Welcoming A Student From Another Country

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin. The name of “your” family’s country of origin: Australia At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family: • Call parents before the first day and ask if there are any possible accommodations that you could make to help the child transition or if there are any resources that they may need • Learn how to say a few words and phrases “Hello” “Are you hungry?” “Are you tired?” “It’s o.k.” • Post pictures of things that are Authentic to Australia: sports, holiday customs, animals, environment • Learn songs and nursery rhymes that are native to Australia • Research common snack foods in Australia that are accessible in the U.S. and try to prepare a traditional snack for the child’s first day. Calling the parents before doing anything may help guide the preparation phase. It gives the teacher an opportunity to get acquainted with the parents before the first day and find out more information about their child. Knowing a few phrases will help the child communicate and also feel more comfortable. Providing familiar foods and items may help the child feel more at home. Hopefully the parents will see the effort to the teacher is making and feel comforted by the genuine concern about the child’s transition.