I am working in a child care center that has
children within its program that of similar cultural background. We have a few
children that practice varying religious beliefs but for the most part none of
our children within my classroom are from another country outside of the United
States and most children within my classroom are of the Christian faith. I just
received word that we will not be receiving another child from a foreign
country that does not practice our religion nor do they even speak our
language. As a matter of fact this new child is coming from a country that I do
not know anything about, they do not even speak our language. The country this
child is coming from is called Nauru and it is a former German Empire colony
and another name for this country is Pleasant Island of the South Pacific. Many
people of Nauru will need to collect rain water when they have those monsoon
rains (which are most popular between November and February) because they do
not much natural fresh water. Here are five ways I would prepare myself for
this new child into my classroom:
1.) I
would first attempt to research the name of this child’s current residence and
his country and find out all I could about culture and get any ideas that can
be found on helping this small child to continue and keep in close range with
his culture.
2.) I
would find many multicultural materials that are pertaining to this new country
that I and my class must soon be use to and getting accustomed. I would find
books, picture, and collectibles about the country of Nauru to get my class
prepared for this new child’s arrival.
3.) I
would give the children a small lesson on biased behavior and make sure that
they do not have any already conjured up reactions or prejudices about the new
children soon to enter our program from another country. I would learn a few
words of the new country and have the children practice so when the new child
arrives the new child can feel welcomed. I would make changes to my current
lesson plan so the new child can have some lessons that would help to restore
the other children within the classroom.
4.) I
would learn some songs and maybe even a lesson that is familiar with traditions
practiced within the other country that my new child would be coming from. I
would have the class learn something about the country that the new child came
from.
5.) I
would set up a conference for the families of the children within this program
so that we can get information first hand on what to expect from these children
and their families. I would also give them some background and familiarities
about our country so they can begin to adjust and become a little less
uncomfortable.
I would hope that all of my
research and preparation would help the new children and family to get a better
understanding of our country and how we learn and teach in America. I would
hope that these families would understand that we are a team and we are here to
help them to receive the best possible education possible within our borders.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I especially like the fact of collecting items from this family culture and include it into your classroom setting to reassure the positive atmosphere for the children and their family to see. I also think it is a good idea that you have a lesson on bias this also help your other students to be more familiar with their classmates culture and become more acceptable of it as well. Great Post!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Yalanda,I really struggled with ideas on this topic because meeting someone from an unknown culture can really be a shell shock when it is all up to you train or teach this child and their family about a completely new culture.
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