Welcoming Families From Around the World

I have a child in my Head Start class who is from Ethiopia. She is just 3 years old. She does not know any English and has never been to school before. I would love to have been able to prepare myself for her first days at school, as they were very difficult. If I could have gone back and prepared myself………

I chose the country of Ethiopia.

5 ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive is:

1. Have some of their language available to use with key words to communicate to the child. I could ask the parents for their help so they could give me some words to aid in communication. I also would have my picture cards available so I can use them instead of words to get my point across to the child.

2. I believe it is also very important to learn about their religious beliefs. As with the child in my class she is unable to eat pork because of religious reasons. Since I will be having breakfast and lunch with this child I would want to make sure everything is set up and in place for food substitutions.

3. I would want to educate myself on how English proficient the family is as a whole. If one parent speaks English well then they can translate between me, the school and the other parent. If neither of the parents speaks English I would need to have translation services in place. I feel this is extremely important because the parents are the first educator and they must understand what is happening with their child’s education.

4. One reason I love working for Head Start is because we have our first visit of the year in the home. This gives you the chance to have one on one conversation with the parent in private about the child where they are comfortable. I would take the time to answer all of the parent’s questions and make them feel good about sending their child to school. I would do whatever to make the parents and the child feel comfortable.

5. I would create an inviting classroom with culturally responsive materials. It is important to put up real pictures of similar children and families which portray their culture. Books would display the same cultural awareness. Materials sent home could be translated into their home language.