Overview

In New Rochelle, New York, a 24-hour daycare is a lifesaver for parents who work multiple jobs and odd hours to make ends meet. Through the stories of two working mothers and a childcare provider, Through the Night reveals the personal cost of rising wealth inequality in America and the close bonds forged between parents, children and caregivers.

A Note from Curriculum Creator, Vivett Dukes

The other day I drove past the daycare center that my four year old niece went to prior to the pandemic. It has since closed down. I couldn’t help but think about my own children’s introduction into child care and day care centers. You see, they didn’t have the upbringing that I did. Thanks to my grandmother who came to the United States from Jamaica, West Indies to help her only daughter and son-in-law raise my siblings and me while they strove to achieve the all-elusive “American Dream”. My children are the product of a single-mother household which meant that they were in day care centers from a very early age. As a matter of fact, I began my career as an educator teaching in one of their day care centers. I was so conflicted about leaving my children at the day care center that I would stick around for hours and hours to see what was going on there.

Subject Areas

• English Language Arts
• Social Science
• American History
• Civics

Grade Levels: 9th - 12th Grades

Objectives:

In this lesson, students will explore the intersection of gender inequality, racism and the constant economic precarity plaguing working class families. These intersections are both prevalent and simultaneously exhausting. Highlighted is the fact that women often bear the responsibility of raising children, are paid less than their male counterparts, and face unique socio-economic and racial challenges than other groups. They are trying to achieve the ubiquitously deceitful "American Dream" that serves as this myth by which people continue to erroneously be judged. While all of these key issues are discussed in Through The Night, at its’ core, this documentary seeks to convey the message that community care - particularly in marginalized communities - is rooted in love and the belief that “it takes a village to raise a child.”

In this lesson students will consider the following Essential Questions:

• How do radical community formations come together to support and nurture one another and one anothers’ children?
• Why is the rearing and nurturing of children historically and presently framed as “women’s work?”
• What is the perceived role of mother’s in our society?

Materials

• Computer
• WiFi
• Through The Night POV documentary
• Digital Presentation software (Slides/PPT/Prezi/Keynote)
• “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes.
• “Who Will Cry” by Antwone Fisher

Time Needed

Two (2) 50-60 minute class periods