Whether group care or home-based, curricula and related teaching practices intentionally center and include the racial, cultural, linguistic, ability, gender and gender expression, and other identities relevant to children and families by incorporating them into all learning opportunities. Children, parents, and families benefit from a high-quality, research-based curriculum when it is implemented with fidelity and delivered in ways that center and validate who they are.
Developmentally appropriate research-based curricula, including curriculum enhancements and modifications to meet the needs of specific populations, (e.g., children with disabilities, children who are dual language learners, etc.) provide:
- Content-rich learning experiences that support children’s growth in key areas of development that are aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF).
- Content through an organized developmental scope and sequence that includes plans and materials for learning experiences based on developmental progressions and how children learn.
- Content that intentionally represents and centers the authentic racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, ability, and gender identities of children and families. This includes sexual orientation of families and caregivers.
Home-based curricula, including curriculum enhancements and modifications, also provide content-rich experiences aligned with the ELOF and an organized developmental scope and sequence. Importantly, home-based curricula promote the parents’ role as the child’s first teacher through experiences that focus on the parent-child relationship. They also center families’ values and cultural and linguistic identities.
Equity Indicators
Research is clear: children have optimal learning experiences when their culture, ethnicity, and language are represented in the content and approach to teaching and home visiting practices [1],[2]. All forms of curriculum — parent education, classroom-based, home-based, family child care — must center the experiences of the communities it serves, be bias conscious, and maintain high expectations.
| Indicators | Examples | HSPPS | MCPs |
|---|---|---|---|
Education staff modify their approach their approach as needed to reflect the cultural, ethnic, and linguistic strengths of children and families in their setting (e.g., classrooms, family child care homes, home visits, group socializations). Staff seek out teaching and home visiting approaches from scholars of color with a demonstrated history of educating with an equity lens. Staff combine well-established play-based and child-led teaching practices with a culturally responsive and sustaining approach to create environments that optimize the learning of children from racialized communities and nurture their sense of belonging and racial, linguistic, and other identities. | Children have opportunities to show mastery of content using art, music, demonstration and in the languages, dialects, and modalities (e.g., gestures, pictures, etc.) in which they are comfortable. Education staff attend webinars, read books and articles, and use toolkits with information on diverse cultural beliefs, values, and practices related to the groups represented in their program. This includes neighborhood history and contemporary events that impact children and their families. Education staff create learning experiences and activities using materials that represent children’s lived identities (e.g., racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, ability, gender, etc.). Education staff select stories and create lesson plans and learning activities that represent the experiences of children and families’ daily lives. | Teaching and the learning environment, 45 CFR §1302.31(b)(2)(i–ii) Education in home-based programs, 45 CFR §1302.35(c)(4)(i–ii),(d) | Impactful curriculum is inclusive. Addressing cultural relevance in making curriculum choices and adaptations is a necessary developmentally appropriate practice. Culture is an asset. Each person’s racial, linguistic, and cultural identity is a strength to be developed and sustained while they acquire the skills they need to function in our diverse society. Dual language instruction supports young learners. Effective programs promote the continued development of languages spoken in the home, while facilitating the acquisition of English. Exposure to different cultures promotes understanding. Multicultural programming helps children to respect and value individual and intersecting cultural differences. |
Resources
- Curriculum Modifications: An Introduction This 15-minute in-service suite provides an overview of eight types of curriculum modifications teachers can use to increase children’s engagement and learning.
- Implementing Curriculum and an Inclusive Environment This chapter in the Disability Services Coordinator Orientation Guide looks at engaging children in curriculum and ensuring their participation in an inclusive environment.
- Organizing Learning Experiences Use this resource to learn how to organize learning activities, themes, studies, or projects around responsive culturally and linguistically materials to engage children in critical thinking, collaborative exploration, and the development of language and literacy skills.
- Funds of Knowledge Watch this video to learn how to use children's culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills as resources for classroom learning.
- Dual Language Learners: Considerations and Strategies for Home Visitors Use this resource to explore how home visitors can work with families to support children who are dual language learners (DLLs).
- Indigenous Immigrant Families Use these resources to recognize, affirm, and build on family and cultural strengths for Indigenous children and families.
- Classroom Language Model: A Leader’s Implementation Manual This guide supports leaders to ensure that all children in their programs experience high-quality instruction and language modeling.
- Planned Language Approach The Planned Language Approach is a comprehensive and research-based approach to ensure optimal language and literacy services for children who speak English and for those who are DLLs.
- Making It Work: Implementing Cultural Learning Experiences in American Indian and Alaska Native Early Learning Settings for Children Ages Birth to 5 This guide offers a three-step process to connect traditional cultural skills, values, beliefs, and lifeways of American Indian and Alaska Native children and families to research-based guidelines, including the ELOF.
- Strategies for Culturally Responsive Strength-based Practices This guide includes support for staff in creating play-based active learning environments and implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum in ways that elevate the cultural strengths and knowledge of African American boys and families to bolster their school readiness and success.
- Healthy Gender Development and Young Children This guide offers practical guidance on how to validate and promote healthy gender identity and development of young children.
- Children’s Books That Include Diverse Family Structures This resource identifies developmentally appropriate books that validate the diverse family structures of children and their families.
Read more:
Resource Type: Article
National Centers: Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning
Last Updated: May 20, 2024