Hawai’i is home to people of many places, backgrounds and cultures. This lesson includes strategies discussed throughout module 4 on working with diverse populations.
Activities
Families experiencing poverty
1) Promoting good health
- Offer a cooking class to help increase family learning through promoting healthy eating by following the steps in Module 4, Lesson 1 – Families Experiencing Poverty: Promote good health.
- Ask families to create a chart of what foods they ear throughout the week and talk about the food pyramid to discuss proper balance of food groups (Module 4, Lesson 1 – Families Experiencing Poverty: Promote good health)
- Take a trip to grocery store (such as Safeway or Whole Foods) and ask parents to volunteer to come. Ideas for what to healthy eating discussion topic can be found in Module 4, Lesson 1 – Families Experiencing Poverty: Field trip to Whole Foods
2) Help direct families to resources
- Visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap to learn about the requirements families must meet to qualify for SNAP and WIC services. Develop a handout for families to help them learn about how to obtain these services (Module 4, Lesson 1 – Families Experiencing Poverty: Research SNAP and WIC)
Homeless Families
1) Take time to talk with parents
- Build trust with parents through discussion groups with other parents or one-on-one conferencing. (Module 4, Lesson 2 – Homeless Families: Discussion Group)
- Conduct focus groups with parents. Meeting other families allows parents to see that they’re not alone and creates a forum to problem solve as a group. (Module 4, Lesson 2 – Homeless Families: Focus Group)
2) Ways to help encourage families
- Have parents keep a journal that highlights their achievements and strengths. Ask parents to chart their most successful activities. (Module 4, Lesson 2 – Homeless Families: Journaling)
- Use an interactive journal to communicate with parents about their child’s school day, for parents to communicate about what happened with their child outside of school and to encourage parents and let them know when their child accomplishes a difficult task. More on interactive journals can be found in Module 4, Lesson 2 – Homeless Families: Interactive Journals.
3) Ways to help meet the needs of families
- Work with parents to create “survival kits” that include personal paperwork and other information. Ideas for what to include in a “survival kit” can be found in Module 4, Lesson 2 – Homeless Families: Survival Kit.
Native Hawaiian Families
1) Connect home and school experiences
- Start a “keiki scrapbook” that children can work on through the school year both at home and at school (recommended by Kamehameha Schools’ Pre-kindergarten Educational Program) (Module 4, Lesson 3 – Native Hawaiian Families: Start a Keiki Scrapbook)
2) Involving parents at school
- Offer parents leadership roles, such as being on parent-advisory committees (recommended by Kamehameha Schools’ Pre-kindergarten Educational Program) (Module 4, Lesson 3 – Native Hawaiian Families: Offer parents leadership roles)
3) Parents supporting academics at home
- Set up a book lending program to encourage and support families reading to their children (recommended by Kamehameha Schools’ Pre-kindergarten Educational Program) (Module 4, Lesson 3 – Native Hawaiian Families: Offer parents leadership roles)
Immigrant families
1) Make school information clear
- Make sure signage in your classroom is clear. Have parents help you translate welcoming messages into all languages spoken by families in your classroom to help everyone feel welcome (Module 4, Lesson 4 – Immigrant Families: Make signage clear and schools inviting; Clear and Inviting School Signage)
2) Learn about community resources that are available
- Use community asset mapping to discover the strengths and supports in the immigrant community and to locate people of influence who can help implement, fund and support programs to help immigrant students (Module 4, Lesson 4 – Immigrant Families: Community Asset Mapping)
3) Building connections
- Connect families who speak the same language with one another.
- http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/many-languages-many-cultures (Module 1, Lesson 1 – What happens when you don’t know your students: The importance of student and family background)
4) Cultivate quality relationships
- Establish a relationship of equality and respect from the start. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/many-languages-many-cultures (Module 1, Lesson 1: What happens when you don’t know your students: The importance of student and family background)
- Show parents that they are valued. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/many-languages-many-cultures (Module 1, Lesson 1: What happens when you don’t know your students: The importance of student and family background)
5) Emphasize the benefits of bilingualism
- Some families do not know that there is a cognitive benefit in being bilingual and insist that their children speak English only and refrain from speaking in their home language. Encourage and assist families in understanding the benefits of bilingualism (improves brain function, increases attention span and focus, assists in learning additional languages). Additionally, children who retain their own language can continue to communicate with their parents if their English skills are not yet developed. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/PSDIV98.PDF(pg. 5)(Module 1, Lesson 2 – How Diverse are We?: Learning about linguistic diversity)
Military families
1) Welcome military families
- Make a “welcome to our school” book for families (Module 4, Lesson 7 – Military Families: Welcome to Our School Book”)
2) Provide opportunities for military families to build relationships
- Establish a network of peer and adult mentors to help welcome and support the military child in your school (Module 4, Lesson 7 – Military Families: Relationship Networks)
3) Events
- Celebrate military families in your classroom by having a “Military Family Recognition Day” (Module 4, Lesson 7 – Military Families: Military Family Recognition Day)
LGBTQ families
1) Help develop a positive school climate for LGBTQ families
- Include books in your classroom that feature a wide-range of families, such as single parent, adoptive, foster, two-mom, two-dad, grandparent-headed, multi-racial and multiethnic families. http://www.welcomingschools.org/pages/checklist-for-a-welcoming-and-inclusive-school-environment/ (Module 2, Lesson 3 – Strategies to Improve Communication with Families: Welcoming Strategies)
- Ensure that classroom and hallway images show diverse family structures, people of different races, gender expressions, ethnicities and abilities. http://www.welcomingschools.org/pages/checklist-for-a-welcoming-and-inclusive-school-environment/ (Module 2, Lesson 3 – Strategies to Improve Communication with Families: Welcoming Strategies)