During the 2019–2020 school year, I had the opportunity to reconceptualize and revitalize my teaching practice. Since the beginning of my career in 2011 as a public school teacher, I have taught kindergarten in a northeastern part of the Midwest. Until 2019, I taught half-day programs, which required trying to squeeze all of the district kindergarten curriculum expectations into a two-and-a-half-hour day. Almost a decade of trying to implement this method had squeezed the joy out of my teaching.  

Shortly before the start of the school year in 2019, I was told I would now be teaching a full-day program. I saw this as an opportunity to bring wonder back into my practice for both my students and myself. I spent the remainder of the summer invested in reimagining what my classroom could now be. I was committed to a foundation of play, inquiry, and exploration (Gronlund & Rendon 2017).  

When the year began, I dove headfirst into child-led learning and emergent curriculum. I also was invited to participate in a cohort of early childhood educators in my county, working to reimplement play into public preschool and kindergarten classrooms. At the same time, my district took up a deeper learning model, which encouraged all teachers to work toward inquiry and project-based learning (Helm et al. 2023). This perfect storm of opportunities only added fuel to my fire. 

Recognizing and Celebrating Diversity 

I knew that developing a child-centered practice needed to begin with recognizing the diversity represented in our classroom, school, and community. This gave me pause. The schools I worked in primarily served White students, and almost all of the teachers were White. As a Latina, I had previously experienced racial microaggressions from families, who asked me when I learned to speak English or referred to me as the teacher “with the ethnic name.” These experiences made me hesitant to address racial diversity in my classroom: I would purchase books with racially and culturally diverse characters and authors, but I would limit class discussions, afraid a parent might call my administration and complain. 

But, as I tell my students, sometimes we need to be brave. I knew it was important to stop avoiding racially and culturally diverse children’s books because of an adult’s potential discomfort. In preparation for this work, I found an article by Louise Derman-Sparks and Patricia G. Ramsey titled “What If All the Kids Are White? Multicultural/Anti-Bias Education with White Children,” which reinforced just how important it is to expose children to multiculturalism and a broad range of social identities (including race, gender, and abilities) within a safe and supportive environment. It is essential we demonstrate to children that the world is a shared space, teaching them to respect and empathize with others (Derman-Sparks & Ramsey 2002). We also must show children that they are capable of advocating for themselves and others—that one does not diminish the other. 

The Power of the Read Aloud 

Much of our work in early learning settings revolves around read alouds. I had come across the book Dreamers, by Yuyi Morales, at a local book fair. Dreamers tells the story of Morales’s immigration to the United States with her young child. It is a story of self-exploration, resilience, and the transformative power of creativity and literacy as the two navigate a new and unfamiliar place. I was drawn in by its vivid illustrations and personal story of immigration. It allowed me to reflect and feel connected to my grandfather’s story of immigrating from Mexico to the US as a young man. I have always loved growing my collection of high-quality children’s books, so when I found Dreamers, I knew I wanted to share it with the children in my class. I was interested in their questions about and responses to the text and looked forward to our discussions.   

The day I read the story was typical: I started our time by gathering everyone on the carpet. “I have a new book I’d like to share with you today,” I said—a phrase they heard from me almost daily. As I began reading the story, the children listened and remarked on the illustrations. They were taken with the vibrant collage quality and the baby on every page. As we came to the final pages of the book, I read the words Morales uses to describe herself and her infant son: “We are lucha. We are resilience. We are hope. We are dreamers, soñadores of the world.”  

Shelby, who had been sitting quietly throughout the story, burst out, “That is SO weird!” 

“Hmm,” I said, buying myself a moment to consider my response. In the past, I would have ignored this comment and avoided the possible discussion it could lead to. But now, I saw it for the rich learning opportunity it presented.  

“Do you think it’s weird, or, is it just unfamiliar to you?” I asked. Shelby thought for a moment before responding, “I think . . . I think it’s just unfamiliar. But I think maybe I’ve heard people talk like that before.” This launched our class into a rich discussion of the book, thinking about language as we read and explored Dreamers a second time: 

A Story Worth Telling 

The children had determined that the story of Dreamers was a story inside of a story. In Morales’s story of immigration, she also learns to read and write. From there, the illustrations depict her creating, writing, and illustrating her own story. Throughout this multimodal journey, Yuyi Morales is telling her story using pictures and words. This inspired the children to want to tell their own stories as well.  

The following day, we discussed what materials children would need to engage in their book-making project. They wanted access to various collage materials including stickers, construction paper, and old magazines along with pencils, crayons, markers, and oil pastels. I showed them how to make a book out of two pieces of plain paper folded in half horizontally and stapled together. By keeping the method and materials relatively simple, the children could engage in this work with a high level of agency. This allowed them to not only create their books and stories independently, but to create multiple books if they desired.  

Once we had collectively agreed on the materials, our discussion shifted to the kinds of stories that might go into our books. Dreamers tells the story of both Morales’s physical journey to the United States along with her journey of self-discovery. I explained, “The author is telling us her story about how she came to this country and all the things she learned about herself along the way.” Discussion with the children then grew around what kinds of journeys they might be on. Even though several noted that they had never moved anywhere or traveled far, they did bring up the time they spent with their families. 

I encouraged the children to consider their life events and reflect on what makes something worth telling. I wanted them to understand the book’s main character, the power of sharing one’s story, to feel empowered to share a story from their own lives that was meaningful to them. I wanted them to recognize that the importance they attribute to a story is what makes it worthwhile to tell.  

Sharing and Reflection 

During the culmination of this project, my students had the opportunity to share their stories with their classmates. Each new story was met with excitement and enthusiasm, providing a level of encouragement and support that engaged even the most reluctant writer in our classroom. Learning about each other’s experiences provided the children with an opportunity to collaborate and make meaningful connections, which is essential for learning to occur (Dyson 2020).  

What started out as a simple read aloud chosen for its ethereal and poignant illustrations grew into a project that allowed my students to recognize “similarities and differences beyond their families” (Derman-Sparks & Ramsey 2002). This prepared them for discussions about differences in languages, cultures, and traditions. By having the time and space to explore these stories within themselves, they were able to consider the various experiences and perspectives of their peers while also finding an authentic purpose for sharing stories through writing.  

As Jackson said, “Families are all different but also, like, kinda the same.” 

Photograph © Getty Images
Copyright © 2024 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See Permissions and Reprints online at NAEYC.org/resources/permissions.

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & P.G. Ramsey. 2002. “ ‘What if All the Kids Are White?’ Multicultural/Anti-Bias Education with White Children.” Teaching for Change. Accessed June 5, 2024. teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ec_whatifallthekids_english.pdf. 

Dyson, A.H. 2020. “ ‘This Isn’t My Real Writing’: The Fate of Children’s Agency in Too-Tight Curricula.” Theory into Practice 59 (2): 119–27. 

Gronlund, G., & T. Rendon. 2017. Saving Play: Addressing Standards Through Play-Based Learning in Preschool and Kindergarten. Redleaf Press.  

Helm, J.H., L.G. Katz, & R. Wilson. 2023. Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years, 4th ed. Teachers College Press.