, a young girl uses simple language, her own childlike drawings, and diagrams to explain how the members of her family are related to each other and to her. Clear, colorful, detailed artwork and a fill-in family tree in the back help make the parts of the family—from siblings to grandparents to cousins—understandable to very young readers." (Overview of the book from Barnes and Nobles.)
I choose this book because it is good for the children who are within the ages of three and four to understand, they can also complete the family tree in the back with a parents or guardian if they were home schooled. I would include this book by reading it to them before or after completing their own family tree or during circle time.

Concluding this post I think that children can learn a lot from this activity and it will benefit them later in life. Not only this but it can be tons of fun for the children.



Citations:

Barnes and Nobles book description: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/me-and-my-family-tree-annette-cable/1003372517?ean=9780517885970 by

All the quotes are in the Roots and Wing, affirming culture in early childhood programs book by Stacey York. Published in 2006.

All of the pictures were found on Google.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpuppy1952.files.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F04%2Fimg_0574.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpuppy1952.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fgrade-1-family-tree-projects%2F&h=600&w=800&tbnid=O4K8c2e1znkvPM%3A&zoom=1&docid=shB9kNMyaLl1CM&ei=3y14U6eqCIiOqAbCqYDwBQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CC0QMyglMCU4ZA&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=342&page=6&start=128&ndsp=27
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcdfy2006.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F02%2Fimg_49332.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcdfy2006.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F02%2F12%2Fclassroom-my-family-tree%2F&h=382&w=512&tbnid=XJxV3DthC8Y45M%3A&zoom=1&docid=s6uEH_uF-MY19M&ei=lC14U-r5G5eNqAbjmoGgCA&tbm=isch&ved=0CKMBEDMoSTBJ&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=445&page=3&start=50&ndsp=26
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fteamcfa.org%2Fimages%2Fgallery%2FC10-ND-CA-familytree-04.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fteamcfa.org%2Fstories%2Fclassroom-activity-family-tree&h=500&w=375&tbnid=LLEY-pTW9HtV5M%3A&zoom=1&docid=Vj_jAbmxqr2nMM&ei=lC14U-r5G5eNqAbjmoGgCA&tbm=isch&ved=0CIYBEDMoLDAs&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=646&page=2&start=23&ndsp=27

First book: (http://www.rakuten.com/prod/the-family-book/212936979.html?listingId=335005313&scid=pla_google_SynergyDataInc&adid=17260&gclid=CLuC7YPKtL4CFaQF7AodNjgAZQ)

Children's Book Analysis

The book I choose is calling "What color is love?" Written and illustrated by Joan Walsh Anglund. 

This is a book my sister owns and I thought it was great for what we were talking about in this class. I did do research to find out when the book was published and it said 1966. I tried to do more research, but all that came up for me was book reviews and to buy the book. Other then that I didn't find anything else, which made me very sad actually. I wanted to know more about the author. The story is of the world having many different things, people and colors, and that we see these things with our eyes. But to understand what love is we have to see that with our hearts. 
I would definitely use this book with young children. This story has a great meaning about being nice to all people and not looking on the outside (skin color, way someone talks, etc.), but to look at the inside, at what love looks like. 
As I was skimming through the 10 ways handout I was looking at what I could find in this book that was on this list. There were some stereotypes, but it was apart of the story. It was in no way to insult the children, but to tell a the story. As you will see below I posted a picture of said page. You can decide for yourself weather or not it's stereotypical or not. 

I think that the only sort of racist remake about the book is that it all seems to be white children in here, but some of the pages don't have any color on them, so the author could have made it that way to keep an open mind. Number three on the 10 ways handout asked if I saw any minority in the book or not. I think that is hard to say because you do see farm like clothing and non farm like clothing on the children, but it looks like they're all "middle class" for when the book probably would have taken place in the authors mind. 

Number four, as I said earlier there were only white people, but other pages had no color at all to them. So I would say it was up to the imagination of the reader. With all said white children in the book I feel like children of other races and ethnicity might feel offended later in life, but if they are actually reading the book and listening to the words it is talking about not looking at outside appearances, but on the inside where feelings and love are. The children in the story don't look rich or poor, they look happy (10 ways, number 4).

I think the characters aren't depicted as caricatures at all, but as individuals. It doesn't follow stereotypes too much, other then the picture I posted above, but that is also for others to decide for themselves. No one in this story has power or wisdom either, it is talking about what we see with our eyes and what we feel with our hearts.  The narrative and pictures used show that everyone is different, but that we should get along. On the last two pages of the book is says: 

"An apple is red, the sun is yellow, the sky is blue, a leaf is green, 

a cloud is white...and the earth is brown.

And, if I asked you, could you tell me...

what color is love?"

This is a great lesson for children so they can possibly get a grasp on how to treat others. 

All in all this was a very heart warming book that made me smile at how cute it was, I would highly recommend this book to parents to read to their children because of how the story has kids looking at things that they know (the colors of the sky, sun, a leaf, etc.) and having them look at something bigger, love for others. 

References:

10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children’s Books For Racism and Sexism

What is love by Joan Walsh Anglund

Ah! This is so much more difficult then I could have imagined!