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What are some ways to support families who are adjusting to life in a new country?

Powerful Practice 3: Access the necessary support to newcomer families as they transition to life in a new country. (p.140 )

This practice involves accessing trained, multilingual professionals to assist in the transition process to make the adjustment period smoother. For example, in Ontario, there is a program called Settlement Workers in Schools, that is proactive in identifying and connecting with newcomer students and parents. They offer information, assistance, and support with all aspects of the newcomer adjustment process.

This supports the Lee family because it helps them navigate their transition to the new country through multiple entry points and access. It helps them engaged in their children's learning and school community. For example, they can contribute to the school community by being a volunteer and a part of Parent Council.

It is important to support the families of ELLs because it allows them to feel the sense of belonging inside the school and within the community, so that they are positioned to reach their full potential and explore all learning opportunities.

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The Darwish family

Key Question:

The key question I chose to focus on was “What are some ways to support families who are adjusting to life in a new country”.

Powerful Practice:

The powerful practice I chose was practice 3: Access the necessary support to newcomer families as they transition to life in a new country

What does this practice involve? How can you take action?

This practice involves establishing and accessing support systems tailored to assist newcomer families as they navigate the transition to life in a new country, with particular emphasis on educational integration. It entails collaborating with trained professionals, such as settlement workers, who offer guidance, counselling, and referrals to address the multifaceted challenges faced by newcomer parents and students. Additionally, the practice entails leveraging existing government-funded programs, community organisations, and educational resources to provide language support, cultural orientation, and practical assistance to facilitate the adjustment process.

I can take action by seeking out the local opportunities in my community

This includes local resources and programs, community organisations, educational institutions

I can connect with settlement workers or cultural liaisons

I can organise information sessions

I can search for volunteers to teach reading.

I can find interpreters and translators,

In what ways can this practice potentially support this ELL family?

This practice can support ELL families by connecting them with trained professionals and community resources essential for their transition. Through settlement worker programs and other initiatives of the sort, ELL families can gain guidance and counselling to navigate the complexities of moving to a new country with a new education system. It helps ELL families integrate into their new community, advocate for their children’s educational needs, and build support network to thrive in.

Why is it important to support the families of ELLs?

Supporting ELL families is crucial because it enhances the academic success and well-being of ELL students by fostering a supportive home environment.

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1. Key Question:

What are some ways to communicate with parents when we do not speak their languages?

2. Powerful Practice:

Ensure that parents have access to information in their preferred language.

3. What does this practice involve? How can you take action?

We can take action by incorporating writing, having documents the parents can access and interpret in their language; school calendars, paper reminders, etc. Also, a translator can be provided at parent meetings/whenever the parents communicate with the school. We can also provide a link to where to find translators and other language resources.

4. In what ways can this practice potentially support this ELL family?

This practice will give the Lee family the tools they need to contribute to their children’s education in the way they desire.

5. Why is it important to support the families of ELL’s?

It is important to create an inclusive environment that welcomes and accommodates families where they are. Subsequently, the children of those families will enter the classroom with a stronger support system, as their families will be better equipped to involve themselves in their child’s education.

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1. Key question

What are some ways to partner with parents to support both the home language and English language development?

2. Powerful Practice

Invite families to co-create multilingual books (163-165).

3. What does this practice involve? How can you take action?

This practice involves using the student’s mother tongue and second language in unison with one another. Creating a multilingual book incorporates multiple aspects of language, including but not limited to vocabulary, grammar and syntax. This is an inclusive practice, as some students may not come from a place where children’s books are used as a resource.

4. In what ways can this practice potentially support this ELL family?

During the creation of the book, students and family members can build communication skills and collaborate in a productive way. Students can express parts of their lives and their families’ stories in a positive way. This fosters a sense of community by allowing students to share their stories, perhaps keeping the book in the school library.

5. Why is it important to support the families of ELLs?

It is imperative to validate and support ELLs and their families, encouraging them to share their culture and home language with their newfound community. This helps ELLs and their families feel like part of their community, integrated with the rest of the school. This support also promotes inclusivity and cultural responsiveness.

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Key Question: What are some ways to collaborate with parents?

Powerful Practice 1: Adopt a broader, culturally informed, and positive definition of parental involvement in education.

What does this practice involve and how can you take action?

This practice recognizes that parental involvement in education could help the school community to become more culturally aware. It also allows facilitation opportunities for teachers, families and communities to learn together. We can take action by collaborating with the family and incorporating their ideas of how they think we can better support their child. We could also invite the family into the classroom to inform the class about their cultural knowledge to promote respect and appreciation.

In what ways can this practice potentially support this ELL family?

By asking the Neepin family how we can include their cultural knowledge into the classroom it honors their cultural identity and promotes academic success and cultural pride. This encourages us to look at the Neepin family and their efforts from an asset-based lens and value their willingness to support and share their cultural knowledge to enrich the classroom culture.

Why is it important to support ELL families?

It is important to support ELL students and their families in order to create a welcoming environment where students are able to learn and succeed.

