Gender, Sexuality, and the Family
in Early Childhood Education

Workshops for Educators and Families

The Workshops

For Educators and Early Childhood Professionals

Session 1: Gender Development, Expression and Play
Session 2: Bodies, Curiosity and Touching
Session 3: Including All Families and Supporting All Children

For Parents and Families

Session 1: Gender Development, Expression and Play
Session 2: Bodies, Curiosity and Touching

To schedule the workshop series or for more information: Fill out the inquiry form

or contact us:

helen.frazier@cuny.edu

Schedule the Workshop Series for Your Program

We'd be happy to offer these workshops to the educators and families in your early childhood program! Read about pricing and scheduling options on the on-site series page fill out the inquiry form, or contact us for more information.

About the Workshops

When and how do children develop an understanding of gender?

How can we encourage children's comfort and respect for their own body and other people's bodies?

How can we include and celebrate the diversity of families and family structures in our programs?

During the preschool years, children begin to develop a conception of gender, sexuality, and family. However, there is often little space to for teachers to talk about the questions and behaviors that come up in their classrooms, or how to explore these concepts with children in their curriculum and pedagogy. Parents and family members often feel in the dark as well, with little opportunity to discuss and collaboratively develop strategies for working with their children or young people.

To open up this conversation, the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute is offering a series of workshops – one set for educators and one set for families – designed to spark discussion, facilitate the creation of shared language, and provide educators and families the resources they need to make their classrooms and homes safe spaces for the development and expansive exploration of identity. By running workshops both for families and educators we hope to engage all members of an early childhood community in supporting each other and the children they care for.

Workshops for Educators and Early Childhood Professionals

Session 1: Gender Development, Expression and Play

Learn about gender development in young children
Develop strategies to facilitate expansive gender performances and to create inclusive classrooms that support a variety of gender expressions
Discuss ways to resist the perpetuation of harmful gender stereotypes

In this workshop, we will learn about and discuss gender development in young children. Through discussions of how rigid gender roles and stereotypes can limit children's growth and self-expression, we will collectively develop and role-play strategies to facilitate expansive gender performances and to create inclusive classrooms which support a variety of gender expressions. We will also discuss a variety of ways to limit the perpetuation of gender stereotypes – from how children are complimented to how the classroom is organized – and how to work with family members who are struggling with their children's gender non-conforming dress or behaviors.

What attendees are saying about session 1:

"Scenario 1 & 2 were particularly stimulating and engaging. You were very engaging and did maybe the best job I've ever seen making a safe and educational space for everyone."

"The strategies gave me insight into things I can do to promote children's thinking about gender."

"Amazing workshop! Truly a joy to attend."

Session 2: Bodies, Curiosity and Touching

Learn strategies for teaching consent, respect, and encouraging children’s sense of ownership over their bodies
Develop strategies for fostering children’s feelings of comfort about sexuality and their bodies
Learn to distinguish signs of abuse and behaviors associated with common childhood exploration

In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on and deconstruct their feelings about children's curiosity and sexual exploration. We will develop strategies for fostering children's feelings of comfort about sexuality and their bodies while setting limits to help children develop a sense of boundaries. We will discuss fears regarding child sexual abuse and learn to distinguish between signs of abuse and childhood exploration. Through readings and role-plays, participants will explore what it means to help children develop healthy relationships and will learn strategies for teaching consent, respect, and encouraging children's sense of ownership over their bodies.

What attendees are saying about session 2:

"The discussion about consent and empowering children in ways that I have never thought of before."

"Defining that children have rights to express who and when they can be touched."

"I wish we had even more time to talk about this."

"This workshop was excellent. Couldn't have been better."

