Gender issues in preschoolers

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Gender issues in preschoolers

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When children have gender issues, the short answer for what we do about it is nothing. Preschoolers are exploring all the time different things, especially about gender. Gender is a really important one for young children. They are figuring out what is being a boy, what is being a girl. When a two year old boy turns up at school wearing a dress, which happens on a semi regular basis, especially when they have an older sister who they look up to, this is obviously not cause for concern. This is something. And I do not think it is ever cause for concern. I have never had a child who I felt was really in this place where somehow they were confused about their gender. I do know people. I know one family that is a family friend. Their daughter from the time she was three years old has insisted on being called Joe. She wanted her hair cut like a boy. She dressed like a boy every day. This family supported her in this. This family decided this is who she is and over the years, she is now a teenager. She knows she is a girl but she still wears her hair like a boy. She still dresses like a boy. She changed her name to a non specific gender name and her parents have supported her in this. I think the worst thing we can do when people are expressing what they feel inside about themselves is to stop it up inside of a bottle because those things always come oozing out. And if we do not let them out in the natural way, they are going to come out in all kinds of icky, scary, destructive ways.

Watch Video: Gender issues in preschoolers by Tom Hobson, ...

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Tom Hobson

Co-Op Preschool Teacher

Tom is a preschool teacher, blogger, artist, and author. For the past 10 years, he’s worked for the Woodland Park Cooperative preschools, teaching two to five year olds in Seattle, Washington where he lives with his wife and daughter. His award-winning blog, “Teacher Tom,” has earned him an international following as a leading proponent of a progressive, play-based curriculum and the cooperative model of early childhood education, as well as a fierce advocate for public policies that support the whole child and the teaching of democratic values to even our youngest citizens. His blog, like his classroom, is a place of exploration of the physical, social, political, emotional, and even spiritual world. It’s a place of experimentation, where the adults learn every bit as much as the children.

Tom is the author of A Parent’s Guide To Seattle, a regular speaker on early childhood education, a board member of the Fremont Arts Council, and a founding member of the Superhuggers performance art ensemble.

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