Working
as an early childhood teacher in head start, I chose to India as the country of
origin from where the family is coming from. I chose India because this year in
my classroom I have a new student who has come to us from India.
In
order to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family I will
and have:
1. I
will try to learn some simple welcoming words in their language, and knowing
how and when to use them.
2. I
would make them feel comfortable fixing food that is similar to what the family
eat or are used to. We have worked closely with the family to make sure that
this child gets the foods he is used to as well as informing the about getting
him to try new things. In addition this family is vegetarian so we have been
challenged to get him to eat.
3. I
will learn what the family values and structure, culture and traditions are in
order to know how to support and incorporated these into the curriculum.
4. Add
items to the classroom setting such as dress up clothes, food in the play
kitchen and toys and/or puzzles, etc. that correspond with India’s culture.
5. Sitting
down with the family before the child beings and discuss topics such as
likes/dislikes, beliefs, traditions, and their expectations of their child and
work together to meet these goals.
I
hope that these preparations will benefit both the family and myself because I
will be able to include the cultural norms in the class curriculum and involve
the other students in the understanding of the new culture. I hope this will make the family and child
feel welcome and as eager to learn about our culture as we are theirs.
I like that you included food in your list. This is something that I didn't add to my list but wish I would have it. Food is something that is easy to do in a program but I think that it is often overlooked when we think about culture in the program I work in.
ReplyDeleteI, too liked the fact that you included food. That is a large part of culture, and we should always include that!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!!
Blessings,
Susan
India would be an interesting location to learn about and include in the classroom. I have not had the privilege of having a child from India before. Fixing foods or having the family come to class and prepare a dish/snack is always a wonderful way to make anyone feel comfortable within an environment. I also like how you involve the family into your preparations for the child’s arrival.
ReplyDeleteI found, while living in Mexico, that our attempts to learn someone's native language goes a long way. People were so gracious as I stammered through that first year, they often thanked me for trying.
ReplyDeleteYou have really great ideas. There is nothing like introducing some neww with food. Food is one of the biggest parts of culture and its fun to engage while learning something new.
ReplyDelete