Welcoming Families From Around the World

The scenario for this week’s blog post is as following:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

Post :

·        The name of “your” family’s country of origin

·        At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

·        A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

This particular situation has happen to me in my teaching career. In my second or third year of teaching, the school counselor entered my room with a new student. She introduced the little girl and her family to me and the class. I had no notice of getting a new student. Therefore, I had no way to prepare for her arrive. The family was from China and had only been in Georgia for two weeks. The father could speak English but the mother or child could not. The father spoke with me about the basics, i.e. contact information, dismissal methods, and medical information.  The five year old girl only could speak three words of English: her name, teacher, and pee-pee.

That night, I researched about China and families. I tried to incorporate some familiar Chinese words into our class to help the student adjust.  I contacted the school’s ESOL teacher and she gave me strategies to use in the classroom. The father helped so much. He would come in and we would work together labeling the classroom with key words. This really helped the girl learn the language.  The mother would come in and volunteer to help. Even though we had a language barrier, the mother was able to art project prep for the class.  Also, she would bring in foods for the class to taste. By the end of the school year, the little girl began to speak and read in English.  The parents were very appreciative of the support I gave their child.  I still receive notes and small gifts from them from time to time.

Looking back on this experience and the assignment at hand, I believe that I did an okay job being culturally responsive to the family and child.

Country of Origin: China

Five Ways to Be Culturally Responsive Towards Family:

1. Respect the Father as Head of Family. Address all educational concerns to father (Main, 2014).

2. Communicate with family about child and apply what I learn in classroom.

3. Make sure pictures, books, and other images in classroom represent the child.

4. Embrace the uniqueness of child and family in classroom. Make family and child feel welcome in learning environment.

5. Ask questions, research, and plan activities that are aligned to child’s learning styles.

I believe that preparation is essential to making families feel welcome in the learning environment. For the family, this environment makes them feel welcomed, wanted, cared for, and respected in the classroom. For me, as the teacher, it helps me to know the families I serve and meet the individual needs of the child.

Reference:

Main, K. (2014). Chinese Family Values.  Retrieved June 21, 2014, from http://family.lovetoknow.com/chinese-family-values