[mnmomma]

My AD attends a small at-home daycare. I really love the daycare - the lady who runs it is very sweet and nurturing and E loves her. Right now she only has 3 kids there including E, so she gets a lot of great attention. I know that at some point I want to move her to a setting that is more diverse as she is currently the only AA child in her daycare and my DH and I are both CC. E is 16 months old now. At what point would you make the move?

TIA

[Casey677]

I wouldn't worry about it so much at this point. We put our oldest in preschool at 3 and it was pretty important to me at that point.....

[ChromaKelly]

I've been wondering the same thing too, thanks for asking! I have been debating (I know, he's only 8 months!) about whether or not to send Caleb to the preschool A&B attend, which is not very diverse, but is great and we know everyone, or send him to one in a more diverse area so he won't have to be one of a few. Diversity is about 20 min away, so not too big of an issue in that sense.

[CubanaYogini]

The time to start providing our children with diversity is now. Kids notice that they are "different" from a very very young age.

[rredhead]

This is my opinion. I have a 3 year old, who went into day care part time when he was almost 2. We chose a small in-home day care mostly because the owner and her kids were black, and the other kids she had were Hispanic. The other situation I liked was an actual preschool, but Jack would have been the only black child. (There were Hispanic children.)

I don't feel that Jack got much, if anything, out of the day care. We moved him to a preschool/day care situation a few months later. That was more diverse, and we were much happier with what he was learning, playing, etc.

Now, Jack is in a preschool program. The school is about half white, half everything else. There are several black children in his class.

My opinion is, if all other things are equal, choose the diverse situation. However, if the homogenous situation is better, choose it. If your child will get more attention or education, or if you really feel that the people there are more in-line with your way of child rearing, then choose it. There are other ways to add diversity to your life.

[oceanica]

Hey my 2 cents is worth about that, since my little ones are only 10 and 4 months. But I tend to agree with rredhead... you have to pick the best environment for the little ones. Not to minimize the importance of diversity, but it can be found in various settings and should be sought out when possible. If it's not at the church it can be at a class or with friends or some other place or setting. As long as there is some exposure and interaction.

I read studies about adopted aa kids and they did great overall but the one thing that bothered me is that many expressed a wish to be white. I am going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening to my little squirts!

The other thing is, I know it's important for kids of color, but really everyone should be thinking about exposing their kids to diverse people and situations so they don't grow up in a vaccum.

[sbaglio]

Originally Posted by oceanica

I read studies about adopted aa kids and they did great overall but the one thing that bothered me is that many expressed a wish to be white. I am going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening to my little squirts!

A bit off topic, but don't be surprised if some kids express similar feelings despite your best efforts. My 3 year old niece is black, dark-skinned and quite beautiful. She gets a lot of attention from everyone because of her looks. She has very long, natural hair, mostly due to my sister's skills.

She spent the first 2 years of her life being cared for by my mother, and was only exposed to us, her family, my DH's family (which is Hispanic), and kids at the gym on Saturdays only. She has only black/mixed dolls, and many books on loving yourself as a black person etc. This was also due to how my sister herself felt growing up (and we grew up in Africa, with relatively few CCs around us).

She started at a very diverse preschool at 2 1/2 years of age, and within 2 weeks, came home tossing her head and saying she wished her hair was long and straight.

It's a constant struggle for many kids of color, regardless of who is parenting the child. Just continue affirming the child and continue to build their self-esteem.

[OakShannon]

Originally Posted by sbaglio

A bit off topic, but don't be surprised if some kids express similar feelings despite your best efforts. My 3 year old niece is black, dark-skinned and quite beautiful. She gets a lot of attention from everyone because of her looks. She has very long, natural hair, mostly due to my sister's skills.

She spent the first 2 years of her life being cared for by my mother, and was only exposed to us, her family, my DH's family (which is Hispanic), and kids at the gym on Saturdays only. She has only black/mixed dolls, and many books on loving yourself as a black person etc. This was also due to how my sister herself felt growing up (and we grew up in Africa, with relatively few CCs around us).

She started at a very diverse preschool at 2 1/2 years of age, and within 2 weeks, came home tossing her head and saying she wished her hair was long and straight.

It's a constant struggle for many kids of color, regardless of who is parenting the child. Just continue affirming the child and continue to build their self-esteem.

That is really sad.

In my opinion, it's not a matter of a high quality environment or a diverse environment. I think our kids need both. If a class or play group isn't diverse, then I just don't think it's the best place for my bug. And if I didn't agree the philosophy of the place, or there was a high staff turnover, etc. I wouldn't put him there even if the demographics were very diverse.

I'm a teacher and I'm really picky. I look at how a room is laid out, how the class is structured, what the schedule is like, etc. I talk to parents and ask about turnover. I also look at the demographics. If the group is more than half white, then I keep looking. There is a lot to choose from, so why not insist upon everything our kids need? I've passed on groups that other parents I know liked because I didn't think it was well run, or in one case, because my son was the only African American outside of the janitor. We visited several toddler classes before I found one I was happy with - it's diverse and very well run. And I'm already visiting preschools so I can find one that's right for us, even though he won't start until he's three. I don't think our kids should have to chose between a diverse environment and a high quality one.

[mnmomma]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

I agree OakShannon that I'm sure it won't be a decision between diversity and quality. The concern I have is more because there weren't a lot of daycare choices when she was younger - infant care is really hard to find. Now that she's a little older and has that great comfort level and bond with the provider, I'm hesitant to make a switch even if it is to another really great place.

I think I'll plan on keeping her where she is through the summer as I start researching our other options.