Welcoming Families From Around the World

Fact: about 195 different countries exist in the world today.

Fact: according to the U.S. census bureau, the United States’ population includes individuals and families from 150 different countries

For my assignment this week I am to: choose a country of origin that represents a family who is new to the United States, list five ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards a family and describe ways that I hope these preparations will benefit both me and the family.

I chose China. Ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive are: research the internet and read about the country; visit local book stores to find books I can use in the classroom; visit the teacher’s store and purchase posters of people from this country to display in the room; plan my lesson plans around cultural holidays from this country, incorporate cultural foods into my science curriculum and cultural clothing or music into my social studies curriculum. I would invite family members in to read books in the native language, share foods, clothing and music. I would even begin to learn bits of the language, attend language classes, or ask the parents to help me learn the language. Being a Christian, I would visit a local church that serves this population of people – to see how they worship and listen to their music and see how families interact with one another. I would seek out cultural events in my community that celebrate these people and their culture. I would visit the family in their home. I would ask friends and relatives if they know people who have traveled to China or have anything that would help me with understanding the culture.

Learning as much as I can about the culture and incorporating this knowledge into the regular classroom setting will show the parents that I am culturally responsive, that every child is important to the program and that their family and culture are not only welcomed, but will be celebrated. Celebrating this cultural diversity at the early childhood level will help to promote the child’s personal, social and cultural identities, as well as promote anti-bias from the group as a whole. The message will be that everyone is equally special and important. Since “young children are naturally curious about their own and others’ physical and cultural characteristics” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010 p. 12) it will give the students opportunities to have their questions answered in constructive ways. Instead of being singled out by other children, the child from another country will be celebrated. This will lend the much needed encouragement and support and hopefully lessen the culture shock of being in a new country.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).