Deep Culture in the Elementary Classroom
Claudia Acosta
6/5/17
Deep
Culture in the Elementary Classroom
Why
certain civilizations of cultures seem to be more advanced than others?
This
is a question that always asked myself and reading all these talks I could get
an answer.
The
cities with more diversity of culture are the ones that are more apt to advance
than their counterparts.
"Many
heads think more than one"
Each
culture has different paradigms and that is where differences, problems or
misunderstandings.
These
cultural differences affect children more, they are more sensitive to changes
and many times more affected.
My
Personal Experience
I am
from Uruguay and I came to live in the United States when my eldest son was 4
years old and my second daughter was 7 months old.
Incredibly,
my 7-month-old daughter missed both the climate change, the place and the
atmosphere that she had fever almost for a week.
My
four year old son at times was surprised by the new things he saw that were new
and flashy for him, but most of the time he was confused, listening to a new
language, food was different, music, etc.
The
most difficult part was when the preschool started, everything was a completely
different world. He already knew the preschool since in Uruguay it had been
since he was two years old. He had a knowledge of what it was like to go to
preschool.
I
have to say that he is a very intelligent son and now with his 19 years, he
speaks English and Spanish perfectly, he graduated with honors and won many
scholarships for being an excellent student, but the path was not easy for him.
It
was also not easy for my other two daughters since although one came with 7
months and the other born here, live and are surrounded all the time of two
cultures, Hispanic culture and American culture. They are also very good
students, they have clung more to the American culture.
As
teachers we must learn to adapt to different situations and cultures, to know
them, to bring something of them to the classroom such as a greeting in the
language of the cultures that surround us, some decoration that stands out in
the country of origin, music, photos, etc.
As
teachers we have to be innovators of the foreign languages to look for new
strategies according to the cultural diversity and the age of the child.
Hello Claudia,
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice experience you had to share with us! I have some questions, did your children go to a bilingual school or program when they start the school in the US? Did their teachers do anything to help in their adaptation to this new world? Did the teachers have any bilingual practice in the class?
Those questions are important to me because I'm implementing a bilingual program in the school I work for. And I'd like to anticipate some challenges and students reactions.
Thanks
No, my kids went to a school where everything was in English. They started school here at the age of 3 in a preschool, my interest was that so young children were interacting and learning the language at an early age, since at that age the school's grades are not important to move to the next grade.
DeleteThe Spanish already knew it because I always speak to them in Spanish at home. When they were kids I read them in Spanish. When they could read my rules were that they had to read one day in English and one day in Spanish, that way they were recognizing the words and learning how they were written.
At school they had their teacher and another teacher who helped them with language learning, she gave them a little class of about 30 minutes and helped them with things they did not understand at school. This help they only needed until the second grade of school because the children learn very fast. Teachers are the ones who evaluate them to know when they need help.
Also I forget to tell you, I do not know what your bilingual school plan is, but here bilingual schools teach in this way, for example, if the school lasts 6 hours then the first three hours are taught in English and the other three hours is taught exactly The same as they learned in English but in Spanish.
In this way progress is slower in the curriculum, but it is very good for children who want to learn a second language.
I taught Kindergarten for many years at a school with a large population of students new to the United States. They really did face a lot of challenges. It was always such an adjustment for them. Your children sound like they've really worked hard!
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