Multilingual Families Spotlight: Honing literacy skills while honoring culture and language
The Multilingual Family Support Office has developed two family engagement programs which are implemented by the 57 Bilingual Counseling Assistants (BCAs) and Ludy Soderman, the office director: Welcome Wagons and Circles of Literacy. The Welcome Wagons help limited-English proficient families become aware of the services, opportunities, and resources available to them and their children in our schools, city, and state. The Welcome Wagons address issues as “basic” as the American school system to more complex issues, such as acculturation and parent and child conflict. Welcome Wagons and Circles of Literacy are offered in the families' language at schools, community and faith-based organizations, and sometimes at homes that will host a small community meeting. Circles of Literacy were developed with the premise that since parents/caregivers are the first teachers, they must use the tools available to them to teach their children: their cultural and linguistic heritage. When we leave our countries to pursue a new life in the United States, many of us will bring suitcases with pictures, clothing, and maybe a few books; some of us carry very few materials goods. Yet, whether we came here as immigrants or refugees, we all brought endless treasures, and sometimes we need someone to remind us that these treasures are at our disposal to share with our children. What are these treasures? The stories we heard as children from our parents and grandparents, the songs we sang and the games we played, the tongue twisters we practiced until we almost perfected them and the poems we read, the recipes of our favorite dishes and the memories of who we were before we arrived! Circles of Literacy are a platform where literacy is supported at home while cultural knowledge is developed and language is preserved.
