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.
My early childhood center is expecting a family from Guatemala next week. After doing some research I have found out that Guatemala has a population of 12.3 million people. They have a climate not unlike mine here in Florida, warm and tropical. More than 56% of the population live in extreme poverty. One of the challenges I will face is a language barrier. Guatemalans have over 22 indegenous languages that vary from Spanish and some of these languages have been with populations that live in isolation. I will need to prepare my staff for a language barrier with both the child and parents and I may need to find an interpreter that will be able to speak their dialect. In Guatemala the schools function on a Spanish curriculum, but many idigenous groups don't do well in this environment because they cannot understand the teaching. In the recent past service groups have helped develop education and awareness for early childhood education. This may mean that the parents of the new children will be aware of early childhood education. If not I will need to work on educating them about the importance of ECE without stepping on any cultural boundaries. Three types of early care and education services are available in Guatemala: programs operated by the Ministerio de Educacion (Ministry of Education), those operated by the Secretaria de Bienestar de la Presidencia de la Republica (Secrtary of Social WellBeing of the Presidency of the Republic), and private programs. Furthermore, I will need to make sure the family has their needs met while they are settling down in America. They may need support finding jobs and housing. Additionally, I will want to test the child in their native language to find a developmentally appropriate level to begin teaching on. Most importantly I will want to make sure the family feels comfortable and welcome in their new environment.
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