Hively Provider Book Club

Wednesday, 6 July 2022

Hively offers regular workshops, classes, and training to help child care providers develop their skills as small business owners, child development experts, and compassionate caregivers.

This includes Hively’s Childcare Provider Book Club! Every Wednesday from 1:00-1:30pm, Hively has a guest reader who reads a children’s book to a group of child care providers and we discuss the book together. Providers discuss their thoughts, how they can implement the book into their centers, and what they can teach their children in connection with each book.

Hosted by our Training and Inclusion Coordinator, Hively’s Childcare Provider Book Club introduces a range of diverse topics including inclusion, emotions, representation, disability, meditation/mindfulness and more!

At the end of the month, Hively provides childcare providers with a copy of their favorite children’s book to help providers build their children’s library while also providing them with the tools to implement the book into their child care program.

This week our Training and Inclusion Coordinator read Don’t Call Me Special, A First Look At Disability by Pat Thomas. This “delightful picture book explores questions and concerns about disability in a simple and reassuring way. Young children can find out what a disability is, and learn how people deal with their disabilities to live happy and full lives.”

Key takeaways from our Provider Book Club discussion included the following:

• “Everybody is unique. That means that each one of us is a little different from everyone else”- This line is a great way to teach children that we all have different abilities and are different in many ways (we all have strengths and weaknesses).
• The book provides examples of how people might need special equipment to help them (e.g., glasses, special scissors). This is an opportunity to ask children what different types of disabilities they know about or tools they personally need to help them (e.,g sharing that you use glasses and/or contact lenses).
• Children with disabilities use different equipment as well; we all have different abilities, and that’s okay because we all learn differently and need different tools to succeed.
• Talking about disabilities can be a difficult conversation to have- educating ourselves, children and parents is important.
• We can bring conversations about inclusion into the classroom by asking a parent and child with a disability if they are comfortable to share their experiences and answer questions others may have.
• Sometimes individuals might be afraid to approach someone with a disability. Acknowledging that these conversations can be difficult and learning to navigate them is a stepping stone to bring these topics into light.

In addition to these key takeaways, the book includes a “How To Use This Book” section at the end. The resources here include a glossary to introduce children to different words (eg., assume, equipment, unique etc…). There are also recommended readings, as well as notes and thoughts to keep in mind when reading/introducing the book.

You can check out a read aloud of the book below:

The lesson plan provided below can also be used along with the book to guide children through the content.

LESSON PLAN: Don’t Call Me Special- A First Look At Disability

If you are a childcare provider in the Tri-Valley (Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, Sunol) and would like to join Hively’s Provider Book Club, please contact hello@behively.org for further information.

About the Author:

Hello, my name is Karely! I am the Training and Inclusion Coordinator at Hively. One of my roles at Hively includes facilitating and sharing resources for Hively’s Provider Book Club.

In addition to the Provider Book Club, I help and support childcare providers in the Tri-Valley (Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, Sunol) with inclusion services for their child care programs.

If you are a childcare provider in the Tri-Valley and are interested in inclusion services for your childcare program and/or you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to hello@behively.org Thank you!