The new family in my classroom will be coming from Germany.
I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive in the following ways:
1. I will send a card to the child at his new home address written in English and translated to German welcoming him to the classroom and the school family.
2. Using the same translator, I will have all of the orientation information translated for his parents to ensure they are able to know specific information about the classroom.
3. I will learn key phrases in German such as "Hello" "Goodbye" "bathroom" "eat" etc. to ensure that the child feels comfortable and is able to have his needs met.
4. I will research Germany and it's surface culture to include some of the culture in the classroom so that the child and his family feel welcome, as well as ask for specifics about the family in order to learn about their deep culture.
5. I will give myself grace to learn about this child as I do with every child that enters the classroom and extend grace to the child and the family as we begin to develop a relationship.
My hopes in doing these things is that the family will feel welcome, loved and respected as well as honored and valued. I will learn new things on my own and hopefully learn a lot from the family and the child. :)
Germany! How nice. My brother in-law and his family lived there several years ago, they loved it. I don't think I have looked at it as "honoring" and valuing the family but you are so correct. Awesome post!
ReplyDeleteRachel I love your idea about sending a card!That is such a nice welcome to a new place. Sometimes it is the little things that make the biggest difference. I think Germany would be a very interesting place to learn about.
ReplyDeleteRachael,
ReplyDeleteI am going to send the card on Monday August 21 after school it over because I wanted to wait after the first day of school. The family is making me a book with key words and they are going to teach me the pronunciation, so the child will not feel left out.