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As the worldwide pandemic caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to unfold, it is important that each of us find ways to calm ourselves and manage the associated stress. This, too, shall pass. We don’t know when, but it will pass.Our three main reactions to stress are “fight” (e.g., hitting, arguing, throwing a tantrum), “flight” (e.g., walking or running away), and “freeze” (e.g., shutting down, not responding). Activating the Stress Response shuts down areas of the brain responsible for thinking clearly, solving problems, concentrating on a task, learning, memory, and impulse control. Under stress, it is completely normal that we might find it difficult to focus on completing assignments, learn something new, or recall what we have learned in the past. When our Stress Response is on overdrive, as it might be in times of prolonged crisis, it is helpful to be able to turn on the brain’s calming response.

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by Adiaha Spinks-Franklin, MD, MPH, FAAP

As the worldwide pandemic caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to unfold, it is important that each of us find ways to calm ourselves and manage the associated stress. This, too, shall pass. We don't know when, but it will pass.Our three main reactions to stress are "fight" (e.g., hitting, arguing, throwing a tantrum), "flight" (e.g., walking or running away), and "freeze" (e.g., shutting down, not responding). Activating the Stress Response shuts down areas of the brain responsible for thinking clearly, solving problems, concentrating on a task, learning, memory, and impulse control. Under stress, it is completely normal that we might find it difficult to focus on completing assignments, learn something new, or recall what we have learned in the past. When our Stress Response is on overdrive, as it might be in times of prolonged crisis, it is helpful to be able to turn on the brain's calming response.

1. Deep breathing exercises.

Deep breathing exercises help to "trick" the brain into thinking that everything is A-okay. Deep breathing exercises cause the brainstem to slow down our heart rate and turn off the fight-flight-freeze response. These exercises work best when we practice them daily. That way, when a stressful event occurs, our brains will automatically know how to calm ourselves. Here are two examples of deep breathing exercises:

Box Breathing: Inhale for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4. Repeat 5 times.

4-7-8 Breathing: Inhale for a count of 4, hold your break for a count of 7, slowly exhale for a count of 8. Repeat 5 times.

2. Gratitude Journaling.

Writing down what one is thankful for can help train our brains to focus on the positive and has been found to reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression. Here's one way to "gratitude journal."

Get an unused notebook and set a time aside for writing in the journal every day at the same time (e.g., before bedtime).

Write down three things you are thankful for that day (e.g., my favorite shirt was clean; I turned in all my homework on time; I didn't argue with my sibling; I saw a butterfly).

3. Meditation.

Meditation is the process of taking quiet time to reflect on pleasant thoughts by focusing on the present moment (Mindfulness Meditation) or concentrating on a thought (Concentration Meditation). Meditation has delivered mental, physical, and spiritual health benefits to its practitioners for millennia, and can take many forms (e.g., prayer, movement, stillness). Meditation has been found to lower anxiety symptoms, reduce pain, and improve concentration

4. Yoga.

Yoga is a system of establishing body awareness, self-control and inner calm. Yoga has been used for millennia for physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Yoga consists of a combination of controlled breathing, meditative thinking and body stretches. Yoga practice can reduce symptoms of anxiety and stress.

For more evidence-based information about self-calming techniques for children and youth, I suggest the article Just Breathe: The Importance of Meditation Breaks for Kids from Healthy Children ( www.healthychildren.org).

For more from Dr. Adiaha, also check out EmbraceRace's webinar, Supporting children in the struggle against COVID-19.

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Evidence-based suggestions for Managing Stress

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by Adiaha Spinks-Franklin, MD, MPH, FAAP As the worldwide pandemic caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to unfold, it is important that each of us find ways to calm ourselves and manage the associated stress. This, too, shall pass.

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Using Books to Engage Young Children in Talk about Race & Justice

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Using Books to Engage Young Children in Talk about Race & Justice

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If we are serious about raising inclusive, empathetic children who are able to think critically and compassionately about race and racial justice, the conversations have to start early. Our guests Aija Simmons, Sara Rizik-Baer, and Savitha Moorthy describe Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors, a community-focused effort from Tandem, Partners in Early Learning that uses children’s books as a departure point for expanding the capacity of families with children under 5 to engage in critical conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.  (The concept of "Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors" in children's literature was developed by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop in her paper by the same name.)

Our guests pull back the curtain on the project as it gets off the ground - the factors that led to its creation, how it continues to evolve, the questions the working group is actively grappling with, and what they hope to accomplish.

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If we are serious about raising inclusive, empathetic children who are able to think critically and compassionately about race and racial justice, the conversations have to start early. Our guests Aija Simmons, Sara Rizik-Baer, and Savitha Moorthy describe Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors, a community-focused effort from Tandem, Partners in Early Learning that uses children's books as a departure point for expanding the capacity of families with children under 5 to engage in critical conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. (The concept of "Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors" in children's literature was developed by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop in her paper by the same name.) Our guests pull back the curtain on the project as it gets off the ground - the factors that led to its creation, how it continues to evolve, the questions the working group is actively grappling with, and what they hope to accomplish. The transcript follows. Also check out Savitha Moorthy's list of favorite books for young readers:
EmbraceRace: One of the things we just love about these folks at Tandem and the work that they're doing is their willingness to come and share it with us when it's in formation. This is not one of those deals where they've been doing it for five years or 10 or 15 and they've worked it all out and they're presenting to us in all its perfection. They're allowing us to see it as it's being developed, as they're actively thinking through, really appreciate that.

Aija Simmons is a passionate educator mom, come on in Aija. She currently serves as Program Manager in the Department of Social and Emotional Learning at the Oakland Unified School District. Drawing on her experience as an educator and instructional coach, Aija supports leaders in creating the optimal conditions for adult professional learning that can lead to transformational learning spaces for students. Central to Aija's work, is an emphasis on equity, identity, critical literacy and social -motional awareness. Welcome, Aija. Great to have you here.

Aija Simmons: Thank you. It's good to be here.

EmbraceRace: Also, I want to introduce you to Sara Rizik-Baer, who believes in the power of children's books to foster critical thinking and the life-long pursuit of knowledge. She currently serves as Director of Curriculum and Learning at Tandem, a Bay Area non-profit dedicated to closing the opportunity gap for young children through the power of meaningful early learning experiences. Sara's holistic view of the urban education landscape is informed by multiple roles. She's assumed in the field as a trainer, literacy coach, and bilingual teacher. Welcome, Sara.

Sara Rizik-Baer: Hi, thank you so much. I'm excited to be here today.
What do we need to know about you to understand why you came to this work? Aija, I'll shall start with you.
EmbraceRace: Also, we're joined by Savitha Moorthy, who's a fierce advocate for equity, especially in early childhood education. Savitha is the Executive Director of Tandem, a job that offers her the opportunity and privilege to work with a diverse, talented team on the systemic challenges facing families with young children. Her work is shaped by her training as a teacher and researcher and by her experiences as an immigrant, a woman of color, a member of a multiracial family and the mother of a four-year-old son. Really great to have all of you,

Aija Simmons: All right. I think first and foremost, I'm an educator, I've been an elementary school teacher for the last 16 years. I'm a mom. I have one daughter, she's five years old. What I realized when she got ready to leave the care of my mother and go to preschool, was that there was a lot of anxiety. Not about what was going to happen for her, but about how I was going to parent her in a diverse preschool environment. Us being darker skinned African American people and often her being the darkest kid in the classroom. I had a lot of feelings around that. I still have a lot of feelings around how to keep her young, how to keep her innocent, but also how to make her aware and be proud. This work was really exciting for me, because I realized I need to do this in partnership with other parents. I can't do it alone. When this opportunity came up, I was like, "Yeah, this has everything involved in it that I want to be a part of."
Sara, what brought you to this work?
EmbraceRace: That's awesome. Look forward to hearing more about that.

Sara Rizik-Baer: Yeah, hi, thanks. Well, I'll just say that, as my bio said, I very much believe in the power of children's books to spark amazing conversations. Tandem has always been an organization dedicated to equity. When Savitha Moorthy came on as our Executive Director, I think we even had more of a focus on racial justice as well. Back in May, when there was a resurgence of this conversation around race, especially in the wake of George Floyd and all of the protests that happened, Savitha and I had a conversation and we thought, we need to use the tools that Tandem does best, which is using storybooks to have these critical conversations with very young children.

We thought we couldn't just make a workshop and give it to teachers and different folks that work with families. But we really felt it was important that we work with parents to take it out of the theory and really uncover what's actually happening with these conversations on the ground. Together, we decided that we wanted to create this experience with parents, where not only are we going to discover some wonderful research, but then it's coming up that we're creating a community with the parents to have these conversations with each other. Like Aija said, support one another in these really important but difficult conversations.
Savitha, what brings you to this work?
EmbraceRace: Thank you.

Savitha Moorthy: Andrew, Melissa, Embrace Race community, thank you so much for having us and giving us the chance to explore and talk about very nascent project as it is coming into being. We're so thrilled to be here. Thank you to everybody who's joining us. Things you need to know about me, I think are all the things Andrew you said in the introduction. I'm a mom. I'm a member of a multi-race family. There's three of us in my little family, but there are five ethnicities among the three of us. I'm also a person of color. I'm a non-Black person of color, raising a Black son. I feel the importance of standing beside him as his ally and as his parent as he navigates the world. So, we can navigate the world together.

I feel like my role in stewarding some of the experiences that he's going to have is critical. Like Sara says, we bring a lot of books, and we bring a lot of books as starting points for conversation. This is something that we've talked about often at Tandem, is that we're coming to this work not as experts, we're coming to this work as people who can hold a space for a community of parents who can explore this topic together. We're excited about all the things that we're going to learn together. We're coming to this work recognizing that the conversations we have in our group are going to be incomplete and imperfect. But we need there to be lots and lots of these conversations happening everywhere. We're excited to be part of that movement.

We're coming to this work not as experts, we're coming to this work as people who can hold a space for a community of parents who can explore this topic together. We're excited about all the things that we're going to learn together. We're coming to this work recognizing that the conversations we have in our group are going to be incomplete and imperfect. But we need there to be lots and lots of these conversations happening everywhere.

Savitha Moorthy, ED at Tandem, Partners in Early Learning

EmbraceRace: It's great to have you here. I just want to note that all three of you are educators, two of you are moms. Those two roles are clear to people why that would be important. I just want to note that Sara, from previous conversations, I know you're an aunt, right?

Sara Rizik-Baer: Yeah. I have many friends with children that I consider to be my nieces. [laughs]

EmbraceRace: That's the way you put it. I just want to note that those are incredibly important roles as well.

Sara Rizik-Baer: Yeah.
Could you tell us more about where you are at with the program? What families you are talking to, and who do you expect to participate?
EmbraceRace: By no means are we only about parents, guardians, et cetera, and educators. Savitha, we had a conversation the other day and you talked about this work being, you said, "incomplete," "imperfect," and you also said "iterative." Which I just love, because what's so great about coming early in a program is that actually, even if we came late, it's always iterative, right. It's not going to just arrive and become this perfect thing. It's how do we do the work and stay in the work together? So, we really appreciate you're digging into that question with us.

Sara Rizik-Baer: For this initial cohort, we've recruited an initial cohort of eight parents, seven families. We do have one couple that's participating together. For this initial cohort, we wanted to work with people that we already were pretty familiar with. We were talking to folks that I had some kind of connection with and I think we wanted to do that because, for this initial thing where we are trying a lot of different things out, and really experimenting with this format. We wanted to make sure it was folks that trust us and that we trust, so that we can really experiment and have some leeway with that. With that being said, we also wanted to make sure it was a group that was representative of the folks in the communities in which we serve.

We decided for this particular cohort that we wanted to focus on families that identified as Black, Latinx or mixed race. I myself am mixed race. I'm Latina and Jewish. I wanted to bring that, because I often feel like these conversations, we try to box things. As I wanted to make sure that that was very much represented. Also, within our Oakland community, families identify as Black and Latinx, are really the majority of the folks that we serve and so we decided to keep it with folks like that.

Given that this group is actually pretty small, we wanted to balance that need for diversity and inclusion with the opportunity for people to have common ground. The folks in the group could have some common overlapping experiences, while at the same time, we're recognizing that our experiences are also very diverse. With that being said, what ended up happening was the majority of the families that ended up joining this group are actually multiracial families that are navigating two or more cultures in their home. They're raising bi or multiracial children.

