immigrantchildren.ca

On Family Literacy Day, immigrantchildren.ca invites you to visit the CMAS Canada Expert Corner to read four of Alka Burman’s articles on building a literacy rich environment for newcomer children.

Alka Burman is an Early Literacy Specialist, with years of experience working with children, families, early education programs and communities in building literacy capacity. The four articles are:

Math skills made fun for children

Choosing books for young children

Print all around us

Constructive play in early learning.

The series is also available as a PDF.

New research from Childcare & Early Education Research on how classroom dynamics predict peer interaction among diverse children (diverse in ethnicity and home language). From their website, this description of the research:

“The researchers of this study tested a model designed to predict the peer interaction behaviors of preschool children of diverse race, ethnic, and home language backgrounds. The model itself used dimensions from the classroom, such as group size, affective climate of the classroom, teacher management, and other factors related to teacher-child relationship quality. As part of the National Evaluation of Early Head Start, eight hundred children were observed in classroom settings interacting with their peers, and the various classroom dimensions were observed as well. The researchers found that classroom dimensions had a significant impact on peer interaction behavior. For example, children in classrooms with smaller group sizes were more likely to engage in pretend play, and less likely to be a victim of peer aggression. In addition, children in these smaller classrooms were rated as less aggressive, as well as less anxious. In classrooms with lower peer climates, children were more likely to be the victim of aggressive peer behavior”.

From the website:

“At the initiative of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 26 September. Throughout Europe, 800 million Europeans represented in the Council of Europe‘s 47 member states are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. Being convinced that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent, the Council of Europe promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe”.

Toronto, Ontario, September 6^th 2011 – Rainbow Caterpillar is proud to launch the Rainbow Caterpillar Award for Writing for Children to support writers who write in their mother languages.  The Award will be awarded to the best story written by a Canadian citizen (or resident) in a language other than French or English.

“By encouraging writers to write in their mother language, we want to help create a vibrant literary production for children in foreign languages, but with a uniquely Canadian perspective,” says Happie Testa, co-owner of Rainbow Caterpillar Bookstore.

Submissions are due on October 6th. Guildelines will be available online at Rainbow Caterpillar .

“We hope ultimately this award also helps parents pass their mother language on to their children born or raised in Canada,” says Hanoosh Abbasi, co-owner of Rainbow Caterpillar. “We feel that it is important for parents to have access to good books from their countries of origin, but also to put their ancestral culture in the context of our shared Canadian culture where many people speak more than one language on a daily basis.”

The Award will be presented in conjunction with the Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA) at the Association’s own 33^rd Annual Awards Gala. CEMA is an organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the value to Canada of the ethnic media in creating an understanding of Canada and Canadian citizenship, and the retention of cultural links with countries of origin.

For more information, contact Happie Testa at 647-975-8800 or happie@rainbowcaterpillar.ca.

immigrantchildren.ca has highlighted International Literacy Day (Sept 8th) and Family Literacy Day (Jan 9th) by posting lists of children’s book about immigration in the past. See, for example Children’s books about immigration.

This year, I present a compilation of lines from four of my favourite ABC books for children – all with a decidedly Canadian theme (Sources listed at the end of the post). This is part of a larger piece I wrote entitled “Landscapes and Ethnoscapes in Children’s Books: The Picture Book as Immigrant Literature”. (These are all in print and available from your local public library and local independent bookshops).

A is for Autumn, often called fall. A is for Alberta, hear the rodeo call? (Pachter)

B is for two Bobbys, with last names of Hull and Orr (Napier & Rose)

C is for the Canadian Shield that stretches far and wide. Rivers, forests, and tundra cover most of our countryside (Gorman & Rose)

D is for Ducks, swimming in style, and D is for Dock, a place to sit for a while (Pachter)

E is for “Eh”, our national obsession for ending each sentence, not with a period, but a question. It’s a Canadian habit, as polite as you please, to give every listener the change to agree (Ulmer & Rose)

Old Fort William is for F. Journey back into the day when traders met to swap their goods near a place called Thunder Bay (Gorman & Rose)

G stands for Grain and the valleys of wheat that ripple through the prairies in the dry, summer heat. Our western-grown bounty is a gift to the globe, for the bread of the world comes from seed that we’ve sown (Ulmer & Rose)

