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Helpful Sites for Anti-bias Approach
by Z Sonia Worotynec

Valerie Rhomberg, ECE coordinator at the Canadian Mothercraft Society in Toronto, is well known for her anti-bias approach to early learning. She has co-authored The Affective Curriculum: Teaching the Anti-Bias Approach to Young Children and conducts workshops and presentations across North America. At the NAEYC conference last November, she delivered a standing-room- only workshop on holidays and celebrations within an anti-bias framework. Following are her recommended sites from that workshop.

Holidays on the Net
www.holidays.net
Comprehensive information including histories of and resources on religious and cultural holidays -- everything from Valentines Day to Ramadan to Martin Luther King Day.

National Association for the Education of Young Children
Early Years are Learning Years: Celebrating Holidays in Early Childhood
http://npin.org/respar/texts/parfami/celebrat.html
An overview of the importance of cultural celebrations for young children
in early childhood programs. Includes a summary of good practice in
celebrating holidays.

National Network for Child Care Diversity Database
http://www.nncc.org/Diversity/divers.page.html
A collection of links including "Celebrating Diversity and Meeting Children's Developmental Needs" and others related to holiday celebrations. Useful and practical suggestions for inclusivity.

National Network for Child Care Holidays: Celebrating Diversity and Meeting Children's Developmental Needs
www.exnet.iastate.edu/Pages/families/nncc/Curriculum/dc32_holidays.diver...
A thoughtful discussion of the issue of holidays and the anti-bias approach to early childhood education.

North Seattle Community College Holiday Books for Children and Families
http://nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu/~eceprog/holiday.html
Annotated collection of children's books related to holidays. Short descriptions. No age recommendations specified.

Z Sonia Worotynec is an ECE instructor with Canadian Mothercraft Society in Toronto, Ontario. You can reach her by e-mail at zsw@idirect.com.