For example, we have one family where it's a Mexican mother who's married to a White man and they're raising a biracial child. We have another family in which the father is mixed race, he's Venezuelan and Norwegian and his wife is Indian. They're also raising a multi-racial child. It's actually pretty interesting that, that is what ended up happening, I think it speaks pretty well to the communities that we are. I think it's harder and harder and harder to say that we're all one identity all of the time. Yeah, those are the folks that we have for this initial cohort.

EmbraceRace: What's the age range for kids in these families?

Sara Rizik-Baer: Two to five [years old].
Can you say more about raising your daughter and about what success would look like for you in this program?
EmbraceRace: Aija I want to come to you. You talked a little about some of the anxieties you had for your daughter going out. That when you came across this program you knew you wanted to get involved in that program.

Aija Simmons: Just a really quick story just about the anxiety around being a parent in general. But being a parent of a Black child has raised a lot of questions for me about the way I move in the world. Early in her preschool experience, she loved school, she was having a wonderful preschool experience and they were exploring emotions and feelings. She came home and she was growling. She would get angry at me and growl. I was like, "What is this growling? What are you doing?" But at school, they were exploring different ways that you could express your emotions. She was fine. Me as a parent, I was totally freaked out. Here's my dark-skinned Black daughter growling when she's angry. I was completely nervous about the potential of what could happen to her at school.

I started calling people like, "I need help. I don't know what to do. Is this something that I talk to the school about?" After a lot of reflection, I realized that I'm not going to be able to do this alone. When this opportunity came up [to be in the program], it was already in my mind, lots of little things that had happened between two and five, that let me know that I need to be doing this in conversation with other people. Even in our first meeting and in our first talk, I was like, "Yes, this is a relief." Other people are feeling this anxiety. Couples are grappling with, how do we handle this conversation? Facing our own past, our own childhood experiences and everything going on in the media. So, it felt safe. It's like, "Yes, we want to support our children, but if the truth be told, we need help! We need help navigating our own emotions."

I work in the social emotional learning department in my district. Being a person who is always thinking about social and emotional awareness, I'm very aware that conversations about race require attention to our own social and emotional wellbeing, wellness, ability to process and slow down. When I talked to Sara and Savitha about this work, the fact that it was equity and SEL (Social Emotional Learning) was going to be at the center, we really wanted to lead from there. I knew that I needed the support in order to start really helping my daughter figure out who she is and have a strong identity.

Couples are grappling with, how do we handle this conversation? Facing our own past, our own childhood experiences and everything going on in the media. So, it felt safe. It's like, "Yes, we want to support our children, but if the truth be told, we need help! We need help navigating our own emotions.

Aija Simmons, SEL educator and Tandem parent

EmbraceRace: Savitha, how are you forming the program together with parents and alongside educators in a community that you know really well? What's the process?

Savitha Moorthy: The process is evolving. I'll tell you where we are in the process. And I'll tell you a little bit more about our origin story if you will. When this project was born, it was born out of Tandem as an organization wanting to respond to the anti-Black racism that we were seeing in the United States that came from the murders of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor. As an organization, we asked ourselves, how do we do this work? How do we take on the challenge of systemic racism and how do we do that in a mission aligned way? How do we integrate this anti-racist stance explicitly into all of our programming?

It's important, like many organizations, we have a statement of solidarity with the Black families and the Black communities that we work with. But in addition to that, we wanted to think about how to integrate that very meaningfully and completely into the work that we do and to the day to day work that we do. At Tandem, there are a few big pillars of our work. One pillar is the Rudine Sims Bishop framework of talking about books as mirrors and windows and sliding glass doors. These are books that reflect our lived experiences, books where we can learn about the lived experiences of other children and other families. And then books that sort of reflect our lived experiences. And then we can get there in our imagination, if not in our reality. That's one of our pillars.

Another pillar is our book collection. We have an incredible book collection. We have 1,300 titles in our collection. They're in 21 different languages. We prioritize books that feature diverse and affirming representations of Black, Indigenous People of Color, children and their families. We prioritize books that are written and illustrated by authors and artists of color. We have this incredible resource in our book collection.

Then the third pillar is our enduring belief that when a child and a grown up gather around a book together, magic happens, and it's the starting point for these incredibly rich conversations. Building around these resources, what we want to do is to create a community of parents that can explore, how can children's books support conversations about race and racial justice and families with children under five?

Because we often think about kids under five and quickly say, "Oh, these topics are too abstract, too complex, too hard." We want to protect our children from some of these difficult topics, difficult conversations. We wanted to really explore this topic of, how can we have age appropriate conversations with young children, around race and racial justice. For us, it's all about the process. It's about collectively building our capacity to have these courageous conversations. And then for those parents that are not directly involved in our community, we're hoping to create certain resources that can become useful to them. Whether it's lists of books or ideas for how you can talk about the books.

But really, what we're hoping is that seeing our example, imperfect, incomplete, iterative, is something that's going to maybe propel other people, other groups in the world to have these conversations. Because, we need lots of people having lots of these conversations, for our world to become fundamentally different. Also important to our work is creating a safe space.

We wanted to really explore this topic of, how can we have age appropriate conversations with young children, around race and racial justice. For us, it's all about the process. It's about collectively building our capacity to have these courageous conversations... What we're hoping is that seeing our example, imperfect, incomplete, iterative, is something that's going to maybe propel other people, other groups in the world to have these conversations.

Savitha Moorthy, ED at Tandem, Partners in Early Learning

EmbraceRace: What's the curriculum on the shelf, that I can buy for kids under five? I want to ask you, was there a curriculum you could find that would do this perfectly or why do it so organically?

Savitha Moorthy: Because, I think, we really wanted to center the expertise of parents. I just spoke about this a little bit, and I feel this as a parent that parenting is one of those places where it's easy to get quickly isolated. It's easy to feel inadequate and it's unfortunately easy to feel that you're failing. But the truth is, as parents, we are the experts of what is going to work for our children and for our families. As an organization, we didn't feel that it was right for Tandem to come in and say to parents, "We're going to tell you how to parent your children and we're going to tell you how you can have these conversations with children." What we wanted to do was to create a safe space where parents could come together and share ideas and support one another.

We wanted to create a safe space where people could come and talk about conversations that went well or conversations that didn't go the way they planned. Really, support one another. This is the type of topic where one size doesn't fit all and isn't going to fit all. It seems to do a disservice to the idea, the kind of change and transformation the world needs, for us to begin with pretending that this is a tidy and resolved question.

EmbraceRace: Because your kids are your kids in your classroom. It would be different, there's no "off the shelf" that would work as well, which means you have to do the hard work.

Savitha Moorthy: Not just for parents. To your point, Andrew, we're doing this work as parents. But I'm also doing this work as an aunt, and I'm doing this work as a preschool teacher. I'm doing this work as a community member that hangs out with other children in my neighborhood.

EmbraceRace: You talk about all the hats that you wear. We have a lot of questions that came in during registration. Some of them speak to exactly this. It's one thing to be a parent at home, engaging your own child one on one, where you pretty much can do what you want to do. We have a question from a pre-school teacher who is also a mom, and she says, "I can have these conversations. I'm pretty comfortable doing that at home. But then I'm going in and I'm dealing with 10 kids and their 20 guardians or however many, that's a completely different context."
Sara, can you say a little bit about, what are some of the specific challenges that arise from the "one size does not fit all" approach pose for you?
Sara you've told us, two to five. Well, of course, there's a difference between a two-year-old and a five-year-old. All the racial, ethnic, all the diversity you have, just among the eight of you. The eight parents and then the two of you and perhaps other Tandem staff. I mean, people are situated differently, of course, and might be looking for somewhat different things.

Sara Rizik-Baer: Yeah, I mean, I think as a professional in general and someone who used to be a teacher, that's absolutely a challenge. I have no idea necessarily, well somewhat of an idea, what conversations children are having at home. I've always felt that, personally me when I'm working with kids, it's important to draw on, what are they noticing? That's where I like to start there. But for this particular project, I mean, it's exactly that. We have an incredibly diverse set of parents that are going to come at these conversations very differently. I think Tandem's role isn't necessarily to answer that question neatly and I think Savitha touched on that too. But it's really our role to just facilitate what those conversations are and having parents talk to each other about the challenges that they're facing with it.

Actually, a good example of that is, whereas everyone might be on the same page about celebrating children of all races. There's actually a really different spectrum of opinion in the group about introducing children to the idea of racism itself. Or the fact that children and families are at the receiving end of racism. I think that in itself is really important and that's where we started the conversation with the parents in the first session. Aija was very helpful in helping us think that through is, what are your fears when you're having these conversations with kids?

I think some parents are going to take a very different approach. Some parents are worried about, "Do I want to expose my child to these topics, they're only five years old, they have the whole life ahead of them to worry about this?" Some parents will say, "My kids are noticing this already. So, I want to make sure I'm having the conversation so that they can talk about it and express themselves in a healthy way." Again, there's no real answer there. I think it's really just about facilitating that conversation and finding out what we're finding out. Understanding that every single parent's feeling about this and the way they want to talk to their kids is right! It's providing the space to talk about it with each other. That's definitely one of our tensions...

Another one of our tensions is how can we experience the expertise of the parent community and dissenter ourselves as the expert. Without making it burdensome for parents. We want to create this experience where the parents are talking more than I'm talking, more than whoever's facilitating is talking. But I think we also understand too, that sometimes parents have really busy lives and they just might want to receive some information. So, how do we make sure this is a group in which parents are very active and there's things that they're doing so that it's coming from them, but also not making it so it's a large burden on them? I think that's definitely a tension that we have.

I'll just lastly talk about the last tension that we're feeling or that we were recognizing is really honoring this duality between process and product. Savitha mentioned earlier that we were thinking, okay, maybe we'll have a book list that comes out of this. Honestly, that was when we had talked about it, in my head that was like, "Yep, I want a book list for parents by parents. I want conversation catalysts." But what it's really turning out to be, and I'm very appreciative of Savitha's help, our thought process on this together. Because, we're really thinking about, okay, we want these things, but really, it's this process that's turning out to be more important than those products themselves. Opening up to the possibilities of what's going to come out of these. We're not planning the full sessions out. We're doing it session by session as we're thinking about, what are we getting out of this?

EmbraceRace: I want to make sure I'm understanding what you expect to happen when the program is in place. What I'm hearing is, it's clear there's a group process and you're getting huge amounts of benefit and value out of the community piece, sharing with each other, the safe space. But right now, you are, Aija you and the others are creating essentially this program. Clearly, you have adults reading with children?

Sara Rizik-Baer: Yes.

EmbraceRace: But is it also true that, in the program itself, you'll be encouraging spaces for adults to engage each other around the stuff?

Sara Rizik-Baer: Yeah, definitely. As I said, my thinking has evolved. Really this can be something that we want to continue on, as Tandem, having multiple cohorts that are creating this space in community for parents to have these conversations. Absolutely, we do hope eventually, one day that folks do value this and will want to recreate these conversations and communities amongst each other. I think honestly, from parents themselves, that might be the most powerful piece. But I would like to invite Aija or Savitha to add anything else to that if you have anything more to say?

Aija Simmons: Sara brought me in partially because of my background in social and emotional learning. When we were thinking through this first group and bringing people together, the first thing I thought was, as a parent I have fears. Identity is a thing. We need to get into deep community if we're going to really talk about what comes up for us as we process books. A diverse body of books and how we're engaging our children, and if you know anything about young children, they'll say anything [laughs]! How do we even not feel shame when we want to bring up something that one of our children said in response to something that we read to them?

We thought a lot about how to build the community really, really quickly. We wanted to set up a space where deep listening was at the center of what we did, that we talked about race right away. And we said, let's say who we are. Let's say the person that's present today, what are you present with? Nothing is off limits. What do we need to know? Everybody is welcome. All is welcome. There are not many spaces like that. Where we say, make the invisible things about you visible, the visible things that you go into spaces and try to hide or trying to have people not see. Let's do that work tonight. Let's show up.

We dived in quickly, we did. I started it off completely vulnerable. Who I am, where I'm from, what things that are a part of my life, that are part of my identity that I don't typically share. But need to share because they raise issues when it comes to my parenting. We just listened to each other and people shared so many things about their hopes and fears and dreams. Then when we went into smaller breakout rooms, we unpacked our fears. We talked right away, what are you scared about when you think about talking to your children about race? Many of us talked about my first worry is that I'm going to "rob them of their childhood innocence" too fast. Or I'm worried about their own positive self-image. Before we introduced the idea of racism, we want our children to be flooded with positive imagery.

