4Children are organic beings and do not fit on a page in an academic curriculum guide. Like all people, children come to your learning environment with their own history, personality and learning style. It is our job as educators to be the facilitators of learning situations, protectors of their emotional well-beings and guides toward their own knowledge. The curriculum in Open Hearts, Open Minds is created to challenge our own biases and help slowly expand children's world views, to see past their own experiences and have empathy and understanding of others. The thoughtful lessons use mathematics, artistic expression, writing, literature and discussions to create an environment where all children and families are seen and celebrated for their ethnicities, races, religions, places of origin, sexual orientation, gender identities, gender expressions, learning abilities, ages and personal preferences. Children will learn from activists past and present as they gain confidence in their own voices to make positive change in our world. As advocates for children the journey to educate is never over. There are an abundance of questions to explore, the past to ponder and the future to create. We must enjoy the ride while always keeping open hearts and open minds.