The High Quality Early Learning Project

In this time of crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment affecting tens of millions of people, and the mass uprisings in response to the brutal murders of George Floyd and other Black Americans – the injustices and inequalities of our society have been laid bare. A light has been shined on our country’s systemic racism. It is in this context that The High Quality Early Learning Project writes to express our solidarity with all those taking a stand against the vestiges of slavery and for a more humane, caring democracy. 

Our commitment is to work for a public education system that truly values and equitably supports children of all racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds; that provides children and families with access to high-quality learning at the earliest ages and throughout their education careers; that provides children with well-prepared teachers and school leaders who look like them and have high expectations for their achievement and futures. We call for an end to the historic disinvestment in human services in communities of color and for full and adequate funding of universal early childhood education, all subsequent years of public education, and related resources.

As part of this commitment, the High Quality Early Learning Project offers video images of just and caring learning environments that advance equity and that foster deep learning and critical thinking. We have now added additional resources that shares insights, suggestions, activities, and texts related to learning about racism and racial identity, particularly as this all relates to young children. 

We hope that you find these resources useful and that they help us all join together to build a more just and democratic world – where everyone is valued and can live their best lives; where our differences as well as our common humanity are embraced; where we recognize that we are all interconnected – what happens to one impacts us all. 

RESOURCES ON RACE

From the National Association for the Education of Young Children:

• NAEYC’s Position Statement on Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education in your practice along with tools and resources showing the many ways educators can put equity into action.
•  Anti-bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves is a guide to confront and eliminate barriers of prejudice, misinformation, and bias. See Understanding Anti-Bias Education: Bringing the Four Core Goals to Every Facet of Your Curriculum.
• Black Boys Matter discusses ways to make classrooms more welcoming and supportive learning spaces for Black boys.
• Becoming Upended: Teaching and Learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and Their Families and “What About People Like Me?” Teaching Preschoolers About Segregation and “Peace Heroes” are both written by educators who have engaged young children in conversations about race and racism.
• These webinars take on equity: Culturally Appropriate Positive Guidance, and Maximizing Learning in Diverse Classrooms.

“Four Promising Factors to Close Opportunity Gaps Among Children of Color” from Early Learning Network

ARTICLES:

• A Resource for Talking about Race with Young Children: Strategies from Raising Race Conscious Children
• A Family Guide to Talking About Race, A Project of American Anthropological Association
• Beyond the Golden Rule by Teaching Tolerance
• Bias Isn’t Just a Police Problem, It’s a Preschool Problem, National Public Radio
• Dealing with Racism: Perspective of a White Transracial Adoptive Parent from Pact’s Point of View
• Engaging My Child: Parent Tip Tool from American Psychological Association
• First Encounters with Race and Racism: Teaching Ideas for Classroom Conversations from The New York Times
• How To Talk About Race And Protests With Your Kids, Explained By A Child Psychologist from wbur Here & Now
• Interview with Researcher Gloria Ladson-Billings on Culturally Relevant Teaching, the Role of Teachers in Trump’s America & Lessons From Her Two Decades in Education Research from the 74
• Let’s Talk!: Discussing Race, Racism, and Other Difficult Topics with Students from Teaching Tolerance
• Resources to Support Children’s Emotional Well-Being Amid Anti-Black Racism, Racial Violence, and Trauma from Child Trends
• Talking about Race from National Museum of African American History & Culture
• Talking to Children about Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers from National Association of School Psychologists
• Talking to Kids about Discrimination from American Psychological Association
• Talking to Kids about Race from National Geographic
• Teaching Young Children About Race: A Guide for Parents and Teachers from Teaching for Change: Building Social Justice Starting in the Classroom
• Teaching About Race, Racism and Police Violence from Teaching Tolerance
• 10 Tips for Teaching and Talking to Kids about Race from embrace race

BOOKS:

• Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves by Julie Olsen Edwards and Louise Derman-Sparks
• Black Lives Matter Instructional Library a compilation of books with read alouds for young children
• Books About Race and Ethnicity from American Psychological Association
• Each and Every Child: Teaching Preschool with an Equity Lens, Susan Friedman and Alissa Mwenelupembe, editors
• Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, PhD, ABPP, Marietta Collins, PhD, and Ann Hazzard, PhD, ABPP
• WeNeedDiverseBooks.org

OTHER RESOURCES:

• Anti-Racism Resources compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein
• Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Kids from Healthline
• Classroom Resources from Teaching Tolerance
• Coming Together: Standing Up To Racism – A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall For Kids and Families
• Explaining What is Race? a video from Sesame Street
• How to Talk to Kids About Race: Books and Resources That Can Help
• Latinx Parenting on Instagram
• Podcast: fare of the free child from Raising Free People
• Reflecting on Anti-bias Education in Action: The Early Years – a film from Anti-Bias Leaders in Early Childhood Education
• Resources for Talking About Race, Racism and Racialized Violence with Kids from the Center for Racial Justice in Education
• Social Justice Resources for Educators from The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute Blog
• Talking about Race from the National Museum of African American History & Culture
• “Talking About Race” Web Portal from the National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Talking to Children About Racial Bias from American Academy of Pediatrics
• Talking to Children Authentically about Race and Racism a video by PBS Kids for Parents
• Talking to Kids About Racism and Justice: a list for parents, caregivers and educators from Oakland Public Library
• Talking Race With Young Children from NPR and WNYC
• Teaching Tolerance: An organization providing free resources to educators in teaching children how to be active participants in a diverse democracy
• The Conscious Kid on Instagram
• Wee The People Boston: A social justice organization for kids with lots of resources and ideas for how to address injustice, racism, and democracy
• Woke Read Alouds: The organization Woke Kindergarten offers anti-racist read alouds.