Immigrant Children and Families [WLO: 1] [CLO: 4]
Supporting the various backgrounds, personalities, strengths, values, and experiences of the families and children we work with is one of the most important responsibilities as early childhood professionals. One of the diverse backgrounds that you will likely encounter in our work is with immigrant children and their families.
Remember, immigrant children can include
- Recently arrived newcomer students
- Refugees
- Students with interrupted/limited formal education
- Unaccompanied minors who came to the country without their parents
- Children of migrant farmworkers
- Children who are undocumented
- Children who have been separated from parents/family members at the border
- Immigrants with Temporary Protected StatusLinks to an external site.
- DREAMers (young people eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, or DACALinks to an external site.) (Colorín Colorado, 2018, p. 6)
To prepare for this discussion,
- Read Chapter 4 of the course text.
- Review the following three short videos from the film, Frontline: Separated – Children at the Border:
- Unaccompanied Minors and DACALinks to an external site. (4 minutes)
- Perilous Journey NorthLinks to an external site. (3 minutes)
- Traumatized ChildrenLinks to an external site. (2 minutes)
- Read How to Support Immigrant Students and Families: Summary GuideLinks to an external site..
In your initial post,
- Explain at least two stressors that immigrant families may face.
- Describe at least two ways you will differentiate your interactions and provide support for immigrant children and their families to lessen the stressors they may face. Make sure to support your ideas with the Top 10 Strategies referred to in How to Support Immigrant Students and Families: Summary GuideLinks to an external site..
- Summarize how early education environments can make access to high-quality education easier for immigrants.
