The name of “your” family’s country of origin – I chose the country of Trinidad/Tobago as my family’s country
of origin.
At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family .I work at a high quality child care center. There is not much to do as I get ready to meet the new child and her parents from Trinidad/Tobago. My classroom is already set up to meet the needs of any child, regardless of who they are, where they are from, or what handicap they may have.my preparation will be to 1) ask some of her new classmates to work with her ( Bokey) and show her around the classroom .2)Bokey and her parents will meet the front office staff, the kitchen staff ,the custodial staff. This will let the parents know who the rest of the staff is. We will return to the classroom and 3) the parents will get a chance to see the playground area, where the children will be playing during outdoor play time. 4)The important thing is to let the parents feel comfortable and welcome.5) I have to establish a relationship that is pleasant and warm. I want the parents to see that I have respect for them .their language, culture and way of living. A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family The goal is for my co-workers and I to continue to foster healthy growth and development by offering the social ,emotional, cognitive and physical (gross and fine)skills to Bokey.
I like that your post is quite simple and to the point when it comes to welcoming families from around the world. The basics seem simple: help the child and family feel warm and welcome. Was their ever an experience of welcoming a child in the classroom which spoke a different language than you? or the majority of the program? What ways did you support them?
ReplyDeleteMs. Jay,
DeleteYes, When I worked on the military base we often time received children who were Korean/Chinese. And as I mentioned,our classrooms were always culturally sensitive,that along with our multicultural students made for quite the welcome.
The points you cover is important for any family entering the new center. I pose much of the same questions Ms. Jay does How will you go about making the family feel comfortable if they don't speak the native langauge "English." How will you support the child in the classroom in learning to follow the routine. What if the "new" child isnt comfortable going with the other children because communication, not understand the culture of being supported by fellow students etc..?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing
Katherine,
DeleteAs I mentioned to Ms.Jay regarding making the family feel comfortable,My classroom has always been set up to be culturally sensitive,so every child and their family felt very welcome .I would support the child who does not speak English by incorporating some basic universal sign language,which I found out really does work very well. I'm sure at first,like anything new and different,this experience may be quite scary to the child, that is why I believe pairing them up with a child in the class, will help make their transition much easier.It has been my experience that children learn faster and best from their peers.It has also been said that the younger a child is the easier it is for them to learn a new language and who better to teach them than one of their own peers.