Welcoming Families
From Around the World
Our newest student and his/her family to our early childhood
care center, is from a city in Bogotá which is in Colombia. Columbia is among one of the top ten
Spanish speaking countries in the world.
It’s important that the teacher and administration is on the same page
as well. The administration should be in
charge of finding out as much as they can about the students past educational background. The administration should set out a specific
plan on how to welcome the family into our educational community. A sit down meeting will happen explaining all
the formalities.
In efforts of preparing to welcome my new student and her
family I would do as much research as I can about Bogota. I will hope that my research will educate me
on some of their popular customs and beliefs.
I will be sure to feel out my new student and not just believe
everything that I read on line. The
information that I gain online may not always be accurate so I would have to
keep that in mind while conducting my research.
I will get my students excited and have them help prepare a
warm welcome for our new student as well.
Each of my students will be responsible for finding out one thing about
Bogota. We will then prepare the
classroom with pictures and anything else that could remind our new student of
home. My thinking behind this is to get
the students involved and excited. I
will also explain to my students in the class that our new student may not
speak fluent English so we will have to be very patient. In efforts to bridge the possible language
barrier I will make sure I have tools that will help me translate from Spanish
to English and vice versa. I will rely
on what little bit of Spanish that I know and try to brush up on the most used
phrases.
When the students arrives I will set up a forum where the
student will introduce themselves. I
will be sure to set up a time to meet with the parents prior to their child’s
first day, in additional to the end of their child’s first day or sometime
during the child’s first week. I think
that this will help me get a better since of the family and their educational
commitment as well as setting up a habit of being involved.
The transition of a new student from a different country can
be challenging. I would like to think
that the efforts that I mentioned above would not go unnoticed where the family
is involved. I think that the family
will seem touched by any efforts to make them feel welcomed. I would l hope that this is the beginning
relationship that consist of open communication for the well-being of the
child.
The student and their family is all of a sudden in a world
that is foreign to them. People will
often speak different, there will be different foods, music, customs, rules,
etc… However if the administration,
teachers, and parents put in their best efforts the transition can be stress
free and actually fun and exciting for the child.
You made a great point saying that the administration should find out as much information on the new family coming from a completely different country. I think that is one thing my work place should do is helping these kids who are speaking different languages to learn how to speak English and be successful in our country.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great idea to create a welcoming environment and to ask the children to find one fact each about Bogota. This would be fun if the students could then share their facts with the new family and then the family could then elaborate but without a translator, it would be difficult because of the language barrier. I agree with you that talking to the students before hand and telling them about the language barrier and that everyone needs to be patient will be helpful.
ReplyDeleteSherry, thank you for sharing in details how you would welcome your family. I like how you said you would allow your students to give a welcome speech for the new student. Getting your students involve is important and will help the new students make new friends.
ReplyDeleteNot only is it thoughtful on your part, it is also very wise of you to involve the students in helping with the transition. Doing that makes the responsibility of learning and welcoming the new students a shared learning experience for the previously existing students. Good job and thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSherry, I believe that many immigrant families are faced with culture shock, language barrier, and home sickness during the early period after arriving in America. Young immigrant children are faced with the same culture shock as the adults. This class helps us to have more understanding about the dominant culture's use of power to take advantage of minority cultures. Many children have to deal with an abrupt English curriculum at school without any help during the transition. Many childhood professionals are not aware of the differences of these children. Ignoring these differences brings inequality to the minority children.
ReplyDelete