People talked about, "Me and my partner or other members of my family, we kind of not on the same page about this way we talk about race to our children. That's an issue, talking about race to our children in one way and our family members taking a different approach." It made space for us to say a lot of these things are issues, but let's talk about them together, and then building that into the conversations over time. Frankly, the number of times my daughter has said something and I've gone, "What? Where did that come?" It's been like, okay, this is a space where I can figure out what to do other than go, what. Have a plan in place to be able to help her work through some of those things. I think we really did that early on. It's like, let's go deep community, let's make an asset-based environment and let's just talk about race and fear from the beginning.

We thought a lot about how to build the community really, really quickly. We wanted to set up a space where deep listening was at the center of what we did, that we talked about race right away... let's go deep community, let's make an asset-based environment and let's just talk about race and fear from the beginning.

Aija Simmons, SEL educator and Tandem parent

EmbraceRace: You're working on this first cohort, and have you planned how many cohorts or you're really going to see how it goes with the first?

Savitha Moorthy: I would love it. I think it would be wonderful for us to host many many many of these cohorts at Tandem. We're hopeful that this is the first. We're going to learn from this experience, and it's going to inspire us to create future cohorts. This is the beginning of a wonderful adventure.
Moving forward, how would you cluster people into cohorts?
EmbraceRace: That cohort model is super interesting. You might group people by interests. In this case, the ages of their children maybe. You could group by race, ethnicity, by any number of things. Some people want to be with others who are like them along any of these dimensions. Others actually want to be with others who are unlike them.

Sara Rizik-Baer: It's a great question. Again, as I said, this is just the beginning of this project. I don't think we've gotten quite there yet. I think when we initially were thinking about this initial cohort, that was definitely a question that I had. We were trying to decide, well, should it be that anybody that's interested can join? Again, as I stated, why we recruited the folks we recruited, was we really wanted to make sure folks had some overlapping and common experiences and felt safe being there with one another. But yeah, I think just initially, and Savitha if you have different thoughts please add on. Ideally, I think we'd love to work with parents in the classrooms in the communities that we're very much serving. We work right now with a lot of Headstart classrooms, a lot of different family, friends and neighbors. Folks that do that kind of care. I would love to and hope this could expand and see if we can get those groups. How they will be put together, I think that is definitely a question that we still have.

EmbraceRace: Okay.

Savitha Moorthy: There are a couple of things that I think are really important as we consider our future cohorts or bringing together future communities of parents in this way. One is, and Aija just spoke about this, we want it to be a safe space where tough conversations can happen, where we can explore difficult questions together. What to me that suggests is that, it's important to have a community of parents where there is enough common ground, what that common ground is can look different. It can be either, we're all teachers, or it can be common ground along race and ethnicity lines, or it can be common ground around language, or immigrant experiences.

But I think it's really important that communities have some amount of common ground and we have a shared understanding of what that common dimension is and what those experiences are that we share. So, that we can use that as a foundation to then talk perhaps about our differences. Because where those differences are, are where the tough conversations might happen, within maybe differences of opinion. Holding both those things in balance, how do we create a safe space where we can talk about topics that don't get talked about often. I think that's an important consideration for us.

EmbraceRace: Aija, what is your advice for using books to engage kids in these conversations? Because it's really not enough to buy the list of books or get it at the library.

Aija Simmons: From reading with my daughter, which is different from reading to my students, on a lot of levels. But one principle that carries over is multiple reads. It's important, especially if there's a purpose behind the read, and there's something that I want her to pick up. It also appeals to her nature. She likes to go over things over and over again. So, multiple reads is really important. Then following her lead. Before I ask a leading question, I like to just see what she noticed. "What did you notice in the book? What did you pick up?" What is she paying attention to? What comes up for her has been just really powerful. Don't just read the book, because it's story time and as far as bedtime, it's our routine and we're going to read the book and close it.

Linger on the pictures. Give her a moment to take a closer look, ask open ended questions like, "What do you notice?" Just sort of see what she's picking up at her developmental level, and what she's interested in, and then come back to the book and add additional layers as we go through it together. If there are things that are powerful in a book, some of the things I won't point out right away, because I'm really trying to build a strong relationship with my daughter and be able to talk to her about issues. I'm not in the classroom teaching the standards-based curriculum and I got to get to, "Let's talk about this powerful thing on page three." No, "Let's take our time. Let's do this in a developmental way, that actually builds our relationship, to have these kinds of conversations over time and kind of go slow with it and follow her lead."

I know that there's something we're working through, like when we started working through skin color, and different kind of hair ???. Talk about those things a little bit more, because that's something that she may be picking up at school or maybe noticing. So, we maybe linger around those topics in the book. Those are my two, be ready to read things a bunch of times and open it up. Don't just do it like it's a routine and you got to hurry up and get done. Actually, linger and follow your children's lead and they'll open up the door to a lot of conversations for you.

EmbraceRace: Sara, what's your advice about engaging children with these texts?

Sara Rizik-Baer: Definitely what Aija said. I think I would add, make connections. I think this is a common strategy that we use when we're teaching or reading to children, but it really works in this context too. When you can relate what the children are seeing in a book to their lives and then have conversations relating back to them, then all of a sudden, the abstract becomes more concrete. That's a huge way to do it and do that by asking questions. For example, if you're reading a book and it has a character that looks like your child or that might look like one of their friends, you can say, "Oh, who does that look like? What makes you think that? Do you also like to do whatever activity that the character is doing in the book?" Then you can have a whole discussion where the child's going to bring up what they're noticing.

Sometimes they're not going to bring up what you're hoping they're going to notice either. So, that happens too and with that, that's okay. That's why I agree with Aija, have multiple readings, because what you really want to do is talk about what the child is noticing. You might bring in subtle clues of, "Oh, I noticed this! Did you notice that?" And see if they're going to have that conversation with you. I wouldn't recommend forcing it upon kids. I think these conversations happen over time and they're not going to happen in one moment. I think being patient is really important.

My second tip would just really be, if you're going to read a book that has some difficult content or content that you think could raise some interesting questions, definitely read it before sharing it with your child, so that you're ready to answer the questions or the things that might come up as they're reading it. That goes for teachers and parents, I think. As a teacher, I definitely made the mistake of reading a book that I didn't necessarily know what was inside and then some interesting questions came up. I think that can very much be avoided, if you just simply read it through and do a little thinking yourself ahead of time.
So, what about those younger children, the two-year old's, in the case of your program. How has it moved, the kinds of reads that you do with him over these last couple of years?
EmbraceRace: A lesson we learn over and over. [laughs] Indeed, yes. Savitha, I wonder if you wanted to come in. I'm thinking too, your son is four? Your son was two, not so long ago.

Savitha Moorthy: That is a great question. I think one big aspect that is different is the choosing of the books. I think he has a lot more agency around selecting the books we read at bed time, now at four, than he did a two. But I've also noticed that it's really important for me and my husband, as parents who do the bedtime reading routine, to bring our energy and our excitement about books into that reading routine. Because he's excited about the books we're excited about. And it's reciprocal. We're excited about the books he's excited about as well. But I think it's really important to come into the conversation saying, "Hey, look." Because part of my job involves vetting books for our book collection. I often bring home books to read with him, to see what does it feel like to read this book with a three-year-old and now four-year-old?

I often bring a book come and say, "Hey, this is really great book that I want to check out with you. Do you want to come hang out?" In some ways, that energy and excitement drives our conversation. And Andrew, you asked what's different. And this speaks to what Aija said about the iterative reads, or the multiple reads of a book. There're books we've been reading and we've been reading since the time he was two that are still part of our collection. I think anybody who's spent time reading with a young child knows that multiple reads are just part of the territory, once they like a book, you're reading it always and forever.

EmbraceRace: We know something about that.

Savitha Moorthy: There's the opportunity then to layer new ideas every time you're reading the book. There's a book we have read, Please, Baby, Please and Please, Puppy, Please, those are two of our all-time favorite books. When we began reading them, we were focusing on the very simple and the very descriptive, so naming the skin tones. He has a vocabulary now for naming different types of skin tones. And then layering on to that, like Sara said, the most subsequent reads are connecting what's happening in the book with what's happening in our lives and our experiences. As he's gotten older, I think I've become more courageous about acknowledging places when we read, where I don't know something.

Where I'm acknowledging my confusion, or I'm positioning myself as, "Oh, I don't know that and let's be learning this together." A lot of that I think is just shifting the landscape from, I'm going to be doing a lot of labeling and telling, because a two they're just... Fact is, they're just less verbal than they are at four. When they're at two, you're doing a lot of labeling, you're doing a lot of scaffolding and you're doing a lot of describing of what's happening in the page. Then at four it's a little bit more interactive, where you can ask a question and there's a response and you can build on one another's responses.

EmbraceRace, Andrew: Aija, it struck me when you were talking about what your daughter notices. It was clear to me, the way you're speaking about it, of course pictures are a really important part of that. It's easy for adults to lose. We become so text focus. We're reading and we're thinking about the plot line and what's happening. Very often, I mean, I remember when our kids were younger, having our girls make observations at three, at two, that I hadn't noticed. Because I'm not inclined until she they taught me to read in a different way. To read the pictures. I love the idea that they really can make contributions very early to what's going on.

EmbraceRace, Melissa: I was speaking before the program a bit about the book, I Too America, the Langston Hughes poem that Bryan Collier interpreted through his illustrations. We're talking to the librarian, Jessica Bratt, who starts to use it with toddler but uses it with older kids, too. What you get out of this book as a toddler is really different. People might say, "Toddler?" But it's a poem, and like many good children's books are just poems that the words stay with you. And you go, huh, and you remember the picture. I too, I'm the darker brother, what does that mean? You comment on it differently at different ages, right. But it's asking the questions and reading the book isn't inappropriate. Because your kid can't express verbally, right. Or because they don't get certain concepts, because of exactly what you guys are talking about. It's a long game.

Savitha Moorthy: Melissa, can I add a couple of things that are part of the Tandem approach? It's a very big belief at Tandem, we talk about it as a book sharing experience, we never talk about it as a reading experience. Because we talk about it as sharing a book. So, reading is not important. It's really the opportunity for an adult, for a grown up and a child to gather around the book and make up that experience whatever they will. Often, we encourage our family members who're reading with their children to ignore the words altogether and just talk about the books and talk about what they're seeing in the books. I think that's a very important thing to keep in mind.

The other thing is just, as parents and as people who read with children, it's easy to think about interactive reading or think about serve and return interactions where you're offering something and the child gives you something in return. To think about those as verbal interactions, but at two they're not verbal. It's important to still have that interactivity with a child. But think about what would a nonverbal response from the child look like? It can mean pointing. Sometimes when my son was little, I would say, "Hey, there's a little boy in this page who reminds me a lot of you, can you point to him?" He would point and sometimes I would ask yes or no questions, he could either nod or shake his head or offer like one or two words in response. I think it's important to think of interactivity not always as verbal interactivity, but building that connection with the child.

Aija Simmons: When we think about "reading." If we think even bigger, what we're trying to do is discover the ways that our children are reading the world. Sometimes less important than the words is, when my child looks at this book, what is the story that they're constructing? What is the story that they're telling themselves? What have they picked up? Because as you said earlier, Melissa, my daughter told me women didn't barbecue. I was like, "What? How did you come to that conclusion?" But when I think about the images that she sees most of the time, in books, and on TV, there's a man at the barbecue pit.

I need her to say that to me, which means sometimes I need her to read the book, so that I can understand what's there and the ways in which I need to support her to read the world. And make sure that she has the counterbalance to all of the imagery that's out there, that's flooding our children, that sometimes we have forgotten that we saw. I think the other piece is, making space for them to let us know what they've picked up and how they're reading the world, so that we can support that.

When we think about "reading." If we think even bigger, what we're trying to do is discover the ways that our children are reading the world. Sometimes less important than the words is, when my child looks at this book, what is the story that they're constructing? What is the story that they're telling themselves? What have they picked up?

Aija Simmons, SEL educator and Tandem parent
Just any general wisdom on, essentially, engaging parents as allies in this work from an educator perspective? What are the mechanisms for this engagement?
EmbraceRace: Absolutely. This is good stuff. We have another big cluster of questions from educators. Again, you're all educators around essentially how to engage parents in this work. They range from things like just passive, "how to make it okay, palatable at least, for the parent to let me do what I'm doing, because I think this work is important as an educator working with young children on race issues." To questions about, "Well, it needs to be more than that. They need to be actively proactively engaged and parents aren't all in the same place with respect to all the things that you've said already and know so well. When do we start talking? When can we start talking about race and identity with young children? How do we talk about those things?"

