Equity

 

 

Compass Montessori is committed to an anti‐bias education that promotes learning about each others’ differences, invites children to be proud of themselves and their backgrounds, teaches students to respect and honor differences, recognize bias, and to give voice to marginalized communities. To put this goal in practice, we incorporate anti-bias education and lessons that teach how to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate our students, staff, and family differences at every level of the school. A group of Compass staff and family members have developed a diversity and equity collection of literary resources built upon developmentally appropriate themes.  

The lessons your child will receive are around these themes:

Self-regulation (feelings, coping skills)

• "Listening to My Body" by Gabi Garcia
• “I am Peace” by Susan Verde
• “Come with Me” by Holly McGhee
• “Most People”  by Michael Leannah
• Together we identify all the people that are working hard to keep everyone safe, both in the school and in our community. We also identify the helpers and the many people wanting to help make things better. We set a goal to help others and be a part of the helper community.

Family structure (diversity of what makes a family)

• “The Family Book" by Todd Parr 
• "Families Are Different" by Nina Pellegrini 
• "Two Homes" by Claire Masurel 
• “Heather has Two Mommies”by Lesléa Newman  
• “Mango Abuela & Me” by Meg Medina

Identity (uniqueness, differences)

• "It’s Okay to Be Different" by Todd Parr 
• "Whoever You Are" by Mem Fox. 
• "Name Jar" by Yangsook Choi 
• “Alma and How She Got Her Name” by Juana Martinez-Neal
• "The Skin You Live In" by Michael Tyler 
• "Hair Love" by Matthew E. Cherry  
• “Laxmi’s Mooch” by Shelley Anand
• “The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family” by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali
• “Eyes that Kiss in the Corner” by Johanna Ho
• "I Like Myself" by Karen Beaumont 

Gender (gender roles and stereotypes)

• “Send a Girl!: The True Story of How Women Joined the FDNY” Jessica M. Rinker
• "Sparkle Boy" by Leslea Newman
• "Tough Guys Have Feelings Too" by Keith Negley "What Riley Wore" by Elana K. Arnold
• "Red: A Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall
• "Neither" by Airlie Anderson
• Research shows that it is never too early to start talking about gender and that children as young as two years old begin to categorize social differences. Children are quick to learn the “rules” of the social world, and their thinking can be quite rigid and binary, which can lead them to take the things they observe and enforce them as common rules. For example, they may assert that “girls have long hair and boys have short hair,” based on what they see in the media, even if they have an immediate family member who doesn’t conform to that “rule.”  Gender roles and norms play a large role in social development and are influenced by the media, family, environment, and society. A child's understanding of gender roles impacts how children view themselves, and how they socialize with their peers and form relationships in relation to these norms.

Body Safety and Consent (what feels safe and not safe)

• "I Said No!"" by Kimberly King 
• "Let’s Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent, & Respect" by Jayneen Sanders “Don't Hug Doug: (He Doesn't Like It)” by Carrie Finison and Daniel Wiseman
• Teaching kids respect for their own and others' bodies helps empower them to feel confident communicating what feels comfortable for them and to set limits. It also helps with body awareness around others' personal space in the classroom.

Ability (increasing empathy and understanding of physical and neurological diversity)

• "Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You" by Sonia Sotomayer 
• "Six Dots:  A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant"  
• “DK Braille Animals book"   
• “Moses Goes to a Concert” by Isaac Millman
• "Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah" by Laurie Ann Thompson 
• “What Happened To You?” by James Catchpole
• "All My Stripes: A Story for Children with Autism" by Shaina Rudolph 

Immigration (cultural traditions, empathy)

• "The Day You Begin" by Jacqueline Woodson  
• “All Are Welcome" by Alexandra Penfold

Anti-Racism (prejudice, racism)

• Strictly No Elephants" by Lisa Mantchev 
• "The Crayon Box that Talked" Shane Derolf
• "I'll Walk With You" by Carol Lynn Pearson and Jane Sanders
• It is never too early, or too late, to talk to children about respecting diversity. Children begin expanding their observations of differences and seek explanations for those differences. They can more fully explore the range of differences within and between racial and ethnic groups as well as the range of similarities between groups. Having classroom discussions allows children to learn about all different kinds of skin color and scientific explanations for them. They discuss the idea of inclusion and how to be inclusive.

Economic diversity (homelessness, economic challenges)

• "Still A Family" by Brenda Reeves Sturgis-  
• "Those Shoes" by Maribeth Boelts
• "A Chair for My Mother" by Vera B. Williams 
• "Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt de la Pena

 

Children in our classroom will be participating in read-alouds, lessons, and discussions to allow for exposure, asking questions, thinking critically, and deepening their awareness of the diversity of individuals and societal structures. 

We recognize that families have a variety of belief systems and teach about the themes of equity and diversity in different ways.  This work is done best as a community, and we would love to support your dialogue at home about these topics.  Here are a few questions to consider in this conversation: What did you notice? What do you wonder about?

Here are additional resources to support more learning at home:

• Learning for Justice is an extensive resource from the Southern Poverty Law Center with information on teaching about race and ethnicity, ability, class, immigration, gender, and sexual identity, bullying and bias, and rights and activism.
• Montessori for Social Justice  is an organization that formed in 2013 with the mission of “creating sustainable learning environments that dismantle systems of oppression, amplify voices of the Global Majority, and cultivates partnerships to liberate the human potential.” The group is made up of Montessorians from all over the country who meet annually.