Holidays in a Diverse World: Applying Anti-Bias Thinking to Curriculum

"Acknowledging or celebrating holidays in early learning programs can bring pleasure to many families, staff, and children and can be useful in building connections between programs and families. However, holidays also pose a range of challenges to ensuring that all children, families, and staff feel respected and that children learn about a diverse world. Whether or not to include any holidays in your curriculum, and what activities to use if you do, requires thoughtful decision making.

In this blog, which is an excerpt from the second edition of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards, with Catherine M. Goins, offer considerations about how programs and teachers can think about and take an anti-bias approach to holidays in their settings."