Question
Q – “How do people show diversity in their baby rooms please? We have photos around the room and different type of money/packaging in role play already”
Answers
A – “Multi cultural dolls, musical instrument from around the world. Books, food pictures, children’s skin tone handprints (their work). Numbers in various languages. Hello in various languages.”
A – “They are babies! Looking at one another and interacting is probably enough!”
A – “Stories, multi cultural dolls, treasure basket items from different cultures, music, mirrors”
A – ” You may find this useful http://www.earlyyearscareers.com/eyc/product/multicultural-resource-pack/ “
To me Learning and Development is about providing a wide range of opportunities for children to have new experiences having respect and understanding other. We have a new proprietor who wants to bring Christian values to the nursery, the main one being the way we celebrate cultural diversity, they say talking about celebrations such as Eid, Diwali etc, is apparently fine but we do not need to set up activities such as making divas, Eid cards etc. Christmas will not involve jolly Santa, the focus will be on the Christmas story-which we do alongside the magical side of Christmas.
My understanding of the EYFS foundation stage, British Values etc is that we as practioners have to embrace, celebrate and share with children the diverse world we live in especially as we have children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds – I have always ensured our children have an understanding of the world around them and ensure children’s special days are celebrated.
What are your thoughts? I want to ensure guidelines are met and more importantly we do the best for our children