A community for parents and educators of ELLs

What lessons have you learned from immigrant families?

Share your experiences and take a look at these important lessons from Young-Chan Han at the MD State Department of Education!

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Clyne on October 21, 2010 at 9:35am

Immigrant families bring many strengths to the community and to schools. It is a matter of tapping into those strengths and building on them to help them navigate US schools and systems. In my experiences, it is of utmost importance to use native speakers who are bilingual and bi-cultural to help bridge and make connections and help two way learning take place. I believe it is important to ask questions and not make assumptions.

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Permalink Reply by Lydia Breiseth on October 25, 2010 at 1:35pm

Thanks for your comments on this, Sarah! Are there particular situations that come to mind when you think about tapping into their strengths or not making assumptions?

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Clyne on October 25, 2010 at 2:30pm

In general, asking them a set of questions to get to know them is important. It helps to develop a strong relationship and a community of trust when parents know you are interested in getting to know them. I also find it is helpful when you ask them what they would like more information about, which helps in giving them the support they need rather than what we might assume they need. At our preschool, we have a Padres de Familia group that meets once a month. During the first meeting, we ask the parents what topics they would like us to cover and what their areas of interest are. Because of this, we get a turnout of approximately 90% of our Latino parents. We also get about 80% of our parents attending more than one workshop.

We also learn more about their experiences and backgrounds as it relates to areas where they previously lived. We find that many of our parents have been professionals and have high levels of education from their native countries. So, again, not making assumptions about their educational backgrounds and professional experiences is important. Often we learn about these experiences and can put them in leadership roles to offer assistance in their communities.