I am working in a child care center, and I am so excited that I will soon have a family from Egypt to join my group. In order to ensure that I am culturally responsive and welcoming to the child and her family, I must make some preparations.
After researching the culture of the Egypt origin I have decided to do the following:
1). I will get a better understanding of the main religion in the country of Egypt. 90% of Egypt's population is Muslim. I will also learn about Coptic Christian which makes up the other 9% of the population.
2). I will study about the Egyptian cuisine and work with my kitchen manager to incorporate some familiar foods into the menu for this family.
3). I will learn some useful, basic Arabic words to assist with communicating effectively with this family.
4). I will learn about their public holidays such as Victory Day, Eid El-Adha (sacrifice feast), Eid El-Fitr (breakfast feast), and the list goes on.
5). Overall, research until I have somewhat of a well rounded understanding of the Egyptian culture.
I hope all of these preparations will benefit the family by making them feel comfortable relocating to a whole new world that they have never been exposed to. I also hope that these preparations will give me a better understanding of individuals from a country outside of my own. I can also educate my teachers to make them more comfortable with the new family and their culture.
Sounds like you have did your homework. I think if it was my family coming to your class I would feel a little more at ease in entering a strange classroom. Thank you for sharing.
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