November 2023

This month at QSLA, we focus on fostering inclusivity and belonging with all families, languages, cultures, and religions at holiday celebrations and throughout the year.

Exploring Holidays with PBS Learning Media

As we transition into the holiday season or find ourselves reimagining how we learn about families' traditions, take a look at what PBS Learning Media has to offer! In thinking specifically of how to support young learners' understanding and respect of traditions and cultures they may not be familiar with, consider these resources:

• My Family Tradition: PreK and K (Printable, available in English and Spanish)
• Holidays Collection: Videos, documents, media, and more! (Several resources in Spanish as well)
• Explore holidays with your young learners, including Thanksgiving, Día de los muertos, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, and more!

The ABCs of Diversity and Inclusion

As Zero To Three highlights in this article, "The ABCs of Diversity and Inclusion: Developing an Inclusive Environment for Diverse Families in Early Childhood Education," early childhood education is a crucial time for developing strong parent–school relationships with diverse families including LGBTQ parents, adoptive families, and multiracial families. This article gives specific, concrete suggestions about how to build and maintain a welcoming, representative, and inclusive environment for diverse families in schools.

Professional Learning to Enhance Inclusive Practices for All Families

Building Programs that Reflect Families’ Cultural Diversity

Are you looking for more ways to honor & celebrate families’ cultural diversity? This is the course for you! During this one-hour self-paced course on QSLA Connect, you will reflect on your program's current practices while incorporating families’ input, learning ways to tailor your approach when working with diverse families, and identifying changes to make to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all families! Bonus: This course is available in English and Spanish.

Creating Early Learning Spaces for All Families

Is your program looking for more ways to welcome families of different shapes and sizes? This course discusses different types of families and how we can work alongside them to create a welcoming environment for all families. During this one-hour self-paced course on QSLA Connect, you will reflect on your program's current practices while involving families’ input, learn ways to tailor your approach when working with families, and identify changes to make to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all families!

Family Parternships and Culture

Explore the California Early Childhood Online (CECO) training, "Family Partnerships and Culture: Best Practices for Planning Curriculum for Young Children" to strengthen how your program embeds families' background and culture into your program's curriculums! This 5-hour online self-paced training course is available in English and Spanish, for free!

Explore Ms. April Wu’s Trilingual Immersion Practices to Support Dual Language Learning! 探索巫老師的三語沉浸式實踐以支持雙語學習！

Are you curious about more approaches to incorporate dual language learning strategies in your early learning program, throughout the holidays and more? Consider checking out Ms. April Wu’s Instagram page (@msaprilwu) to dig into bilingual and trilingual language development approaches and realities – suitable even for adults who are monolingual! This is a marvelous and encouraging resource to share with staff and families. A few of her post topics include:

• Not Being Fluent in all 3 Languages My Toddler is Learning
• How I’m Raising a Trilingual Toddler
• Happy Thanksgiving! (Trilingual vocabulary infographic)

在這個假期季節中您是否想了解更多將雙語學習策略納入您的早期學習計畫的方法？ 來看看巫老師 April Wu 的 Instagram 頁面 (@msaprilwu)，深入了解雙語和三語語言發展方法和現實——甚至適合單語成年人！ 這是與員工和家人分享的令人鼓且舞奇妙資源。 一些主題包括：

• 我的孩子正在學習的所有 3 種語言都不流利
• 我如何養育一個會說三種語言的孩子
• 感恩節快樂！ （三語詞彙資訊圖）

The Danger of a Single Story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Ted Talk)

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. Watch and share this video to help your staff and families remember that our identities and cultures are unique, worthy of dignity, and important to our understanding of each other!