I am a special educator, and saw your post up on fluid. I identify as
bi and polyamorous a couple of books I can think of are Tacky the
Penguin (which is about not fitting in and doing well with that), and
the Missing Piece (which is about independence, relationships, and is
gender neutral) by Shel Silverstein. I know there's a ton more... will
get back to you if I can think of them. The Missing Piece was one of
my absolute favorite books at that age, and kind of made it okay for
me to have a "girlfriend" in kindergarten, of sorts without thinking
too much of it till I got older and more socialized.

Danielle

weelllll, i applaud your efforts to help children develop a healthy perspective on sexuality. I have a master's in human development and i specialized in early childhood education. As far as developing a curriculum you don't need to do much to help children develop healthy self identification as well and bias-free views. Of course, as a student teacher i understand you must be able to document and have definitive goals and outcomes when working with instructors.

Developmentally children below the age of 5 need very little in the way of building healthy idenity. They may or may not be identifying more with one gender or not by 5. My oldest son was wearing sparkly disco sandals and dresses to preschool over half the time and now he believes vagina's are more important than eating. See what I'm saying?

introduce core values in the classroom, ask girls if they want to play in the block area and ask boys if they want to play in the kitchen. Mostly be aware that if you are not falling into the language patterns you may have been exposed to as a child. step back and speak deliberately. The BEST advice I ever received as a teacher was to silently count to three and think before you ask, tell or answer. There are numerous books about having 2 moms, 2 dads etc. I think intentionally exposing them to transgender may be confusing but always welcome conversation regarding these things and be quick to give accurate information. If one child says "you can't be a boy, your a girl" Jump in and say casually "actually that is not true, there are lots of people who decide to change what they are when they're a grown-up," Give honest information in a very factual matter of fact way. Hang pictures on the walls that reflect every family dynamic you can think of. This is just good anti-bias curriculum. Feel free to hang a picture of a transgender or asexual person or family.

You may get heat for this. When I was your age I was brought to the principals office for having smallish posters of gay families in my classroom but I kept them up.

Just remember a little goes a long way..........To much just introduces stress and confusion..............If we treat it for what it is NORMAL, then the children will also and they will feel gender secure. Good luck! Kate