Imagine that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. How would you prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family?
For the purpose of this scenario, I am going to imagine a family from Russia.
First I think that it is important to have materials (handbook, program information, etc) that are in the primary language of the family. I would also learn some of the families language so that I could communicate with the child and family even though it may be limited.
Second, I would arrange the learning environment so that it represents all of the cultures of the children in the class including items from their cultures.
Third, I would welcome the family into the group for an enrollment visit and get to know the family and their beliefs and values as much as possible. I would ask the family to provide me with information about their child and family.
Forth, once enrolled I would incorporate the child and families' information into how I work with the child and family, to make their experience in the program relevant to them.
Fifth, I would make sure that I watch for any issues of bias and prejudice, addressing any issues immediately to resolve them.
Being prepared for any family to enter an early childhood classroom will help the children and the family transition into the program and help them feel at ease. It will also help me to meet the needs of this child and family and form the relationships that are so important in the early learning environment.
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