Session 3: Including All Families and Supporting All Children

Discuss the importance of representing and including all families in the social and cultural community of early childhood programs
Learn the language to use when talking with families and colleagues about different sexual and gender identities
Identify curricular opportunities to teach about family diversity and develop strategies for teaching a more expansive understanding of family

In this workshop, we will discuss the importance of supporting children by representing and including all families in the social and cultural community of the program. Focusing specifically on LGBTQ families, this workshop will help educators consider both deliberate and inadvertent messages about belonging contained in their programs' written material, environment, teaching, and educational practices. To create a more inclusive environment in their classrooms and schools, we will introduce concepts and language to talk with families and our staffs about sexual and gender identities, the legal structures that are involved in defining families, and discrimination targeted at people who do not conform to gender or sexual norms. We will also identify curricular opportunities to teach about family diversity and develop strategies and activities to teach children a more expansive understanding of family.

What attendees are saying about session 3:

"I found it very helpful to work through scenarios together and to have the chance to discuss all together. It was so great to have space at the beginning for people to ask questions and get a sense of where people are coming from."

"The space and support for critical self-reflection"

Workshops for Parents and Families

Session 1: Gender Development, Expression and Play

Learn about gender development in young children
Develop strategies to facilitate expansive gender performances and to create inclusive classrooms that support a variety of gender expressions
Discuss ways to resist the perpetuation of harmful gender stereotypes

In this workshop, parents and family members will learn about and discuss gender development in young children. Through discussions of how rigid gender roles and stereotypes can limit children's growth and self-expression, participants will collectively develop and role-play strategies to support their children or young family members in an expansive development of identity. We will also discuss a variety of ways to limit the perpetuation of gender stereotypes and how to engage with our children and families around both gender conforming and non-conforming expression. Parents and family members will have the opportunity to work on the specific challenges and questions they have with their young people as well as share strategies and develop a shared language for future discussions.

Session 2: Bodies, Curiosity and Touching

Learn strategies for teaching consent, respect, and encouraging children’s sense of ownership over their bodies
Develop strategies for fostering children’s feelings of comfort about sexuality and their bodies
Learn to distinguish signs of abuse and behaviors associated with common childhood exploration

In this workshop, parents and family members will have the opportunity to reflect on and deconstruct their feelings about children's curiosity and sexual exploration. We will develop strategies for fostering children's feelings of comfort about sexuality and their bodies while setting limits to help children develop a sense of boundaries. We will discuss fears regarding child sexual abuse and learn to distinguish between signs of abuse and childhood exploration. Through readings and role-plays, participants will explore what it means to help children develop healthy relationships and will learn strategies for teaching consent, respect, and encouraging children's sense of ownership over their bodies.

Meet the Trainers

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Megan Madison

Megan Pamela Ruth Madison is an early childhood scholar, activist, and practitioner based in New York City. She holds an MS in early childhood education from Dominican University and a BA in studies in religion from the University of Michigan. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy. Her research examines the impact of "colorblind" policymaking on racial inequities in the early care and education workforce. When she's not working on finishing up her dissertation, she works as a trainer for the Center for Racial Justice in Education, the Human Root, and the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute. She holds New York's Training and Technical Assistance Professional Credential (T-TAP) and specializes in facilitating workshops for teachers of young children on race, gender, sexuality, and family diversity. Megan recently completed a term as the first student representative on the governing board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Kate Engle

Kate Engle brings her experiences as a preschool teacher, lifelong introvert, and anti-racism educator to her facilitation practice. Kate taught 3-year-olds for 11 years in New York City and has an MSEd in Early Childhood Education from Hunter College. She currently works with educators and parents as a trainer with organizations including the Center for Racial Justice in Education, the Human Root, and the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute. As an equity consultant, she partners with schools and educational leaders to explore how racial and gender identity impact educators, students, and communities. Kate was born in Oregon and lives in Brooklyn, NY. She loves the ocean, dancing, and big rocks.

Laleña Garcia

Laleña Garcia is a kindergarten teacher hailing from Brooklyn. After receiving her BA in History from Yale University in 1998, Laleña worked with high school students in New Haven CT long enough to realize her love is early childhood. After receiving the Minority Fellowship from Bank Street College of Education, she began teaching in NYC in 2000, graduating Bank Street in 2002 with an MS in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Laleña has worked with three- through eight-year-olds, and is currently teaching 5-6s (kindergarten) at Manhattan Country School. In 2018, Laleña helped organize New York City's first year of participation in the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, and created a document translating the Thirteen Principles of the Movement for Black Lives into child-friendly language, in order to support classroom teachers beginning this work. She's brought this work to local schools and community organizations, as well as to national conferences. Laleña also works for the Early Childhood Professional Development Institute as a Gender and Sexuality Trainer, working with early childhood professionals.

