Welcoming Families From Around the World

In this week's scenario I have been tasked with writing about how I would handle a family from a foreign country arriving at my child care center and I am responsible for welcoming them.

Because of an interest in Indian culture, I have chosen to imagine my family coming from India. With my history of working at a very multicultural center, I can tell you my first stop is always Google. While, as scholars, we all have to be wary of internet resources, there are still many legit sites that can help any person begin to navigate cultural responsiveness. Next, I would contact my local university and see if there is an Indian studies department, or any sort of program at the University that could help me. Third, I would seek out any families in my current program who are from India and see what kind of information they could give me. Fourth, I would speak directly with the family's new classroom teachers, and prepare them with the knowledge and information I have gathered.

I think the most important step in preparing myself to be culturally responsive would be to speak directly with the family. While speaking with scholars, googling, talking with other families is helpful, without getting to know this specific family I am potentially setting myself up to be even more culturally unprepared.

All five of these ways will help prepare me and my child care center to welcome a new family in to our  family. By gathering bits of information, and preparing teachers we are able to welcome a child that is possibly right off of a plane, in a new country, where a new language is spoken. By speaking to the parents and gathering information from them, it will help to make that transition go as smoothly as possible.