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What are some ways to support families who are adjusting to life in a new country?

Powerful Practice 3: Access the necessary

support to newcomer families as they

transition to life in a new country. (Page 140)

In order to assist Lee’s family, our educators can arrange literacy and orientation programs, make some local multilingual resources and settlement services easier for them to use, and connect families to local resources. Incorporating multiple perspectives into the curriculum and utilizing parent centers and multilingual signs are other ways that educators can create a welcoming environment. Also, encouraging settlement staff to understand the particular needs of each family and offering tailored assistance are key steps in guaranteeing a seamless transition for immigrant households.

It helps Lee's family feel at home in a new country by teaching them the language and how things work around here, like finding a job or a doctor. It also connects them with people who can help and makes them feel welcome at school and in the neighborhood.

Supporting ELL families helps them do better in school, feel happier and more at home in their new community, and get on their feet faster with jobs and other important stuff. It's good for everyone because it makes our communities more connected and diverse.

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Key Question: What are some ways to collaborate with parents?

We chose this question because the Lewis family is a single parent household with financial struggles and limited time to support their children. But the single parent wants to be supportive of the education that their children are receiving, we just have to find a way to help them.

Powerful practice 1: to adopt a broader, culturally informed and positive definition of parental involvement in education. (pg 147)

4. How will we use this powerful practice?

Doing personal research on the Lewis family's background.

We can find a translator to help us communicate more clearly with the parent so we can understand their needs.

Send packages home, that can add support for children at home but also facilitate communication between the teacher and parent, that is translated/bilingual into their home language.

the packages can include student success, and progress of student.

the parent can provide a schedule that works best for them on when to be contact by teacher

Why is this important?

It is important we bring an empathetic lense to parent relationships because we want to build the relationship with the parent, while also support the student. Students are successful when their parents are also being considered in their education.

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Key Question:

What are ways to communicate when we don't speak their language?

Powerful Practice 2:

Ensure that parents have access to information in their

preferred language

What does this practice involve:

Especially since the Lee family recently immigrated and have language barriers, an important tool for their family is to have materials (school documents, announcements, etc.) in their home language so they can keep up with the progress at school. Having someone who can translate, maybe a staff at school, a parent volunteer, or a translator, may help them adjust to life in a new country.

In what ways can this practice potentially support this family:

This practice allow the Lee family to support their children's educational needs without falling behind at the start.

Why is it important to support ELL families:

Going into a new country, especially when the language is drastically different, can be daunting. Giving the appropriate support and accommodations allow for a smoother transition to a new school and country, enabling families to slowly adjust.

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1. Key question: What are some ways to partner with parents to support both the home language and English language development? (pages 157-167)

2. Powerful Practice 2: Suggest ways parents can support their child's literacy development in the home language. (Page 161-163)

3. What does this practice involve? How can you take action?

This practice involves creating an environment that fosters literacy development in a child's home language, which supports their multiliteracy skills. Educators can take action by incorporating simple and meaningful gestures in the classroom, such as acknowledging and celebrating a student's ability to relate their home language to English. Educators can also encourage parents to be reading role models at home. Multilingual materials are a great support for the student and by providing resources and encouraging the students, educators can play a crucial role in fostering multiliteracy skills in students.

4. In what ways can this practice potentially support this ELL family?

This practice can support the Thibault family by providing resources and strategies to nurture their children's bilingual development and their English language acquisition while simultaneously preserving their native language and cultural identity. Educators can encourage literacy in their home language to help the children maintain a connection to their cultural heritage while also practicing their English proficiency. Educators can affirm the value of multilingualism and create an inclusive environment for the children by gestures that acknowledge and celebrate the children's achievements in their home language. There are a multitude of resources that can be used such as dual-language books and other reading materials that can help enrich their language learning experience and create a love for reading. Overall, this practice aligns with the Thibault family’s goal of maintaining their linguistic and cultural heritage while equipping their children with the skills they need to succeed in school.

5. Why is it important to support the families of ELLs?

It is crucial to support the families of ELL students because they play a significant role in their child's language development and overall academic success. Educators can help parents engage in their child's education and ELL journey by providing resources and strategies that cater to the needs of their family. Supporting ELL families can allow the student and their families to feel included within the school community. Additionally, it strengthens cultural connections and when these families feel they are supported they can better advocate for their child's educational needs and overall well-being.

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Darwish family

1. Powerful practice: What are some ways to support families who are adjusting to life in a new country? (pages 135-145)

2.    PP1: Gather information about newcomers and families to ensure that their most immediate basic needs are met.

3. This practice involves understanding that newcomers arrive in varying degrees of readiness for their new life in a new country and aren’t always having useful shipments from home and supportive friends and family to assist here. Also, this practice involves supporting newcomers’ basic needs for physical and emotional wellbeing so that they can feel comfortable enough to engage in new learning and experience success.

We can take action by:

·      Seeking out local resources, programs, community organisations, food shelters/banks and educational institutions for donations needed such as food, clothes, shelter etc.