Sara Rizik-Baer: I think, just number one, is making sure that the experience for the parent is just as fun as it is for the kid. We do have books we can recommend. But it's like, I'm going to show this book, this is a great one. This is a wordless book and it's beautiful, it features a young girl of color and there's no words in this book. But it's super fun, because there's two layers to it, parent doesn't have to read it, the kids going to explore it, but the parents going to get all sorts of fun things happening. I just always tell parents, have fun with your child, follow what they're interested in, that's hugely important.

Also, really helping parents to see that, "Hey, what you're doing with your child, having any kind of meaningful interaction and building on what your child's saying and thinking about, is the most important thing you can do for your child." Research will show that when parents know, just the simple fact of knowing, that talking and having these back and forth conversations and interactions with their child, just them knowing that has shown huge gains in a child's language and literacy levels later on. With that being said, also their ability to talk about race and identity and difference. And they're never going to be able to talk about that unless they start in a very safe space with you. That would be my tip and recommendation for that.

Savitha Moorthy: Andrew in our conversation, a few days ago, you talked about building joy. I think it's very important for these to be joyful experiences and for us as a community to think about joy as an act of resistance.
How do you deal with a child being scared and having really racially traumatic experiences in the classroom? How you deal with it if you're a parent?
EmbraceRace: Absolutely.

There's a parent who says, "How do I make my son, my younger son, feel safe walking down the street?" There's a teacher who asked, "How do we make sure that we don't induce trauma, especially as a White teacher?" Those questions about maybe not the joyful part, but the fear that you're targeted. That is something that a lot of people and adults and kids feel right now. Especially Black kids and Black adults.

Another question from Denise who runs an agency, a childcare agency. ??? on families in the neighborhood where the protests took place after George Floyd was murdered? It's really, literally immediate for those families.

Savitha Moorthy: I can tell you what we have in our curriculum. We also have a curriculum around trauma and trauma informed practices for families and educators. There are two important concepts in our trauma curriculum. We talk about emotion coaching and emotion support. And we talk about recognizing the emotions of your child and recognizing when emotions support. Which is validating the emotions, providing them with physical strategies for lowering their affective filters. Things like belly breathing, we practice with educators, where you lay down on the floor and put a stuffed animal on your belly and your animal rises and falls. We have a variety of strategies for doing that, just bringing down the emotional impact of the moment and lowering the affective filter.

Then we talk about emotion coaching, which is identifying strategies that you can use that help you counter those emotions. Whether it's remembering a joyful experience that you had in that same neighborhood. Where maybe you took a walk with a parent or an uncle, really replacing negative experiences with more positive experiences or providing the child that repertoire of strategies they can draw from themselves to lower their affective filter. Those are a couple of the ways we talk about it in our work. We're also very careful about our book list. When we put out book lists, we either avoid or we identify books that parents might want to preview and not introduce to children in case they contain triggering topics.

EmbraceRace: We have one minute. I always caution us both against doing this, but there's one more question I'm going to try to squeeze in. Unfortunately, I have to keep it short. I can imagine folks listening and thinking, especially when you talked about the community building. That clearly there is a lot, and Aija you spoke so well about, race and the feelings around race. There's a multi-racial group of people, and they're bringing their stuff, and you're encouraging folks to share that. Even from the very beginning. There's a community piece and then there's a set of skills, resources, books, etcetera piece.

I could imagine someone saying, "Well, gosh, so much of what I've heard on the latter front, right around the skills, the books, and how to engage, is just really good practice around book sharing in general. As opposed to book share in the context of racial learning in particular." I just wonder if you have just any thoughts to the people who are wondering, "Okay, but I want to talk to my three-year-old about race and racial justice." Again, you said a lot here, but if you want to say one thing in closing? Too hard.

Savitha Moorthy: Hard to say one thing and to squeeze it in without a minute. But I would offer that talking about race and racial justice is good book sharing experience. We want to embrace everything, all of our humanity in the book sharing experience.

EmbraceRace: Thank you so much. I want to note to folks that, we expect as our expectation, that this will be the first of at least two visits. That you all will come back and share with us when you're rolling out the program. Hopefully you have a cohort or two going, you have more experiences. You can tell us actually what's happened and what more you've learned, and any surprises and all of that. This is not the end but the beginning and we're so glad you could share the space with us.

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Using Books to Engage Young Children in Talk about Race & Justice

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If we are serious about raising inclusive, empathetic children who are able to think critically and compassionately about race and racial justice, the conversations have to start early.

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When readers expressed the wish that they knew more resources for talking with children about race and racism, I knew just who to ask to write a resource list. My dear friend Lorien is a contributor here and also the person I would go to for advice on discussing social justice. She's compiled some of the books, music and videos she and her husband use with their kids to discuss racism. I hope you find them helpful! ~Alissa
Resources for talking with Kids About Race and Racism

Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase through these Bounceback Parenting will receive a percentage of the sale.

by: Lorien Van Ness

Talking about race and racism definitely ranks as one of the more difficult topics I've had to broach with my kids. While my training as an early childhood educator had given me plenty of experience talking with kids about diversity, I had been given literally no training in talking with kids about racism.

Before having children of my own, I believed that teaching diversity was enough, that I could simply help children value diversity and in doing so avoid having to discuss racism. While we can and should continue to teach and live the principle of valuing diversity, that alone is not enough; unfortunately we are all exposed to racism even though we ourselves do not agree with such beliefs - even young children are not exempt from its effects.

As Beverly Tatum, an expert on race relations and president of Spelman College puts it, "... like smog in the air. We don't breathe it because we like it. We don't breathe it because we think it's good for us. We breathe it because it's the only air that's available."

People have different comfort zones for when to introduce discussions about racism; everyone's family is different and I'm firm believer that you know your family best. That being said, I would urge you to think about how you want to discuss racism now, even if you feel that your children are too young. It is such a complex, heavy issue that it can be difficult to know where to start.

For us it has worked well to slowly keep adding to their understanding, we talk about racism from early on in the same way we talk about other sensitive topics - answering questions as they arise and addressing misinformation frankly and honestly, while at the same time exposing them to age appropriate materials and discussions that promote diversity and combat racism.

For very young children (0-3):

Use books and movies that feature characters of various ethnicities to help build a broad worldview. Some of our favorite books are:

For preschoolers (2-5)

Continue to help preschoolers develop a broad world view and give them context for the larger world; this is important whether you live in a homogeneous community or a heterogeneous community.

Help children examine concepts of fairness and encourage empathy by asking your child how they think different characters feel during conflicts in books and movies.

Don't be alarmed if your child begins to notice and point out differences in the people around her; take a deep breath and lean into the moment. If your child asks about someone's skin tone you can respond positively and matter of factly how wonderful it is that we are all so different, you might even ask your child to hold out their arm against yours to demonstrate the variety in your own family.

Books:

Also consider reading myths from a variety of cultures such as Coyote Stories for Children by Susan Strauss, Princesses From Around the World by Katell Goyer, Tales from India and other books from the Oxford Myths and Legends series.

Media:

Toys:

Activities:

Crack eggs together for scrambled eggs, cake or meatloaf. Use brown and white eggs and discuss how even though they are different colors on the outside they are the same on the inside. Or for a sweeter example eat candy coated chocolates together- they are different colors but taste the same; bite some in half for a peek at the each colors insides.

Elementary Aged Children (5-12)

It is during this stage that having open discussions about race, diversity and racism becomes crucial. Elementary age children begin to broaden their horizons and participate in more and more social opportunities independently of their families. Discussing these topics openly without an air of taboo will help your child see you as a trusted source of information on the topic - a truth holder and authority with whom they can check the messages they may be receiving from other sources.

Point out stereotypes and racial bias in media and books such as villains and comic relief characters having accents and behaviors attributed to people of Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern or African descent. If you haven't noticed this before yourself, consider re-watching movies such as The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Lion King, or Star Wars The Phantom Menace. It doesn't mean your child can't watch movies or read books with stereotypes, they can be a powerful means of starting or continuing conversation about racism as long as you engage with them on the subject.

When reading older books with racist language, rather than editing as you read, use it as a teachable moment. That being said, don't be afraid to put some movies, shows, or even books off limits. One example in our household are the really old Felix the Cat cartoons; we just felt that there was too much stereotyping and blatant racism for us to combat with conversation.

The resources in this section deal with race, racism, discrimination, and racial violence in a much more explicit way than the resources mentioned in the previous sections and are meant to be discussed and pondered with an adult who can provide context and additional commentary.

Books:

Media

ACTIVITIES

While talking about race and racism may feel uncomfortable and overwhelming, you don't have to explain or cover "it all" right now. Just starting the conversation and keeping it going is a step in the right direction, as is pointed out in this article by Melinda Wenner Moyer, and this article on Research-Based Advice on Teaching Children Not to Be Racist.

A helpful resource for parents is Everyday Acts Against Racism: Raising Children in a Multiracial World Edited by Maureen Reddy. This collection of writings by mothers and teachers about their own experiences with racism and discussing racism is formatted in a way that lends itself to picking up and setting down through the many interruptions of parenting and it's compelling enough to keep you picking it back up!

I've also created a Talking About Racism Pinterest Board with additional resources for parents and teachers.
What resources do you use in your family or classroom for talking about race and racism? Where do you struggle in talking about racism? Leave a comment - I'd love to chat. ~Lorien
Lorien Van Ness is the mother of four children ranging in age from toddler to tween. She is a freelance writer and regular contributor at Bounceback Parenting and Hands On As We Grow. Having worked with children from birth through adolescence in a professional capacity for more than 10 years, she enjoys helping families create meaningful experiences that foster strong relationships. She grabs any free moment she can to write about life, parenting, and everything in between.

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60+ Resources for Talking to Kids About Racism

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I would urge you to think about how you want to discuss racism now, even if you feel that your children are too young. It is such a complex, heavy issue that it can be difficult to know where to start.

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Welcome to Raising Race Conscious Children, a resource to support adults who are trying to talk about race with young children. The goals of these conversations are to dismantle the color-blind framework and prepare young people to work toward racial justice. If we commit to collectively trying to talk about race with young children, we can lean on one another for support as we, together, envision a world where we actively challenge racism each and every day. Many of the blog's posts are geared toward White people but a community of guest bloggers represent diverse backgrounds and the strategies discussed may be helpful for all.
It starts one conversation at a time.
Quick Links

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Raising Race Conscious Children | A Resource for Talking About Race & Diversity With Young Children

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To support parents who are trying to talk about race and diversity with young children- with the goal of preparing young people to work toward racial justice.

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"Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a...

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Interactive Google Classroom

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Teaching First-Graders About Microaggressions: The Small Moments Add Up

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Teaching First-Graders About Microaggressions: The Small Moments Add Up

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For younger students, understanding that identity-based microaggressions pose a heavier burden than other painful moments is critical to developing anti-racist, empathetic behaviors.

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For young children, learning the power of words, personal boundaries and social dynamics is a crucial part of their development. In my first-grade classroom, students are in the thick of learning to read and write. And just as actively, they're learning how to communicate with others.

They experiment with tone, diction, intent and body language with one another and with the adults around them. It's an expected, developmentally appropriate part of learning how to coexist with others. Sometimes, as in the common cases of name-calling, teasing and excluding, that experimentation can be painful.

Addressing unkindness is part and parcel of working with young students. But not all unkindness is the same. It can be particularly detrimental when the hurtful language relates to race, gender, religion or other aspects of a child's identity. These are microaggressions: small, subtle, sometimes-unintended acts of discrimination.

Microaggressions reinforce stereotypes in surreptitious ways. They must be addressed in a way that recognizes that they're different from typical, 6-year-old unkindness and that makes the distinction clear, understandable and actionable for students.

It can be hard enough for adults-particularly adults with privileged identities-to recognize microaggressions. But it's crucial we address them. At their core, these are coded messages of disapproval that are based in identity: comments and actions that echo larger, structural bigotry, telling marginalized people they don't belong, that they are less than. Children start internalizing these messages while they are still developing their identities.

Before talking with students about microaggressions, it's essential to establish an identity-safe classroom. Students need to feel safe and supported. In my class, when we do discuss microaggressions, I remind students of conversations we've already had about representation. I remind them that, when we're reading together, we always ask, "Whose story is being told here?" I also reference the discussions we've had around more overt racism: how being called a racist may hurt, but it doesn't compare to actually experiencing racism.

