Sources of Help for Pre-K Dual Language Learners
August 18, 2010Professional Development Secret Weapons – Early Childhood Language and Cultural Diversity
September 8, 2010Who is on your diversity team?
By Karen Nemeth, Ed.M.
I think every preschool program should have a diversity team. Bring together staff, parents, and members of your community that speak the languages of the children in your classrooms so they can provide help and support in a variety of ways. Whether you have a very formal role for them to play or a loose, informal get together from time to time, you will find that the benefits of this type of committee will grow and grow.
For example, they can help you by reading translations of school materials to be sure the language is appropriate for the children and families you serve, they can help you find resources in the languages you need, they can serve as volunteers with the children or behind the scenes, and they can welcome new families to your program. Here is a list of organizations that come up in my presentations. Feel free to submit additions for this list. I’ve started by giving some examples of the kind of help these groups can provide, but I’m leaving it up to you to fill in the success stories! Comment here or email to info@languagecastle.com
(two new ideas that came up in today’s presentation: Embassies and organizations that support international adoptions)
| COMMUNITY RESOURCE | HOW THEY CAN HELP YOUR PROGRAM SUPPORT DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS |
| Adult schools | ESL students can practice English by making books or recordings of traditional stories and songs in home language & English. |
| After school programs | |
| Chamber of Commerce or other local business organizations | Can provide financial help for buying multilingual materials |
| Charities – United Way | |
| Child Care Resource and Referral Agency | Bilingual staff and materials about child development in different languages |
| Children’s places – dance schools, gyms, camps | |
| Churches and communities of faith | |
| Clinic, doctor, emergency room | Can let families know your program is ready to support their home languages/cultures |
| Colleges and universities – and student associations | |
| Contacts in other countries | |
| Cultural clubs and social organizations | |
| Curriculum provider | You paid for the curriculum – now ask them to help adapt for the languages you enroll |
| Dentist | |
| Early intervention providers | |
| I’ll help you connect – follow me at Karen Nemeth at Language Castle LLC | |
| Foster grandparent organizations | Provide them with training to use their other language skills |
| Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4H, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, YMHA, YWCA etc | |
| High school and college sororities, fraternities and service organizations | |
| Home visiting programs | |
| Hotels, restaurants, service industry | |
| Immigration lawyer | |
| Language schools, translation services | |
| Larger corporations | |
| Library | They’ll have books, recordings, software in other languages – will be happy to order more! |
| Local Businesses – especially that represent the languages/cultures in school | |
| Local child care association | |
| Local fairs and festivals – cultural, business, healthcare, social services etc | |
| Local government | |
| Members of your board | |
| Parents | |
| Parents’ contacts | Parents send to home countries for books, games, catalogs, etc for your class |
| Pen pals | |
| Professional organizations (chapters of NAEYC, NAFCC, NACCRRA and others) | |
| Reading Is Fundamental | |
| Realtor or rental agent | |
| Recreation centers and programs | |
| Senior citizen centers and organizations | |
| Service organizations: Kiwanis, Rotary, Lyons, Masons | |
| Skype | |
| Social service agencies, welfare office, child protective services, etc | |
| Sports associations | Look for members who speak other languages and want to help their community |
| State department of education (look outside your own state) | |
| State department of human services (look outside your own state) | |
| State early childhood advisory boards | |
| Therapists and specialists | |
| Travel Agency | |
| I’ll help you connect – follow me at KarenNemethEdM | |
| Volunteer organizations and agencies | |
| www.firstbooks.org | |
| www.reachoutandread.org |
3 Comments
Thank-you!
What a great list of resources! I can think of a few others that may be specific to my state, but I thought I’d mention them as they may be relevant for some people. We have ELL/Diversity Consultants at our Area Education Agencies that serve regions within our state. Also, there is a local literacy group called Raising Readers that focuses specifically on literacy issues.
Other groups that are national include Delta Kappa Gamma, a teacher sorority that supports school-related issues. Refugee resettlement groups who might be serving families with students that attend our schools is another idea.
Hi, Shaeley.
Thanks for adding to this discussion with your great suggestions. That’s the great thing about a blog – everyone can pile on!
Karen