These recommendations are based on Dr Lily Wong Fillmore’s research. Dr Fillmore has spent decades investigating migrant families’ experiences in North America and below are her recommendations to parents as to how best support their children.
“The family plays a crucial role in providing… a sense of belonging; knowledge of who one is and where one comes from; an understanding of how one is connected to the important others and events in one’s life; the ability to deal with adversity; and knowing one’s responsibility to self, family, community”.
Dr Lily Wong Fillmore
Starting school for any child can be difficult, for culturally and linguistically diverse children it can be even more so.
Having an awareness of what they might experience as they try to fit in to the new social groups at school will help.
- Be aware of your child’s emotions during this time and ensure that you are available if your child needs to talk about them. Starting school can be traumatic for some children, supporting your child can prevent them from withdrawing from you and your family as they try to find their place in the world.
- Work together with your child’s teachers to assist your child as they transition into the wider society of school. As children grow and learn to adapt to the wider society they can become somewhat alienated from their parents and can start to distance themselves from the culture and language and habits of the home. Parents don’t always see or understand what is happening at these times whereas sometimes teachers do.
- Provide consistent and continuous opportunities for your child to develop their first language. Use increasingly mature forms of the language with your child and make it clear that you expect them to do the same, this will ensure their language continues to progress and grow with them. Speak to them in your first language, read or tell stories if these are cultural practices and teach them the things that educated members of your cultural group would be interested in.
- Keeping first languages and cultures alive is not an easy task, community action is needed. Find other families and groups that share your language and culture and work together. Often there are groups from within the community that provide language, cultural and social programs, find out what is available and think about what is needed. Playgroups, picnics, after-school clubs, weekend language schools are all possibilities of sites where culture and language can be shared and developed.
A downloadable flyer you can put on the fridge (or anywhere!)
Recommendations to parents_Starting school
Fillmore, L. W. (2000). Loss of family languages: Should educators be concerned? Theory Into Practice, 39(4), 203-210.
