How is Equality Important to Your Daughter

Equality is a lesson that can begin being taught as early as the daycare classroom. While understanding the larger concepts of equality may be difficult, discovering that boys and girls deserve the same opportunities can be instilled at an early age.

The Struggle For Equality

Daycare students are ready to learn that women have been trying to gain acceptance as equal members of society for a very long time. They were denied the right to vote until only about a hundred years ago and were expected to dress differently than men until only a couple of generations back. Today, gender equality is making even more progress, but it will be children like your daughter who are the first to live in a world where society is not prejudiced against females.

Equal Pay For Equal Work

Even though women have been working alongside men for a long time, they are only now beginning to receive the same compensation as men for doing the same work. This has been hard on women for many reasons, including preventing them from building the self-esteem to demand to be given the same benefits that their male counterparts have expected as a matter of course. Women have accomplished great things for society, but have rarely received recognition for all that they have done. By learning about equality, the daughters of today can live in a world that treats them as they deserve.

Equality and Education

Two hundred years ago, girls were not expected to receive the same education as boys. They were told that their place was in the home and that things like science and reading were for the boys. Today, we see that these ideas were wrong and have held women back from achieving all that could have been, but it has been a long road. Girls and boys are both able to learn the same subjects, and in many cases, girls will do better at their studies than boys, partly because they are still struggling to prove themselves equal to their peers.

Don’t expect daycare children to master the nuances of equality, but take the time to explain why are people are equal, including those of different genders.

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How to Teach About Grace and Courtesy in Different Cultures

Your child’s Montessori daycare embraces the concepts of culture, and teaching grace and courtesy are cornerstones on the Montessori Method. One way that culture and good manners can be taught in unison is by learning to be polite using the words of different languages and cultures.

Introducing A Larger World

Daycare children have a limited concept of the world they live in. As they are exposed to aspects of the larger world, that perception increases. By teaching them the words associated with grace and courtesy in other countries, you can broaden their horizons while teaching them that being polite is a global idea.

Kindness is Universal

People use social etiquette all over the world. Start with a map of the world and focus on the countries that students in the class have cultural ties to. This allows you to combine geography, culture, and language into seamless learning.

Asking Politely

In English, we say “Please” to ask for permission, but the same courtesy is displayed using different words and phrases worldwide. Spanish is recognized as a second language in the United States, but other languages are commonly used as well: 

• Spanish - Por favor 
• German - Bitte 
• French - S’il vous plaît 
• Japanese - Kudasai 
• Vietnamese - Xin

Showing Gratitude

Just as other cultures have words to ask courteously, they also have words to demonstrate gratitude when permission is given. The examples used here are commonly spoken in America, but there the sentiments are found in almost every language spoken in the world: 

• Spanish - Gracias 
• German - Danke 
• French - Merci 
• Japanese - Domo arigato 
• Vietnamese - Cám ơn

Explore the World

Use the words given here as a starting point, and then expand on them to discover how to use good manners in other parts of the world as well. Russian, Korean, and Italian are also commonly spoken, but learning about culture does not have to limited to those. Swahili, for example, is a colorful language originating in a country with a vastly different culture than traditional European and Asian lands.

Grace and courtesy are used around the world, and learning how to be polite in other countries is an exciting way to teach young children. These lessons can be combined with things like trying foods from the countries being studied or learning about music and dance in far-off places.

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How to Teach Children About Gender Equality

Teaching preschoolers about gender equality begins in the home and becomes a de facto part of their preschool education. Children already accept that boys and girls are equal, so the important task is to avoid giving them the impression that either gender deserves some kind of special treatment.

Playing Games

In Montessori preschool, girls are just as good at playing catch as boys. The misconception that they are not comes from a society that has refused to give girls a chance for countless generations. Given the opportunity to excel in outdoor recreation will provide the incentive for girls to try as hard as boys, and making the effort makes all the difference. They do need special help, they simply need equal opportunity.

STEM Learning

Science, technology, engineering, and math are fields that were prohibited to girls throughout most of human history. However, history also shows us again and again that females excel at these things when given the chance. From astronomy to physics, women have shown their capability through the ages, and you can encourage your daughter to leave her mark in any field she shows an interest in.

From a Different Perspective

Boys can cook if you give them the opportunity to learn. They can also sew, teach, and do the laundry. By eliminating gender barriers, you open doors for children to become who they were meant to be without limiting to outdated stereotypes that never had any basis in fact. Giving all children the same opportunities and instruction makes it possible to overcome gender prejudice in the same way that offering the same opportunities overcomes racial bias.

Showing Courtesy

Good manners do not mean holding the door for the ladies. Courtesy means showing the same considerations to everyone. It is important that young children learn to be kind to everyone without even thinking about what gender, race, or culture the other person is descended from. It is okay to say “Sir” or “Ma’am” as a form of respect to a specific gender so long as the same respect is given to both.

Gender equality can be difficult to teach because gender bias is built into most of the languages of the world. The thing to remember is that recognizing the difference in genders does not mean giving special treatment because of them.

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How to Fit in Laundry as a Busy College Student

As a student, you’re expected to flit between classes across campus, study, fit in time to eat and care for yourself, and possibly work a part-time job or internship. You might squeeze in laundry between classes, but when the laundry facilities are communal, you can’t leave your laundry unattended for long.

You aren’t the only one with a tight schedule, and some students will remove the finished laundry of other students if machines aren’t available. A laundry pick up service can save you the stress of keeping tabs on your laundry, and free up time for college life.

Use a laundry pick up service to stop timing your laundry loads

Your Residency Advisor (RA) might’ve warned you about what happens to laundry machine hogs, or people who leave their laundry in the machines long after they’re completed. They might find items missing, or that their entire load was dumped onto a table or laundry carrier. The only solution is to keep a timer of when your load is complete, so you can quickly remove it.

With a laundry pick up service, you can stop timing your loads. Same-day pickup and next-day delivery means you know when your laundry will be taken and delivered. Depending on the residential laundry services you choose, you might leave your laundry out by 8AM of the day you want it picked up, and except it returned washed and folded by late afternoon of the next business day.

If your on-campus residency doesn’t allow visitors inside without a key, you might have to drop off and pick up laundry at your lobby, but most laundry pick up services can work around that minor obstacle.

Schedule a laundry pick up service for mixed-care laundry

When your laundry load is a mix of delicates, whites, colors, and dry clean, and your schedule is packed, it can be easy to forgo caution and shove everything into a single load. However, that can damage your clothes and significantly shorten their lifespan. On-campus facilities also usually aren’t the latest models or high quality, so even if you use the correct cycles, you can’t expect great results from standard washers that are overworked every day.

Residential laundry services have the highest quality machines for all types of laundry, and some will even sort your laundry for you. You won’t have to delegate your time between different laundry loads, and it’ll be the last thing on your mind as you study for your next big exam.

Talk to your college’s local laundry pick up service ahead of time

Before your next laundry day, contact your college’s local laundry services to discuss how they approach college laundry pick up. You might find they’ve serviced your campus before, or are currently serving residents. Some laundry services even have partnerships with colleges. Check in with your campus housing department to find out if your college applies.

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