My student that will be joining my classroom is from the country
of Turkey. This is not a country I know much about and I do not really know
about their culture either. In order to but culturally responsive with this
child I need to learn more about the child’s culture. One thing I would do is
research the country and find out things that people do there. This might help
me determine activities that this student would enjoy. Another thing I would
look up is their traditions. This might give me a common point to ask the child
about. I also would look up how to say Hello how are you in Turkish so I could
great the family in their own language. I would also prepare some type of assignment
that would allow the student to share with the class about the family and their
culture. The final thing I would look up is if their culture has any dietary
restrictions that they stick to. Some cultures have certain foods they do not
eat. To show my respect for this I would make sure that I knew and as able to
tell the parents to ensure the child would have something to eat on the days
that our center is serving those foods.
I hope that these preparations will
allow the child to express themselves to me and their classmates. I think it
will also start to create a relationship that shows the child and family that I
care and it will help to create a bond and open the lines of communication.
Hi Zina,
ReplyDeleteI especially like the idea of an assignment but, I would broaden the assignment to all students so the new student would not feel isolated. I enjoyed reading this weeks blog.
Jan
Zina,
ReplyDeleteGood post! We often forget that not everyone eats what everyone eats. Especially when it comes to their religious beliefs. Recently we had a new student join our program that is Jewish. So eating a Kosher diet was new to our CACFP rep. But after reviewing the monthly menu, we were able to come up with some creative meal substitutes for her. Thanks for sharing!
Crissy
Hi Zina, I think that those were good ideas, I agree with Jan I would expand the assignment so that he won't feel like he is singled out or made to feel uncomfortable, this way he can begin to learn the cultures that he are now surrounded by and he could learn from his classmates as well. I enjoyed your post!!
ReplyDeleteI liked your idea of learning some of the language so that you can great the family in their native language. We sometimes forget that spoken language is the main way that we communicate and one of the best ways to make someone feel more relaxed it to be able to say something in their native language.
ReplyDelete