Welcoming Families from around the World

Country of Origin: Peru

At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family:

After determining the new family’s language is most likely Spanish, I would take time to learn common phrases and greetings in their language to assist with making them feel welcome. Words such as “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Thank you,” and “Bathroom” would probably go a long way towards this effort.

If I did not have a translator available, I would ensure that I had access to an electronic translator such as Google Translate or Altavista to help me with translating and understanding basic elements of the foreign language.

I would offer opportunities to play games that are popular in Peru, most notably soccer.

I would provide play materials that, as much as possible, might be familiar to the new child in the classroom. This would potentially include games, dolls, foods and clothing.

I noticed in my research that table manners are important in Peru, but are not necessarily enforced in each family. I would be aware of the child’s habits and behavior in the classroom, and I would help the child understand the expectations of proper manners during snack time if they happened to be different.

A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family:

Learning the basics of Peruvian language, culture and activities are all ways to help make my classroom a welcoming environment for both the child and their family. By learning basic foreign language phrases and attempting to use them, I am demonstrating to them how important it is for me to communicate with them, and that I care very much about including their child into my classroom. Similarly, by making an effort to focus on games or sports that the children may have been exposed to in Peru, I am helping make the transition to American culture more seamless. Although I have researched the background of Peru and its people, those generalizations do not necessarily apply to the family I have in the classroom, so I will continue to make a concerted effort to learn the child and their family on an individual basis.

http://www.countryreports.org/country/Peru/facts.htm