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Teaching First-Graders About Microaggressions: The Small Moments Add Up

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For young children, learning the power of words, personal boundaries and social dynamics is a crucial part of their development. In my first-grade classroom, students are in the thick of learning to read and write. And just as actively, they're learning how to communicate with others.

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The different versions of Cinderella help students understand the components of a fairy tale and the lessons associated with traditional fairy tales. Over the course of the unit, students will be challenged to ask and answer questions about the text and illustrations as a way of deepening their understanding of plot, setting, and characters

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Unit Summary

As part of the upgrade to Fishtank Plus, this unit was revised in October 2020. Some texts, materials, and questions may have changed as part of the revision. If you are looking for the 2019 version of this unit, visit our archives.

In this first unit of second grade, students read multiple versions of a classic fairy tale, Cinderella. Through reading various versions of the same story, students are not only exposed to a wide variety of cultures, but they are also challenged to think about how the culture, or setting, of the story influences the plot. In 1st grade Literature, students took a trip around the world, exploring a wide variety of themes and stories from all over in order to build a foundational understanding that our world is made up of many diverse and unique cultures. This unit builds on the exposure to new cultures students received in 1st grade and provides an opportunity for students to explore the idea that even though cultures may appear to be different, there are many things embedded within the unique characteristics of different cultures that make them similar. Storytelling, and the role of storytelling, is one of those similarities. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with others in the sequence, helps students build empathy and understanding of people and cultures that might be different from them.

The different versions of Cinderella help students understand the components of a fairy tale and the lessons associated with traditional fairy tales. Over the course of the unit, students will be challenged to ask and answer questions about the text and illustrations as a way of deepening their understanding of plot, setting, and characters. In the first section of the unit, students will focus deeply on the setting, characters, and plot of the different versions of Cinderella, learning to compare and contrast the nuances across different versions. In the second section of the unit, students will read Cinderella stories that vary from the traditional plot structure but still include the underlying theme that a person's actions (good or bad) influence their life outcomes. In this section, students will dive deeply into three texts to analyze different characters' traits and how the author uses those traits to help reveal the lesson of the story.

See Text Selection Rationale

Assessment

This assessment accompanies this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.

Download Unit 1 Content Assessment

Download Unit 1 Content Assessment Answer Key

Unit Prep

What lessons can we learn from the characters in traditional fairy tales and folktales?
Below are some of the lessons students might learn from Cinderella:

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Treat others with respect.

Beauty is on the inside.

If you are kind, you will be rewarded.

How can we use the lessons we learn from fairy tales in our own lives?
When applying the lessons to their own lives, encourage students to be proactive and antiracist. If possible, connect it to causes bigger than themselves (e.g. racial justice, anti-bullying, etc.).

Readers read with expression and volume to match interpretation of the passage

Readers use proper intonation to show interpretation of the passage

This unit is one of the only units in the sequence where the majority of texts are read aloud to students. Therefore, the focus of this unit is on modeling reading aloud with prosody. This involves reading with expression, timing, phrasing, emphasis and intonation in a way that supports comprehension and meaning making. In later units, and during independent reading, students will have multiple opportunities to practice fluent reading in grade-level texts.

Sentence-Level Focus Areas

Produce simple sentences

Convert fragments to sentences

Complete sentences are the foundation for all writing. In this unit, students learn to differentiate between a fragment and a complete sentence. We recommend using our guide Sentence-Level Feedback and Support (K-5th Grade) to provide individual and small-group feedback to ensure that all students are able to use complete sentences by the end of the unit.

Narrative Writing Focus Areas

Brainstorm and outline before writing

Develop a focused narrative with a beginning, middle, and end

Use descriptive language to show, not tell, character feelings

Use temporal words to show passing time

Text-based

admire arrogant ashamed cross crafty culture delighted deceitful desperate dread envy entranced fairy tale generous genuine graceful humble jeer long marveled obedient peer pleased proud relieved sob temper vain weary

Cultures around the world are all unique. They share many similarities and differences. If a culture is different from yours, ask questions to learn more.

Fairy tales are fictional stories that come from all cultures. Common characteristics of fairy tales include; set in the past, have fantasy, make-believe or magical elements, have clearly defined good and evil characters, most often have a happy ending, and teach a lesson that is important to the culture they come from.

There are several major characteristics of all Cinderella stories:

Cinderella arrives, is the most beautiful woman at the ball, the prince falls in love.

The clock strikes midnight, she runs away and drops her glass slipper.

The prince tries to find Cinderella by putting the glass slipper on all women in the land.

It fits Cinderella, they marry.

Changes Cinderella: she's no longer a servant, but a princess

Changes stepsisters: they apologize, and Cinderella forgives them and lets them live at the palace

These characteristics differ based on the setting of Cinderella and the values/elements of the culture.

Previous Fishtank ELA Connections

Future Fishtank ELA Connections

Lesson Map

Common Core Standards

Language Standards

Reading Standards for Literature

Speaking and Listening Standards

Writing Standards

Reading Standards: Foundational Skills

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2nd Grade English Language Arts - Unit 1: Cinderella Stories | Common Core Lessons

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As part of the upgrade to Fishtank Plus, this unit was revised in October 2020. Some texts, materials, and questions may have changed as part of the revision. If you are looking for the 2019 version of this unit, visit our archives.

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BOOK COLLECTIONS

Decolonizing Thanksgiving Is An Oxymoron – Kids Books Dismantling The Myth of a ‘First Thanksgiving’

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[Image description: Illustration from 'We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga' by Traci Sorell & Frane Lessac, "depicting what looks like a family of eight people around a table for a meal, including two elderly people (grey/white hair, one of them balding on top), one baby in a high chair, two children on a bench, one of them feeding a cat between them. The people all have light brown skin, and other than the two elderly people, they all have black hair. They are wearing a variety of differently coloured clothes (blue, yellow, green, red, grey, orange), and the man standing next to the table is wearing an orange apron over his shirt and pants, with yellow swirls on it. On the back of the chair of one of the elderly people, there's a hat with two feathers in it. There's a framed picture on the wall in the background showing two people together." / Gratitude to Charlotte Holzke for the lovely image description.] In his post: Teach your kids the truth of Thanksgiving - modeling generosity and gratitude all year long - but don't whitewash the violent history of colonization.

The Thanksgiving myth is based in theft and greed.

We want Thanksgiving to be a celebration of gratitude and generosity, a holiday celebrating diversity and togetherness.

But can we honestly do that if we're celebrating the tragedy and despair of people we continue to harm?

We have no right to stay on this land without taking responsibility for what we've broken, and taking action to repair it.

My family still reaps the benefits of showing up on these shores with light skin and settler expectations, as European and Asian immigrants. Even if my ancestors aren't the colonists who stole Wampanoag food stores and ravaged the graves of their children, my family is still complicit in the oppression of Indigenous Americans.

We wrestle with teaching my kids about the messy network of past and present injustice. We try to fit that into a vision of what we want for the future - a country that values immigrants, and inclusion.

On the 4th Thursday of November, we teach our kids to respect the people who stewarded this land before us, our obligations toward the Indigenous people still here, and to welcome those who have still yet to arrive.

It's a lot to ask of parents - doing the daily work it takes to get dinner on the table, trying to grow into the people we want to be, and setting a better example for our kids.

I still don't know what this day should look like. I want to come together as a family. I want to reinforce the value of generosity, appreciation, and connection to the land.

But I don't want to erase our history or pretend this violence is over. It's not.

Over the years, I wondered if it was possible to decolonize the holiday we settlers call Thanksgiving? After listening to Indigenous people with lifetimes of experience and sorrow- I've come to accept that this impossible.

Why are teaching kids that history doesn't count until white people show up?

The doctrine that ours was the 'first' Thanksgiving is ridiculous. The Wampanoag people have been practicing a prayer of thanksgiving every day, (+ Algonkians have observed six Thanksgiving festivals each year) for thousands of years before Separatists came to the shores of what we currently call Massachusetts.

The one our kids are learning about in school was most certainly not the first.

We need to retire the white-centered holiday of Thanksgiving. This holiday erases and condones the damage we've done by coming to this land and continuing to occupy it.

After 350 years watching setter colonists give thanks for genocide against Indigenous people, Wampanoag leader Wamsutta initiated the first National Day of Mourning in 1970.

Continuing to observe a Thanksgiving with boisterous celebration (followed by rampant greed and disposable consumerism the next day) on the 4th Thursday of each November condones the damage we've done by busting in and forcefully removing the first people of this land.

Understanding our history acknowledges the agony and shame of our present - a vital step in fixing what's broken.

Can we (and should we), as the descendants of colonist & settler immigrants, maintain a sense of safety and belonging while acknowledging the harm we're doing by living here?

As a multiracial family, I want a sense of home for my children. I want them to feel like they belong to a community who accepts them. I don't want my children to grow up feeling the way I did - like aliens in their birth land with no where else to go, unwelcome and resented on every single square inch of this planet.

For many reasons, packing up and leaving the country isn't an option for us. If we choose to stay, however, it's our moral obligation to do so without causing further harm.

So for now, we read books. We read books about our history that break our hearts. We focus on gratitude for what we've inherited. And responsibility for what we need to pay back. All of these, together, show us ways to heal the future.

A note on boosting Indigenous voices:

As a settler, I get very nervous about recommending books on Indigenous history & heritage. I was born and raised in the Boston area, where the Thanksgiving myth, 'pilgrim' pride, and erasure of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe continues to this day. My classmates were proud descendants of Mayflower settlers and our high school mascot was a slaver ship. (Seriously.)

This is way outside my lane. But - it also gives me access to an audience that wouldn't ordinarily pay attention to this stuff.

I could stay safe and silent, while less cautious parents blunder forth, spewing cheery Thanksgiving myths and Indigenous stereotypes that directly harm modern Indigenous people. That seems like a cowardly choice.

I chose the books below because they create an accessible bridge for my kids to start learning about the history of history and contemporary life for people whose heritage spans far beyond our arrival.

These books span cultures beyond US borders, since those same borders are byproduct of colonization. While I found, researched, and screened these books with my kids and processed them through our settler's gaze, I tried to verify that my choices are respectful, accurate, and don't cause more harm than good.

One of the ways I verified my choices was to check Deb Reese's American Indians In Children's Literature (with her permission) and invested in a copy of A Broken Flute by Doris Seale & Beverly Slapin. Check these resources out, as they go into great depth on problematic and recommended books that I don't want to parrot here.

I'm trying to boost the best books, but not appropriate Indigenous research and voices. If I stray too far out of my lane, leave a comment with notes or corrections.

(Thanks to Monica R. for pointing out that our title was incomplete - I had assumed the title 'Decolonizing Thanksgiving' was a brain-teaser, but for new readers, we need to spell out how decolonizing a white institution is an oxymoron.)
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The Impact Of Colonization On Indigenous People

Crazy Horse's Vision - The moderately violent massacre scene in this story gave our family lots to unpack and discuss. The story is also fantastic for setting positive expectations for leadership.

Shi-Shi-Etko - One girl's experience being forced to attend a residential school. The sequel, Shin-Chi's Canoe, is equally as good.

Buffalo Bird Girl - A rare women's history biography beyond Pocahontas & Sacagawea. Includes real photos and blends cultural details of life in for a Hidasta woman with the story of a real woman.

The Gender Wheel - How discrimination and violence against intersex, two-spirit, nonbinary, and trans people is a byproduct of colonization.

Not My Girl - The impact of residential schools on Indigenous children who have lost their language, culture, and family connections.

Indigenous People & Sovereign Nations Are Still Here

What's My Superpower? - Normalizing modern Indigenous kids in a cute story that takes place against in Nunavut.

My Heart Fills With Happiness - Celebrating modern connected with tradition.

Wild Berries - Gathering, connecting with the land, elders, on an ordinary blueberry picking day.

My Wounded Island - The impact of climate change and environmental racism on a young girl's community - and the fear of cultural erasure that comes with it.

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga - Life through the seasons celebrating modern Cherokee traditions.

We Sang You Home / Ka Kîweh Nikamôstamâtinân - In the style of of a lullaby for babies, celebrating the next generation in poetry that flew right over the heads of my (non-Indigenous) kids, but then again, we're a very literal family and poetry is our kryptonite.

When We Were Alone - In oral tradition, a grandmother passes on the story of how she and her brother persevered and continue to resist the miseducation and abuse she faced in residential schools as a child.

Fry Bread - OH MY GOSH this book is perfection. Validating for multiracial Indigenous kids, with end notes clearing up misunderstandings about heritage, enrollment, and the disambiguation between Indigenous political status and race.

Decolonizing & Restoring Connection To The Land

The People Shall Continue - A brief, powerful statement of history and endurance through colonization & continued attacks.

Beaver Steals Fire - I love this mainly for the foreword, which pulls back the Indigenous curtain a bit (rules set in place to keep stories safe from white distortion and appropriation) to help settlers understand the seasonality of stories and the byproduct of colonial arrogance and ignorance on our environment.

A Coyote Solstice Tale - A cheeky trickster story poking fun at materialistic consumerism over the holidays. More of a post-thanksgiving story, but it fits.

Also maybe check out Young Water Protectors: A Story About Standing Rock (I haven't gotten my hands on this one yet.)

Strength in Diversity - Inclusion Without Erasure

Her Right Foot - A little lofty, but beautiful reminder that our modern nation has been built stronger for diversity, and we must fight to keep striving for equity and inclusion.

Blue Sky White Stars - Gorgeous paintings depicting the diversity of American citizens.

Go Show The World - Mini biographies of influential Indigenous people who shaped our modern life.

Ladder To The Moon - A dreamlike story fostering inclusion for immigrants.

Dumpling Dreams - An immigrant story of integrating Northern Chinese cuisine into the American menu.

Brick By Brick - Caveat: this might not be for you. In the wrong hands, this can be alienating and reductive. A poem showing how the US government was literally built on the labor of enslaved Americans. The device starts with focusing on Black bodies (hands, etc.) before personalizing the people with names. If your family isn't already educated on the exploitation of Black labor, try reading Heart And Soul first.

We Are Stronger Together

3 Balls Of Wool - This one isn't US-based, but it's still awesome and illustrates how unique perspectives make the world better.

The Sandwich Swap - How different cultures (in this case food) can seem foreign and strange, but actually enhance our relationships and give us new perspectives.

Peaceful Fights For Equal Rights - A rallying cry showing many ways we can all fight for justice, putting our own small efforts to create a bigger, collective change.

Settlers: Learn About The Wampanoag People

The Wampanoag tribe were the first to encounter the European colonists who settled on on what's now Massachusetts. Pretty much everything you've heard about 'pilgrims' (or as they were called before the cheery rebranding then 'separatists') is a spun truth or outright lie. The education I received as a child in the MA public school system, and the stories my own son is being taught today in that same system make no damn sense at all.
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The picture books we read feature holes you could sail the Mayflower through. Painting the violent, greedy behavior of the Separatists as friendship created a deep dissonance for any reasonably attentive 5-year-old. Learning that this betrayal is the foundation for our home creates a quiet, rancid shame that can only be healed with honesty and action.

I could find only two books for the under-7 crowd on our local Wampanoag tribe - ones that aren't viewed through the white gaze. Both are approved in A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children. I'll admit they are both didactic (best suited for a class discussion than story time) and weren't engaging for my kids. But they will have to do until I find something enrapturing.

Hey while I have you - this same tribe - the Mashpee Wampanoag are under attack from the US government right now. Please call your senators and support S.2628 the Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, which affects not just our tribe, but tribes across the US who are at risk of having even more land and rights stripped. IT IS 2018 - colonization is still in progress, and it's your job to stop it.

Clambake - A modern Wampanoag tradition, showing kids that the Wampanoag are not just mythical beings from history, but actual neighbors and contemporaries.

1621: A New Look At Thanksgiving - A didactic book on the Thanksgiving story, from the perspective of the Wampanoag tribe.

28 Days - This one is a stretch. It's the only picture book I've found that references Crispus Attucks, a Wampanoag abolitionist.

(Not pictured) I've also screened both Tapenum's Day and Children of The Morning Light. Tapenum's Day is listed in the 'not recommended' list by Oyate but I haven't found info on why. Children of the Morning Light was written by an author who claimed connections to the Assonet Band of Wampanoag but has been identified as a charlatan by multiple sources. I will update this list if I find more.

Settlers: Understand Your History

Teach your kids what their ancestors went through to make a home here, and why it's so important not to shut the borders down behind them.

Dreamers - A poetic retelling of the author's experience navigating the US, tangentially addressing the poor immigration policies that break healthy circular migration.

Heart And Soul - Understand that some American ancestors came here on slave ships - not by choice, and the luxuries and freedoms we enjoy were built on their backs.

A Different Pond - An early morning in the life of Vietnamese refugees, keeping their heads down, trying to survive in the US.

Small Beauties - A reminder for my Irish family who seem so keep on shutting US borders to refugees - how hypocritical it would be to shut the door and lock it behind us.

The Journey - A heart-wrenching story of a mother and her children while they flee from violence across a terrifying and hostile journey.

My Name Is Not Refugee - A gentle walk-through for very young kids to help them empathize with kids just like them who must flee conflict.

Take Responsibility For Our Local & Global Community

Be The Change - Take responsibility for your actions. A reminder that every single choice we make impacts those who have less than we do.

Shelter - Take responsibility for sheltering those in need, breaking past a scarcity mindset and a reminder that every one of us is vulnerable and will one day be in need of help.

Take The Time - Take responsibility for how we treat each other. Small social actions to remind kids to slow down, connect with others, and acknowledge our mistakes.

Super Manny Cleans Up - Take responsibility for being a leader and healing harm you didn't cause. On deciding to clean up and heal our local communities, particularly when no one else seems to notice, even if it's not our fault.

If You Plant A Seed - Take responsibility for those with less. On sharing the fruits of our labor, even with those who don't seem to deserve it.

Sharing The Bread - Take responsibility for our family responsibilities. This is the most US-centric of the stories in this collection, featuring a white family in a settler homestead.
We can understand complicity without demonizing settlers, this is a part of our history. For many Americans, this is a part of ancestral and cultural narrative. It's okay to celebrate white-people traditions! (So long as it's not theonly perspective we show our kids.)
The trouble with many books featuring white families on Thanksgiving is the addition of half-dressed, token Indians complete with feathers and face-paint. Or the complete erasure of colonial impact, suggesting that everyone is happy now that white folks are here. This book exists within a bubble, not out of oblivion, but as a mindful choice. Zietlow Miller stayed within her lane, choosing to focus on the smaller family dynamic, without painting settlers as saviors.
There's one page featuring kids constructing European buckled hats, which obviously is problematic - we've got enough glorification of invaders. However, it's also an opportunity with the right knowledge - ask your kids what settlers are taught from the dominant narrative, and why the US chooses to celebrate European immigrants on Thanksgiving, but not immigrants from anywhere else. Use page this as a learning discussion. Each member of the family (regardless of age or gender) contributes and works together to build the meal, setting an expectation for responsibility.Now it's our responsibility to work together in truth and reconciliation.

Learn What It Means To Give Thanks Every Day

Before we can learn to create a culture of true equity, we've got to appreciate the privileges and opportunities we've inherited. Teaching kids like mine (who have been given everything I've ever wanted for them) to understand what it's like to have less is a work-in-progress. This should be a 365 days a year thing, obviously.

At this age (4 & 6), we're teaching them to be mindful of what's going on around us, to understand the obstacles we don't have to navigate, and to try not to take their luck for granted.

It's worth noting, as our supporter Monica R. points out - this might be the one day when we should dial back the gratitude. Being thankful for what we have on this particular day is a celebration of all the things we've inherited at the cost of someone else.

Circle of Thanks - Connecting in mutual help through a chain of kind actions, featuring arctic animals. Written by an Alaskan author (who claims not affiliation on her biography), but I wasn't able to verify accuracy in the illustrations and tone of this story, which portrays an Iñpiat-presenting mother and child.

The Table Where Rich People Sit - Demonstrating how wealth isn't a bank account, it's access to choice. How choosing our possessions and lifestyle with intent (when possible) gives us more to be grateful for than stuff.

Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message - My kids will. not. sit. still. for this one, but it's widely recommended by Indigenous authors and critics. Most notably - how for many Indigenous tribes, thanksgiving is a daily act, which they have been practicing every single day for several thousand years, not something that should be reserved for once a year before a big shopping trip.

Greet The Dawn - Not a story so much as daily morning prayer of gratitude, you'll have to prep kids with the understanding that this doesn't have a beginning-middle-end, but is more of a song, of sorts. It's gorgeous.

Originally this collection included the book Awesome Book Of Thanks - but turns out the author is a turd, so let's give that one a hard NOPE. I'll continue to update the collection as we find better replacements. See the comments below for more.

Be Radically Generous

Give generously - even if when you don't expect anything in return. Especially to those who have nothing to give in return.

Stay Curious, Stand Brave & Celebrate In Gratitude

Say thanks - support BFL and help us ignite the next generation of kind & brilliant luminaries.

Bonus: you'll get access to exclusive Books For Littles articles I don't share anywhere else.

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Decolonizing Thanksgiving Is An Oxymoron - Kids Books Dismantling The Myth of a 'First Thanksgiving' - Books For Littles

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Image description: Illustration from 'We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga' by Traci Sorell & Frane Lessac, "depicting what looks like a family of eight people around a table for a meal, including two elderly people (grey/white hair, one of them balding on top), one baby in a high chair, two children on a bench, one of them feeding a cat between them.

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Diversifying Your Classroom Book Collections? Avoid these 7 Pitfalls

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Diversifying Your Classroom Book Collections? Avoid these 7 Pitfalls

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“If you only ever read books by people who look like you and who live like you, that’s intellectual poverty because you don’t ever see into the life of someone else from their perspective,” she said.

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Surface-level Diversity

by Debbi Michiko Florence, Middle grade: The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert, Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano

Ignoring Intersectionality

Three decades ago, legal scholar and civil rights activist Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined the term " intersectionality " as a way of examining how courts failed to account for the overlapping forms of discrimination faced by Black women. Today, the term is used more broadly to refer to the way race, class, gender, sexuality and other characteristics overlap and shape individuals' experiences. "We like to think about people being one thing or the other when you can be Asian and queer and an immigrant," said Martin, the University of Washington professor. While a decade ago it may have been hard to find books by and about people whose identities sit at those types of intersections, that's increasingly less true, Martin said. "You can find those books if you are looking."

Sidekick Syndrome

: Picture books Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, illustrated by Rafael López, The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrated by Van T. Rudd, Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales

Middle grade: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia, Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older

Treating Groups as Monoliths

by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Young adult: Black Brother, Black Brother The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi

Excluding #OwnVoices

by Traci Sorell and illustrated by Frané Lessac, Picture books: by Matthew A. Cherry and illustrated by Vashti Harrison, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga Saturday by Oge Mora

Stopping at the Text

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Diversifying Your Classroom Book Collections? Avoid these 7 Pitfalls - MindShift

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by Debbi Michiko Florence, Middle grade: The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert, Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano Three decades ago, legal scholar and civil rights activist Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined the term " intersectionality " as a way of examining how courts failed to account for the overlapping forms of discrimination faced by Black women.

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What is the Jane Addams Children's Book Award

The Jane Addams Children's Book Award annually recognizes children's books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people. A national committee of members with passion for and expertise in children's literature and social justice is responsible for making the choices each year.

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Book Award - Jane Addams Peace Association

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The Pixie Pandemic: Macho Has To Stay Inside

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The Pixie Pandemic: Macho Has To Stay Inside

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It’s pixie season in the Neighborhood. Everybody has to stay inside – even Macho Supreme. Macho was really looking forward to the Glamour Flex contest, and now he can’t go! Scotty and Macho discuss feeling frustrated, why we sometimes need to stay in to help everybody out, and tons of stuff you can do while you’re stuck inside.

In this week's episode, Scotty and Macho discuss how it feels to be frustrated, and why it’s disappointing when you can’t do the things you were looking forward to. Feeling disappointed can feel like a real loss, so it's important to acknowledge those feelings before jumping in with alternative things to do.

If you’re stuck at home, have you tried making new friends… from scratch? You and your child can try building your own Cardboard Scotty, or other friends, family, or imaginary characters. You can draw signs or pictures to put up around your house or your neighborhood (which you can share with us on the Imagine Neighborhood website!) And you can discuss how it feels to be frustrated or disappointed when you don’t get to do something you were looking forward to.

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It's pixie season in the Neighborhood. Everybody has to stay inside - even Macho Supreme. Macho was really looking forward to the Glamour Flex contest, and now he can't go! Scotty and Macho discuss feeling frustrated, why we sometimes need to stay in to help everybody out, and tons of stuff you can do while you're stuck inside.

In this week's episode, Scotty and Macho discuss how it feels to be frustrated, and why it's disappointing when you can't do the things you were looking forward to. Feeling disappointed can feel like a real loss, so it's important to acknowledge those feelings before jumping in with alternative things to do.

If you're stuck at home, have you tried making new friends... from scratch? You and your child can try building your own Cardboard Scotty, or other friends, family, or imaginary characters. You can draw signs or pictures to put up around your house or your neighborhood (which you can share with us on the Imagine Neighborhood website!) And you can discuss how it feels to be frustrated or disappointed when you don't get to do something you were looking forward to.

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The Pixie Pandemic: Macho Has To Stay Inside

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It's pixie season in the Neighborhood. Everybody has to stay inside - even Macho Supreme. Macho was really looking forward to the Glamour Flex contest, and now he can't go! Scotty and Macho discuss feeling frustrated, why we sometimes need to stay in to help everybody out, and tons of stuff you can do while you're stuck inside.

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Sesame Street Elmo's Playdate (CN Airing)

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Social Distance Song | 5 Steps on Social Distancing | Pinkfong Songs For Children

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Explaining Social Distancing to Children | Meet the Helpers

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Child friendly explanation of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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CDC provides credible COVID-19 health information to the U.S.

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COVID-19: Talking with your kids and helping them cope

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You may feel stressed and anxious about COVID-19 - and so may your kids. Try these strategies to talk with them and help them cope. By Mayo Clinic Staff During any rapidly changing situation, loss of daily routine, isolation and uncertainty can lead to anxiety, fear, depression and loneliness.

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The following resources offer tips for families including age-appropriate responses to common questions, a guide to self-care, and activities for young children experiencing social distancing.

We want to hear how we can best support you! Let us know how coronavirus has impacted you by sharing your thoughts, experiences, best practices, and questions.

LATEST RESOURCES

COMIC: A Kids' Guide To Coping With The Pandemic (And A Printable Zine)
A short comic presents tips and advice to help kids through the pandemic.

Talking about the Coronavirus

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
NPR presents a comic developed from an interview with Tara Powell, Joy Osofsky, PhD, and Krystal Lewis on what kids might want to know about the Coronavirus.

Self-Care & Time at Home

Setting Limits
Try the Feel-See-Do method in response to metldowns and irrational insistence.

Parenting During Coronavirus: You Are Enough
Managing expectations as a parent is key during stressful times.

First Things First: Parenting in the time of coronavirus and social distancing Families have lots of questions, so First Things First, an early childhood agency, reached out ZERO TO THREE's parenting expert for her thoughts and advice for parents with babies, toddlers and preschoolers during this period of social distancing.

COVID-19: Advice for Caregivers of Young Children This infogram handout from experts at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center outlines common ways children react to stress, and ideas to help.

Staying Connected

Sesame Street Resources

Our neighbors on Sesame Street offer these fun activities and guides to staying safe and healthy as part of their new Caring for Each Other initiate :

My Healthy Week!
Chart a schedule of the ways little ones can stay strong with this free printable.

How to Wash Your Hands
Share the video featuring Bebe to show the right way to stop the spread of germs, and have a child show you how they use soap, then water!

H is for Handwashing
Read this storybook to explore the ways that children across the world stay happy and healthy. Invite children to think about how the ways we wash our hands that may be different and similar to our friends in other places.

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The following resources offer tips for families including age-appropriate responses to common questions, a guide to self-care, and activities for young children experiencing social distancing. We want to hear how we can best support you! Let us know how coronavirus has impacted you by sharing your thoughts, experiences, best practices, and questions.

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Winning COVID-19 children’s books address facts, emotions surrounding pandemic

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Winning COVID-19 children’s books address facts, emotions surrounding pandemic

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Winner & a number of others that were submitted.

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In " COVID-19 Helpers," the winning story, Seattle-based author and illustrator Beth Bacon and Kary Lee describe how people from all walks of life are helping to fight the virus.

When Jeffrey Koplan's grandchildren began asking him questions about COVID-19, he was inspired to help provide answers - not just for them, but for all kids. Koplan serves as vice president for global health at Emory and founded the Emory Global Health Institute, which launched a competition for a children's e-book about the pandemic.

In keeping with EGHI's 13-year history of bringing diverse disciplines together to tackle global health issues, the competition called for e-books that could help explain the pandemic and the changing behaviors that have come with it in a way that would appeal to children ages 6-9. The competition was announced April 14, with submissions due by April 29. While EGHI marketed the competition widely, organizers never expected that 486 participants would register and that 260 of those would submit books.

"We received an unexpected but terrific response to the competition. Not only did we receive 260 book submissions, but these books came from authors living as close as Decatur, Georgia, to as far away as Australia and South Africa," Koplan says. "We were also pleased to have established authors and illustrators submit books along with first-time authors and illustrators, including some authors who are still children themselves."

EGHI recruited 70 judges with backgrounds in medicine, public health, education, publishing and the arts to review the e-book submissions. Three judges independently reviewed each book using criteria provided by EGHI. Because there were so many high-quality submissions, EGHI added four $1,000 honorable mention prizes to the winning $10,000 first-place award that was publicized in the competition announcement.

Beth Bacon and Kary Lee, both from the Seattle area, wrote and illustrated the winning book entitled " COVID-19 Helpers," which tells the story of how everyone, including children, can help in the fight against COVID-19. Bacon is the author of four children's books and Lee has illustrated five other books. However, this is the first time they have had to develop the story and illustrations for a book in such a short period of time.

"Normally, it takes me at least six months to create the art for a picture book. With this book, I had 10 days. I wasn't sure this would be possible, but after reading Beth's manuscript, I fell in love with the story. I had to try," Lee says.

While Lee's and Bacon's efforts paid off with their winning entry, they both say the experience of developing the ideas for the book and producing it was rewarding in and of itself.

"For me, the whole process was a joy. I love making children's books, and this project combines four things I truly value: health, education, reading and art. It's also very rewarding to see a book develop and change through collaboration with a creative partner," says Bacon.

Lee says the most rewarding aspect of the competition for her was the "the opportunity to create a tool for kids through storytelling" while working with a great partner and having their vision recognized by EGHI.

Numerous authors who submitted books echoed this sentiment as well as discussed how working on their book gave them an outlet to try and help in the fight against COVID-19 beyond washing their hands and practicing social distancing.

Access all of the Emory Global Health Institute's winning and honorable mention COVID-19 children's e-books here.

The winning story
"COVID-19 Helpers"
Author: Beth Bacon

Illustrator: Kary Lee

In " COVID-19 Helpers," Seattle-based author and illustrator Beth Bacon and Kary Lee describe how people from all walks of life are helping to fight the virus. In age-appropriate language and using beautiful illustrations, Bacon and Lee describe what COVID-19 is, how it is transmitted and all of the people who are working to keep everyone safe. The key message of the book is that we can all help fight COVID-19, including children.
What impact do you hope the book will have on children?
Bacon: I hope kids will feel proud about the contributions they are making. Staying away from school, missing sports games, skipping birthday celebrations - those are real sacrifices. These kids are not doing "nothing." Kids make up an important part of an overall strategy to reduce the spread of this disease through social distancing. Until we find a medical solution, each of us has a part to play.

Lee: I hope it gives kids insight into their important role in this fight. Kids are smart. They understand what's going on sometimes better than the adults. We need them to know they have a voice, and that we're listening. I hope this book gives them that edge, and understanding that they not only matter, but their actions have an impact on this pandemic.

Honorable mentions

"Bray Bray Conquers the Coronavirus"
Author: Ashley Maxie-Moreman

Illustrator: Joanah Whitely

" Bray Bray Conquers the Coronavirus " is the second book in Ashley Maxie-Moreman's and Joanah Whitely's "Adventures of Bray Bray" series, which Maxie-Moreman created when she could not find children's books for her nephew that featured protagonists who were young black boys. Maxie-Moreman, an Atlanta native who is currently a doctoral student in counseling psychology in Philadelphia, has been providing teletherapy services to children and their families during the pandemic. She has seen children of all ages struggling to cope with the changes that COVID-19 has brought to their lives. When she learned of EGHI's contest from her sister-in-law, a local Atlanta middle school teacher, she knew she had the topic for the second book in her series. Maxie-Moreman felt COVID-19 was an especially important and appropriate topic for the series as data is showing that African Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 compared to other racial and ethnic groups.
What impact do you hope the book will have on children?
Maxie-Moreman: My hope is that "Bray Bray Conquers the Coronavirus" helps children to learn about COVID-19 symptoms, understand prevention recommendations, feel that their emotions (like fear, anxiety and sadness) are OK, and come up with their own plan to conquer the coronavirus.

"Together: Living Life During COVID-19"
Author: Kevin Poplawski

Illustrator: Michael Rausch

In " Together: Living Life During COVID-19," a young girl named Olivia learns what the coronavirus is, how to protect herself and others from catching it, and why her life changed so dramatically seemingly overnight. Poplawski and his wife are both Atlanta-area health care providers with two young daughters. His daughters' questions and emotions about COVID-19 were his main inspiration for the book. Rausch's inspiration was remembering how scary even everyday situations could be when he was a young child. He imagined placing a genuinely frightening pandemic into a child's life, and was inspired to tell a story that would help make life feel more manageable for young children. "Together: Living Life During COVID-19" addresses both the emotions children may be feeling as well as provides useful information about the virus and the disease it causes.
What impact do you hope the book will have on children?
Poplawski: I think children need that safe space. Right now, a lot of their safe space has been taken from them. Any reassurance that can help them regain that safe space would put a smile on my face.

"We're Going to be OK"
Author: Ebony Jade Hilton

Author: Leigh-Ann Webb

Illustrator: Ashleigh Corrin Webb

In " We're Going to be OK," Hilton, Webb and Webb, all based in Virginia, tell the story of Parker, who wakes up one morning and learns that he is staying home from school and his parents are staying home from work because of the coronavirus. Written by two physicians who are also children's book authors, "We're Going to be OK" teaches children about COVID-19 and ways to protect themselves. The authors use engaging illustrations and language to connect with young children on their level. The book also includes activity pages that help children determine ways they can fight the pandemic. The authors say they were inspired to create the book to educate children on the impact that COVID-19 is having globally and on vulnerable communities such as the African American and Latinx communities, which are being hit the hardest by the pandemic. Hilton says "the enemy of fear is information" and "the purpose of the book was to inform and empower while at the same time allowing for vulnerability."
What impact do you hope the book will have on children?
A. Webb: I hope they are comforted in knowing that their feelings are valid. I hope this book helps them address those feelings, and also be equipped to take action with the tips and workbook-style pages we've provided. With feelings evolving daily, weekly, as the months go on, this can be a go-to resource for them to "check-in" with parents - or even with themselves in their own time - and have open conversations.
"What Color is Today?"
Author and illustrator: Alison Stephens

Inspired by Dr. Seuss's "My Many Colored Days," writer and illustrator Alison Stephens used the idea of color to express the emotions that children and adults may be feeling during the COVID-19 pandemic in " What Color is Today? " She researched the psychology of color and then began writing and illustrating the book, which is about a community dealing with the pandemic and the emotions its many members are feeling. While Stephens says it was a challenge writing language that was clear, age-appropriate and charming about something as complex and unpredictable as COVID-19, especially in such a short period of time, she is proud of the book and doesn't think she would change it even if she had more time. A native Georgian, Stephens currently lives in San Diego.
What impact do you hope the book will have on children?
Stephens: I hope it not only entertains children with some of its whimsy, but also makes them feel understood. I hope it helps them articulate and identify how they are feeling in the midst of anything, and to realize it's OK to feel these things. I also hope it inspires children to ask questions: about COVID-19, about how it is affecting families and friends and what it is like to feel some of the colors.

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Winning COVID-19 children's books address facts, emotions surrounding pandemic

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In " COVID-19 Helpers," the winning story, Seattle-based author and illustrator Beth Bacon and Kary Lee describe how people from all walks of life are helping to fight the virus. When Jeffrey Koplan's grandchildren began asking him questions about COVID-19, he was inspired to help provide answers - not just for them, but for all kids.

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Including four social stories for different age groups.

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Social Stories for Kids about COVID-19

It's no secret that reading with our children is a good thing to do! Reading promotes early literacy, expands kids' imaginations, exposes them to new ideas, and helps us bond. Did you know that some stories can also help children cope with anxiety or overcome fears? In particular, Social Stories are a tool to share information about a new or frightening situation in a safe, comforting way. Initially, Social Stories were developed for people with autism in mind, but they can be helpful for any child.

