“The world is unfair”: My head-on approach to talking about homelessness with my daughter

“The world is unfair”: My head-on approach to talking about homelessness with my daughter

by Sachi Feris I want my daughter to see people who are homeless as people. I don’t want her to avert her eyes, as so many adults do when confronted with the reality of homelessness. One day, I saw my…

Transparency about the lack of racial diversity in children’s books

by guest blogger Sarah Halter Hahesy I am a White educator of third grade students in Brookline, Massachusetts. I teach in public school within a very wealthy and somewhat diverse population. Our minority enrollment is 41% (mostly Asian, and only…

Thanksgiving/Thanks-taking and privilege

Thanksgiving/Thanks-taking and privilege

by Sachi Feris One year ago, during the week before Thanksgiving (or Thanks-taking as I prefer to call it), I mentioned the holiday to my daughter and told her that we were going up to our cousins’ and would sleep…

"Why Didn't Her Real Mom Want Her?"

“Why Didn’t Her Real Mom Want Her?”

by guest blogger Kathleen Dennehy I’m standing by this ice cream trough, which is maybe 20 feet long, narrow and silver- just like a gutter one might put on a house. But this gutter is lined with aluminum foil and filled…

Reflections on Columbus as we prepare for Thanksgiving

Reflections on Columbus as we prepare for Thanksgiving

by Sachi Feris On “Columbus Day” I posted the song “1492” by Nancy Schimmel on Raising Race Conscious Children’s Facebook page. The song, an old favorite I have used with 4th and 5th grade students, details an alternative version of the…

On the Spot: Unanticipated Conversations about Race

On the Spot: Unanticipated Conversations about Race

by guest blogger Kim Sherman When I was pregnant with my second child, I prepared to tell my then-two-year-old about the baby-on-the-way. I anticipated questions about where babies come from and whether we were having a boy or girl. I…

In light of Spring Valley (Part Two): Activism, the police, and my three-and-a-half-year-old

In light of Spring Valley (Part Two): Activism, the police, and my three-and-a-half-year-old

by Sachi Feris Almost a year ago, when I was launching Raising Race Conscious Children, I wrote a post about what I would say to my future four-year-old about Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Well, my daughter is almost three-and-a-half…

In light of Spring Valley (Part One): Race, board books, and my 5-day-old baby

In light of Spring Valley (Part One): Race, board books, and my 5-day-old baby

by Sachi Feris I often get comments from readers of Raising Race Conscious Children, who have babies or young, pre-verbal children. These parents tell me that they are interested in this work, but feel it is a little early to be talking about race. This is not meant as a defensive posture…

A hard (but needed) conversation: New York City’s segregated schools

A hard (but needed) conversation: New York City’s segregated schools

  by guest blogger Myra Hernandez One morning, I was working with a group of elementary students at a public school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. As a program coordinator for a non-profit, I had been reading Harlem’s Little Blackbird by Renee…

Body conscious talk: Discussing masturbation

Body conscious talk: Discussing masturbation

by guest blogger Katie Schaffer Little kids masturbate. They’re exploring their bodies and it feels good. But one of the reasonable concerns that many parents have is how to encourage children’s curiosity and joyous sensual connection to their body while…