Welcoming Families From Around the World

IRAQ

My setting is an Early Childhood Center

1. ·      Create a classroom environment that is filled with items that are familiar to the child, beginning with music and dance. Iraq is known for an instrument called the oud (similar to a lute) and a rebab (similar to a fiddle), pictures of these instruments throughout the classroom would be great for discussion starters.
2. ·      Conduct a lesson on the country in which the child is coming from prior to the child and the family arriving have the children in the classroom as well as the staff learn about the important factors of the country and the customs and beliefs.
3. ·      Since Football is the most popular sport in Iraq, the theme of the month could be sports, focusing on football for an entire week could bring a sense of familiarity to the child and family upon arrival.
4. ·      I would prepare an All About Me form, this form would ask in details important questions that should be answered by the family about their culture, their child and their family beliefs and customs.
5. ·      Learn about the different cuisines of Iraq, invite the entire classroom to join in on the learning and have the family share some of their favorite dishes with the class.

In preparing for this family to arrive, it is my hopes that my efforts would allow the family and the child(ren) to feel accepted, respected, important, trusting and most of all safe. I would hope that the family would be open to sharing about their country of origin and that together there would be opportunities for both learning and teaching between the family, the entire early childhood center and myself.

Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq