The country that I have chosen as my "family's" country of origin is the country of Chad. The only thing that I know about Chad is that it is in Africa. I do not know anything about it. I would prepare myself by learning all that I can about this country. The five ways that I would prepare myself would be:
1. Do Internet research. I would Google Chad and read everything that I can about the country, the language, religion, and the people of the country.
2. I would do a search to see if I could find and connect with someone from that country. I would try to communicate with them to learn more about the culture.
3. I would talk to my co-workers to see what they know about the country or if they have ever had any experiences with families from there.
4. I would find materials that go along with their culture and put out in my classroom to try to make the child feel comfortable being there. I would put up posters or other materials that I can find.
5. I would educate myself about the culture and try to educate the other students in the room. I would take the time to explain to them about our new friend and explain what I knew about where she came from. I would explain about accepting her and making her feel welcome in our classroom.
I would hope that all of these preparations would benefit both me and the family. It would benefit me because I would become more knowledgeable about this child's culture and diverse background. I would be better prepared to accept this child and, hopefully, make the family feel comfortable entrusting me with their child. I hope that it would benefit the family because they would see that I care about their culture and want to make them feel welcome and that I accept them. I am not judging them or holding any personal biases against them. I would hope that it would be a positive experience for all involved.
Misty, I too have never heard of Chad! And I like your idea about informing the students of the new class member. As little ones, they can have a 'million' questions and may have a difficult time feeling comfortable enough to ask the student once they arrive. But...lol...there's always that ONE who doesn't mind asking anything!
ReplyDeleteI did not think about touching base with someone right in the center to see what resource they could be thanks for the idea. I may have to look up Chad never heard of it before.
ReplyDeleteMisty
ReplyDeleteYou stated that you would find materials that reflect the culture and include them within the classroom. Representing the children's culture within the classroom is a welcoming gesture and shows the child and family that you value their culture and desire for that culture to be present within the class.