·      Helping them connect and enroll with the school provided resources for food programs such as snack program, hot lunch and breakfast program

·      Helping them enrol in school busses for children

·      Helping the students receive free/discounted uniform clothing

·      Helping them enrol in subsidized daycare or before and after programs for their children to be supervised

·      Organizing food and clothes drives to help prepare them to dress appropriately for changing seasons (ex: jackets, boots, hats, gloves, canned foods, dry foods)

·      Find interpreters and translators that can help act as community guides and show them cultural restaurants, grocery stores and places of worship they feel comfortable to attend.

·      Find interpreters to identify health services and clinics available to them and how to apply for government assistance in income and shelter

·      Looking through the English Learner lens and anticipating predictable needs can help enact a personalized response to set families up for success

4. Using interpreters to inform the Darwish family of the available resources and subsidized programs support the Darwish family as they require trained professionals to assist them as they cope with trauma and resettlement. Also, by using interprets and building strong relationships with the school community, they can feel a sense of belonging and trust with the community instead of feeling isolated and displaced. Lastly, with the help of community members and interprets, finding culturally sensitive resources can help the Darwish family find resources, and a support system much quicker which can them assist them in advocating for their children’s education needs.

5. It is important to support the families of ELL’s especially through the stance of empathy because many times, the adults feel the burden of being tough and dependable for the sake of the whole family and suffer in silence. By supporting the whole family, instead of just the student, you are fostering trust and bridging the gap between school and home life which then results in a more collaborative learning environment for the students in which the teacher can incorporate cultural practises and understandings.

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1. Key question: What are some ways to communicate with parents when we do not speak their languages?

2. Powerful practice:  Ensure that parents have access to information in their preferred language. (pg. 170-173)

3. What does this practice involve? How can you take action?

This practice involves providing parents with all necessary information in a language they can understand. Taking action can include translating important documents, using interpretation services for meetings, and ensuring that written and oral communications are accessible in the parents' preferred languages.

4. In what ways can this practice potentially support this ELL family?

The Lewis family has limited English proficiency. This practice can help by making sure they have equal access to information about their children's education and available resources. This supports their involvement in their children's academic life, which is crucial for the children's success.

5. Why is it important to support the families of ELLs?

Supporting the families of ELLs is important because it promotes equity and inclusion. When families can access information and communicate effectively with schools, they can better support their children's education. And this can lead to better academic outcomes and integration into the school community.

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1. Key Question: what are some ways to support families who are adjusting to life in a new country? (p. 135-45).

2. Powerful Practice: #1 Gather information about newcomers and families to ensure that their most immediate basic needs are met (p.136-38).

3. What does it involve: This practice involves being aware that there every family and their story is differe— it is important to find out what families need and find the resources to set them up for success. This might look like crating and providing a resource list with the areas they might need help to navigate or even finding out and being mindful of triggers in our language when talking to the students and families.

4. What this practice involves: cultivating a personalized resource sheet with up to date and relevant contacts/ sites. It can also mean making the words and jargon digestible by rewriting it in more accessible language. This might look like working with people in the community to get the correct information, who work with newcomer families and that offer guidance and social support. More specific ways I can take action is:

1. research local organizations

2. find community that might be culturally connected to the family to help foster a cultural/social support system

3. schedule information meetings

4. resource in the given school board (some have tutoring programs in language)

5. why is it important to support the families of ELLs: as educators we look on how to support the child holistically. The child learns at home as well as in the school, and although we cannot control the environments outside of the classroom, we can try to be good advocates and supports as best as we can. It is important to be connect to the child's family and ensure all three (child, family, educator) are on the same team!

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1. Key Question: What are some ways to partner with parents to support both the home language and English language development? (pages 157-167)

2. Powerful Practice 2: Suggest ways parents can support their child's literacy development in the home language. (Page 161-163)

3. What does this practice involve? How can you take action?

This practice focuses on nurturing literacy in the child's home language to support their overall bilingual development. Educators can take action by integrating the child's home language into classroom learning and celebrating bilingual achievements. They can advise parents to engage in reading and storytelling in the home language, provide bilingual materials, and create a literacy-rich environment at home. This approach not only supports the child’s language skills but also strengthens their cultural identity.

4. In what ways can this practice potentially support this ELL family?

This practice can significantly benefit the Thibault family by offering strategies to balance the development of their home language and English. Providing resources like bilingual books and educational materials, and celebrating the children's bilingual milestones, can help maintain the family's cultural ties and support English acquisition. It fosters an environment where children can thrive in both languages, aligning with the family’s goals of cultural preservation and successful integration into English-speaking settings.

5. Why is it important to support the families of ELLs?

Supporting ELL families is crucial for the children’s successful language development and academic achievement. When educators provide resources and strategies tailored to the family's needs, it helps build a strong partnership between the school and home. This support makes ELL families feel valued and included in the educational community, enhances cultural connections, and empowers them to actively participate in their child's learning journey, leading to better educational outcomes for ELL students.