Thoughts on mothers and Father's Day being celebrated in elementary classrooms?

How can teachers remain inclusive of diverse families? How would a teacher go about creating a Mother's Day activity and craft, if there is a student in her classroom who doesn't have a mother, without calling out that student and making them feel different?

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Scribbles · 36-40, F

I think it's important to be inclusive and respectful. Some kids do feel hurt or get bullied if they don't have a mom and/or dad present in their life, and feel like they are missing something while another person is celebrating, or they feel it doesn't apply to them and they feel awkward and don't know what to do, much less speak out. For some people it's a reminder of their broken family, one kid I knew always felt triggered by mother's day and father's day and grandparent's day and by parked police cars, because it reminded him of family...and of the day he was separated from his siblings and mom.

Most schools I know simply have "Family day" or "Caring day", or a men's day or women's day. It can be an opportunity to read a story about all kinds of families, or about women or men in history and events, and encourage kids to share stories or memories about anybody in their family or of friends or people they are inspired by or is important to them if they wish.

Sometimes the topic of race, death, prison, and deportation, grandparents, foster parents, adoption, abuse, and other things come up that you'll have to navigate as well. Families come in different combinations. Families are diverse. but what matters is that the kids are cared for and loved. I think it's espeically important to be aware and respect and support those kids who are reluctant, hurt, or shy to let others know their family is different in someway from someone elses...and encourage them to be proud of what they love about their family and talk about them. The more everyone hears about different kinds of families, the more inclusive we’ll become.

Some time an art project will be something they make for anyone...could be an important or special friend, doctor, teacher, brother or sister, parent, guardian, grandparent, uncle, cousin, anybody. It's never wrong to show love to people special to us. I know a kid who made a project for the nurse at the hospital where his dad was for mother's day once. I told him it was a brilliant idea!