How can a Social Story help my child deal with COVID-19?

For most of us, our daily routines have changed in response to the novel corona virus COVID-19. Kids are home from school, preschool, and daycare, and many parents are at home with them. We might not be seeing other family members or friends. Trips out of the house to even run simple errands have been limited. Like adults, kids may start to go stir crazy, and they also might be scared. Times are uncertain right now, and we need to talk to our kids about it. Social Stories are a great way to give your child age-appropriate information about COVID-19 and the changes to our everyday lives without scaring them.

As a Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE), the Child Development Center has access to excellent resources like Social Stories through the BHCOE accreditation authority. We have shared some of theses Social Stories for you below, but did you know that you could also author your own?! Most Social Stories are homemade by parents or teachers and personalized to the child who will read them. You don't need any special supplies or skills. In fact, you can draw simple pictures or paste them onto paper from a magazine. You can write or type the words. Check out the Social Stories we've shared. Feel free to use them with your child. They might also inspire you to make your own!

Social Stories for children about COVID-19

Social Story for YoungLearners (Prek-2): This is a social story that provides simple pictures and a limited amount of words for young students to understand why they do not have pre-school or daycare.

Basic Picture Social Story Social Story: This is a social story with pictures that describe
the virus. This social story provides step by step ways to keep safe with clean hygiene practice and interaction with peers.

My Coronavirus Story Social Story: This is another social story that uses pictures and
words to describe the virus. Additionally, this also discusses how schools may close.

All About COVID-19 Social Story: Here's a free social story and comprehension
check, with pictures, that can be downloaded for free from Teachers Pay Teachers. (You have to register, but it's free.)

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Social Stories for Kids about COVID-19 - Child Development Center

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It's no secret that reading with our children is a good thing to do! Reading promotes early literacy, expands kids' imaginations, exposes them to new ideas, and helps us bond. Did you know that some stories can also help children cope with anxiety or overcome fears?

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How Are You Telling Children the Story of the Pandemic?Every child needs a narrative. Here’s what several pediatricians are talking about with their children.

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How Are You Telling Children the Story of the Pandemic?Every child needs a narrative. Here’s what several pediatricians are talking about with their children.

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Every child needs a narrative. Here's what several pediatricians are talking about with their children.

Credit... Getty Images

By

How will children make sense of the times we are living through? How can parents help them form - and understand - the narrative, even when they themselves feel worried, overwhelmed and unsure?

I went back to several of the pediatricians I've consulted about different aspects of the coronavirus and asked: How are you telling your children the story of the pandemic?

Dr. Gail Shust, an associate professor in the division of pediatric infectious diseases at New York University School of Medicine, has said to her children, aged 13 and 15: "If you ever have kids, someday you're going to tell them about this time when we all stayed inside for months, and everybody wore masks."

Dr. Adam Ratner, the director of pediatric infectious diseases at New York University School of Medicine and Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at N.Y.U. Langone Health, said, "I don't even know how to tell myself the story about what's going on right now." He wrote in an email, "For me, some days feel like a great story of grit and hope, and some feel like we're just standing on (or stepping off) a precipice."

His daughter is in college, he said, "and I can talk to her like I can talk to a grown-up, she loves public health stuff." Because she is interested in medicine, he said, "I wanted to model that good doctor behavior where you sometimes have to do things that are frightening or where you don't have 100 percent of the information."

The narratives vary depending on children's ages, but all children need narratives. Dr. Grace Black, a pediatrician on the faculty of the University of Rochester, has three young children, the oldest of whom was in kindergarten when lockdown interrupted their lives. For her 3-and-a-half-year-old, she said, who wanted to go out and go places, "I said, we can't go because there's a virus that's making people sick so we can't go, we don't want to get sick."

Her son said OK, she said, and three days later, he said, "We didn't get sick so can we go now?"

"We want to tell a story to our kids about what this time is going to mean, but are we going to be able to?" said Dr. Jenny Radesky, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. "Sometimes when you're in a state of high stress, it's hard to take a step back and do that bigger-picture reflection."

In an email, she wrote, "I think meaning-making usually involves achieving a sense of central coherence that a lot of U.S. parents don't have right now." An expert on children and digital media, Dr. Radesky said one reason it can be hard to tell that larger story may be because parents are "dealing with little bits of information coming at us, tailored feeds on the internet, doomscrolling, trying to make sense of it, feeding on all the information about the Covid numbers."

And it's harder to make meaning, she wrote, "when your brain is feeling scattered, traumatized and isolated: We usually need other people and our collective cultures to help make meaning out of experiences."

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Reading other narratives can help children think about their stories, and writing things down is powerful. Dr. Amy Shriver, a general pediatrician in Des Moines, Iowa, has daughters who are 9 and 12. Her older daughter is reading Anne Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl," she said, and talked about feeling trapped.

Since I was asking these questions around the July 4 holiday, "Hamilton," which premiered in film form over that weekend, was a reference point for a number of children. Dr. Radesky said it had helped her family through what would otherwise have been a difficult holiday, and Dr. Shriver's 12-year-old, a fan, said to her, "Mom, this is what it's like when the world turns upside down."

Dr. Shriver said in an email, "I'm encouraging my kids to journal every night about life during the pandemic. I'm telling them how incredible it is that *everyone* in the world is experiencing the same stress and worries at the same time. Even though we are physically distanced, we all feel closer to one another due to this shared experience."

Dr. Ken Haller, a professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University, said in an email that he has been asking parents versions of this question since 2014, when many of his patients were affected by the Ferguson uprising after Michael Brown was killed. "I was especially asking parents of babies and very young children what they would tell their children in 10 or 15 years about what life was like during the protests."

At that time, he said, most parents would say they hadn't had time to think about it, but when he asks the question now, parents are interested in keeping track - writing in a diary, saving social media posts, maybe even making videos talking to their children when they're older.

"As pediatricians and people who care for children, it's been a fascinating time in our history," said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a professor of pediatrics and the director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Northwestern and Lurie Children's Hospital. "How can one virus stop the world?" She wanted her children to tell me their own stories of this time. There were disappointments: Her 18-year-old son missed out on his senior year festivities and his in-person graduation, her 14-year-old daughter on her eighth-grade graduation after spending 11 years in the same school.

But her son, Rohan Jain, talked about how important it's been "to write every day about what's going on in the world and what my thoughts are." It was important to him to march for racial justice, he said.

His sister, Riya Jain, wrote a book explaining Covid to kids. "I had so many questions, so kids younger than me would have the same questions if not more." And she has been making a video journal. "I hope in 20 years I can show that to my kids to help them understand what the year 2020 was like," she said. Citing the protests and the chance to make changes in the world, she added: "It's not all sitting at home sad."

Dr. Haller has been asking kids what it's been like not to be in school, and one 6-year-old answered, "I hate it."

His mother responded, "He used to always say he hated school.'"

Dr. Haller wrote, "He looked at her and said, 'No, I didn't.' She returned his look, with a raised eyebrow. He sighed and looked at the floor again. 'I miss my friends. I wanna go back.'"

So the pediatrician asked the child, "Twenty years from now, you may have a kid of your own. What are you going to tell him about what it was like to be around in 2020?"

The boy answered, "I'll tell him it was real bad." He thought briefly and then added, "And I'll tell him that I really liked school."

Dr. Haller wrote, "His mom smiled. I looked at her and nodded. 'I'll tell him we were just tired all the time,' she said, looking at her son, 'but somehow we all got through it.'"
Dr. Perri Klass is the author of the forthcoming book "A Good Time to Be Born: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future," on how our world has been transformed by the radical decline of infant and child mortality.

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How Are You Telling Children the Story of the Pandemic?

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Every child needs a narrative. Here's what several pediatricians are talking about with their children. By How will children make sense of the times we are living through? How can parents help them form - and understand - the narrative, even when they themselves feel worried, overwhelmed and unsure?

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Kids, this comic is for you.

It's based on a radio story that NPR education reporter Cory Turner did. He asked some experts what kids might want to know about the new coronavirus discovered in China.

To make this comic, we've used his interviews with Tara Powell at the University of Illinois School of Social Work, Joy Osofsky at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and Krystal Lewis at the National Institute of Mental Health

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Updated on March 16 at 1:56 p.m. ET. This comic has been updated. Click here for the newest version.
Kids, this comic is for you.

It's based on a radio story that NPR education reporter Cory Turner did. He asked some experts what kids might want to know about the new coronavirus discovered in China.

To make this comic, we've used his interviews with Tara Powell at the University of Illinois School of Social Work, Joy Osofsky at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and Krystal Lewis at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Print and fold a zine version of this comic here. Here are directions on how to fold it. To read this comic in Chinese, click here.To read it in Spanish, click here.

Malaka Gharib is an NPR editor and the author and illustrator of I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir, about being first-generation Filipino Egyptian American.

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Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus

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You may have heard the word "coronavirus" online or on TV. You probably have a lot of questions. Check out our comic to get some answers - and print out a zine version at home.

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Collection of Free Books for Children on COVID

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Collection of Free Books for Children on COVID

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The DOE is committed to creating and supporting learning environments that reflect the diversity of New York City. To ensure that our website serves the needs of everyone, it follows the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA. That means the sites work for people with disabilities, including those who are blind and partially sighted. We are committed to creating accessible digital experiences for all website visitors. If you require assistance with any documents on our site, please please call 917-521-3654, email mdodes2@schools.nyc.gov, or mail to: Michael Dodes, 4360 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY, 10033 for assistance.

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New York City School Library System: COVID-19 Children's eBook Collection: COVID-19 Free eBooks

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The DOE is committed to creating and supporting learning environments that reflect the diversity of New York City. To ensure that our website serves the needs of everyone, it follows the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA. That means the sites work for people with disabilities, including those who are blind and partially sighted.

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A new story book that aims to help children understand and come to terms with COVID-19 has been produced by a collaboration of more than 50 organizations working in the humanitarian sector, including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Save the Children.

The book – aimed primarily at children aged 6-11 years old – is a project of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, a unique collaboration of United Nations agencies, national and international nongovernmental organizations and international agencies providing mental health and psychosocial support in emergency settings

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Coronavirus: How to Teach Kids About COVID-19 | BrainPOP

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Coronavirus: How to Teach Kids About COVID-19 | BrainPOP

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Coronavirus: How to Teach Kids About COVID-19 | BrainPOP

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Daniel Tiger: Fred Rogers Productions Resources for Families

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Daniel Tiger: Fred Rogers Productions Resources for Families

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We understand that many families are now trying to find their new "normal" in light of the news of COVID-19, known also as coronavirus. As an organization committed to providing quality entertainment and resources for children and families, we want you to know that Fred Rogers Productions is here for you in these difficult and uncertain times.

This page contains a list of all of the virtual events, activities, and other social initiatives we are sharing online.

We are sharing one activity, craft or recipe each day on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
Watch on the PBS KIDS Video Player and Amazon Prime

"How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus" via PBS KIDS for Parents

"How You and Your Kids Can De-Stress During Coronavirus" via PBS KIDS for Parents

When Something Scary Happens: Resources to Help Families Cope in Emergencies and Other Challenging Times via PBS KIDS for Parents, includes activities and tips such as Draw Your Feelings, How to Prepare Children for Unexpected Events and Emergencies, and Helping Children Cope After a Crisis or Emergency.

Activity sheets and other tips at PBS KIDS for Parents.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Watch on the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Legacy Website, the PBS KIDS Video Player, and Amazon Prime

March 20: Instagram takeover with Matthew Cordell, author and illustrator of the forthcoming "Hello, Neighbor! The Kind and Caring World of Mister Rogers" on the Fred Rogers Productions Instagram page
Peg + Cat
Watch on the PBS KIDS Video Player and Amazon Prime

Virtual Story Time with Peg + Cat co-creator Billy Arsonson on the show's Facebook page

March 24: Virtual Story Time with Peg + Cat co-creator Jennifer Oxley on the show's Facebook page, 11 AM ET

Activity sheets and other tips at PBS KIDS for Parents.
Odd Squad
Watch on the PBS KIDS Video Player and Amazon Prime

Activity sheets and other tips at PBS KIDS for Parents.

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Resources for families during COVID-19 | Fred Rogers Productions

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We understand that many families are now trying to find their new "normal" in light of the news of COVID-19, known also as coronavirus. As an organization committed to providing quality entertainment and resources for children and families, we want you to know that Fred Rogers Productions is here for you in these difficult and uncertain times.