Incorporating Cultural Themes to Promote Preschoolers’ Critical Thinking in American Indian Head Start Classrooms



Connecting to cultural traditions enhances opportunities for parents to participate in their roles as their children’s primary teachers. Teaching teams, including parents and families may use this resource to understand how culturally relevant experiences help children develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This resource offers steps to designing a culture-based inquiry unit that may be adapted to any community. To read PDF files, get here.

In addition to their modern lifestyle, members of the White Earth community continue to engage in cultural traditions like ice fishing and animal tracking. When parents and families share such experiences with their preschool children, they build strong connections with their Native American heritage, foster a strong home-school partnership, and enhance children’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This resource provides an example of inquiry-based learning that can work in any Early Childhood program. Incorporating Cultural Themes to Promote Preschoolers’ Critical Thinking in American Indian Head Start Classrooms» [PDF, 6MB]

Incorporating Cultural Themes to Promote Preschoolers' Critical Thinking in American Indian Head Start Classrooms. Dubosarsky, M., Murphy, B., Roehrig, G., Frost, L.C., Jones, Jennifer, and Carlson, S.P. with Londo, N., Melchert, J.B., Gettel, C., and Bement, J. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). 2011. English. [PDF, 6MB].

Last Reviewed: November 2011