Catalina Schliebener

Catalina Schliebener is a visual artist and bilingual educator from Santiago de Chile. She received a Bachelor of Philosophy and a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the Universidad de Arte y Ciencias Sociales ARCIS, in Santiago. Her work has been exhibited individually and collectively in galleries and museums in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Lima, Belfast, London, Miami, Ontario and New York. She has received grants and fellowships from the Development of Culture and the Arts Fund of the Government of Chile, the Board of Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Chile, as well as the Henry Moore Foundation in the United Kingdom. She recently participated in the Queer Artist Fellowship program at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art and the Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) program at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. In her work as an educator, Schliebener taught undergraduate Art Theory and Philosophy courses for many years in universities in Chile. She has also led collage and multimedia workshops for both teens and adults in museums and institutions in Chile, Argentina, and New York, such as the Noguchi Museum and the Queens Museum, among others. Currently, she is a trainer with the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, a Workshop Facilitator and Guide at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, and also a Lead Teacher at One World Project, where she leads the afterschool Spanish immersion program for children ranging in age from 3-7. In 2018 she co-founded Little Rainbows: Storytime at the Lesbian Herstory Archives, focused on sharing stories that affirm differences of all kinds and building a space to welcome LGBTQ families and/or children.

James Clay

Jim Clay is an early childhood educator now for nearly 40 years, starting out as a teacher’s aide in Head Start, and later becoming an assistant teacher and then finally a lead teacher in a community-based program. The birth of his son and parenting responsibilities took him out of the classroom and eventually to becoming a center director. He quickly learned he did not have the skills for program administration so completed an MS in Early Childhood Leadership from Bank Street. Along the way, he provided plenty of training for the teachers at my school. Almost all his years in early childhood education have been in Friends education, and currently he serves on the board of the Friends Council on Education. Throughout he has been a founding member and active facilitator of the LGBT Interest Forum (Caucus) of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, writing articles for Young Children and leading workshops at the annual national conference - all to promote a good working environment for LGBT educators, support the parents of LGBT children, and help to create the right educational environment for children who will later identify as such.

Milo Giovanniello

Milo Shifra Giovanniello is an educator and organizer working for racial and gender justice. As an educator and facilitator for the past 5 years, they have gained experience facilitating conversations with young people and adults about racial and gender justice, identity and gender exploration, sexuality, and consent. They hold a BA in education and sociology/anthropology from Swarthmore College and will begin their graduate degree this fall at Sarah Lawrence and NYU studying child development and social work.

Megan Madison

Kate Engle

Laleña Garcia

Catalina Schliebener

James Clay

Milo Giovanniello

Refund/Cancellation Policy

If you are unable to attend the session you have registered for, we invite you to send a colleague in your place. Please notify Alyssa Estremo Alyssa.Estremo@cuny.edu of any changes to your registration or if someone else will be attending in your place.

Registration fees are nonrefundable five business days before the event. Requests for refunds must be received in writing and submitted to Alyssa Estremo Alyssa.Estremo@cuny.edu. Please note that credit card payment processing fees are nonrefundable.

If a session has to be cancelled for any reason, every effort will be made to reschedule the session for a later date. If the attendee cannot attend the rescheduled date, a refund (not including credit card payment processing fees) will be issued.

Gender, Sexuality, and the Family in Early Childhood Education

Workshops for Educators and Families

The Workshops

Schedule the Workshop Series for Your Program

About the Workshops

Workshops for Educators and Early Childhood Professionals

Workshops for Parents and Families

Meet the Trainers

Refund/Cancellation Policy

Gender, Sexuality, and the Family
in Early Childhood Education