Welcoming Families from Around the World...

Imagine if you will that same old mission impossible theme playing in the background…

EDUC 6464 Cohort…Your mission this week should you choose to accept it…

Think for a moment about the following two statistics:

• About 195 different countries exist in the world today.
• According to the U.S. census bureau, the United States’ population includes individuals and families from 150 different countries.

It is certain that as an early childhood professional you will encounter children from diverse backgrounds whose families may have come from many different countries. In what ways can you prepare yourself for working in early childhood settings which represent such diversity?

For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:

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.

In order to complete this assignment, first choose a country you know nothing about as this family’s country of origin.

By Saturday of this week, post the following:

• 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

=========================================================================

I got the call today…(and this really did happen) we are enrolling a child from a family who is moving to our area from Australia. The mother has accepted a position at the university in the International Studies Program. The family has one child who is three years old (that part might be made up).

My to do list includes the following:

• Because the family does speak English, it will be much easier to communicate, although they do have colloquialisms and dialects that are not spoken here in the states. So hone up on those, ask the family to help with this.
• Do some research on the types of preschools and educational systems they have in Australia (it is a large continent, so they may be very diverse from region to region).
• Do some more research on Australia, explore the different regions, demographics, foods, forms of entertainment etc.
• Prepare enrollment paperwork for family, is there anything that may seem difficult to understand about “how we do things here”
• Meet with parents, show them around the school, discuss policies, practices and beliefs (child rearing and educational), find out about the foods that the family eats, can I incorporate some of those meals into our menu, what are the child’s favorite foods, books, toys, have them ready in the classroom to welcome her and make her feel comfortable in her new surroundings. What about the family’s unique and personal traditions, are they willing to share some of those with us? Understand that things such as eating and sleeping “on American time” are going to be completely different (I believe they are 15 hours ahead of us…that makes day and night opposite, literally). Help complete paperwork as needed.

In making my list, checking it twice, and being prepared I am hoping to make a conscious effort to meet the needs of the family. I will make no assumptions and be open to learn from and about them. It will be a partnership that is mutually advantageous. It is my hope that we will create a long lasting relationship that will allow us to learn from one another and grow as a school family.