H is for Hockey, the game that we play from summer’s last whisper to snow’s melting away. We may never grow to be NHL starts but it’s something we care for; it’ll always be ours (Ulmer & Rose)

I is for Identity and Igloo and such. Canada is cool, I love it so much (Pachter)

Take a unique adventure and discover the choice for J. The Polar Bear Express will take you to Ontario’s north: James Bay (Gorman & Rose)

K is for Klondike and the hunger for gold that drew thousands of miners to the northerly cold. The men made their journey by mule, foot, and teams to pan for their fortunes in the cold running streams (Ulmer & Rose)

L is for Louisbourg and the garrison that stands as evidence of France colonizing this land. Royal Navy cannons dealt a final defeat; you can still hear their echo in the shops and the street (Ulmer & Rose)

M is for Sir John A. Macdonald from Kingston, we can boast. The first prime minister of our country uniting us from coast to coast (Gorman & Rose)

N is for Northern, the great Northern Lights, those mystery visions that light u our nights. The Innu believed that the lights showed a game being played by the Sky People in their heavenly domain (Ulmer & Rose)

O is for Ojibwa, just one of the tribes that spanned this vast country before settlers arrived. We’re Canadians all, but we must never forget that our land was their land and we owe them a debt (Ulmer & Rose)

P is for Peterson and in jazz or in swing, he is musical royalty, the piano’s grand king. He played with the greatest on stages world ’round, yet no one could copy his magical sound (Ulmer & Rose)

Quebec is where I always go to ski in “neige” – that’s French for snow. Oh pity the countries who must make do with just one language instead of two (Ulmer & Rose)

R is for Red Barn Reflected, what beautiful colours the artist collected (Pachter)

S is for our heroine – Laura Secord is her name. It was the braveness of her actions that brought her glory and fame (Gorman & Rose)

T means Toronto, a place where they say you can spend a year doing something different each day (Gorman & Rose)

U is for Upper Canada, a British Colony way back when. In 1867 it became Ontario, one province out of ten (Gorman & Rose)

Victoria in Canada is the most common name for cities and roads all named in her reign (Ulmer & Rose)

W is for Winter, look at that snow! (Pachter)

X marked the spot where the Last Spike was driven; it was done with a hammer, not the cut of a ribbon. And with the last spike we could finally proclaim that we were a nation united by train (Ulmer & Rose)

Y is for two glorious Canadian years – the Summit Series and Salt Lake Games (Napier & Rose)

Z is for Zenith, the highest and best. A good place to end, and a good time to rest (Pachter).

Sources:

A is for Algonquin: An Ontario Alphabet, written by Lovenia Gorman. Illustrated by Melanie Rose. 2005. Sleeping Bear Press.

M is for Moose: A Charles Pachter Alphabet, written and illustrated by Charles Pachter. 2008. Cormorant Books Inc.

M is for Maple: A Canadian Alphabet, written by Mike Ulmer. Illustrated by Melanie Rose. 2001. Sleeping Bear Press.

Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet, written by Matt Napier. Illustrated by Melanie Rose. 2001. Sleeping Bear Press.

Coming soon, a ZERO TO THREE edited collection of essays on language and literacy development in the very young child, entitled Cradling Literacy. ZERO TO THREE is making available now one of the chapters, “Cultural influences on early language and literacy teaching practices” (PDF), by Rebecca Parlakian, ZERO TO THREE and Sylviay Sanchez, George Mason University. From the announcement:

“Children learn to communicate in the context of their home culture. Beginning at birth, children use their home language and culturally accepted communication styles to connect with others in a meaningful way, forming the secure relationships that are so intrinsic to healthy development. For the early childhood teacher, it is important to establish supportive, respectful relationships as well-with both families and children. These connections help teachers learn more about the strengths, needs, and culture of every child in their care. Collaborative relationships with families also provide teachers with the information they need to support children’s individual language and literacy development. By creating a richly diverse and welcoming environment, by remaining aware of their own cultural beliefs (and biases), and by identifying a variety of teaching strategies to share the magic of print and language, early childhood teachers can spark a lifelong love of reading in the children they care for”.

Related resource (and a Canadian one too!): mylanguage.ca.

The Family Support Institute Ontario will be hosting a conference and pre-conference session (on parent engagement) from Nov 17-20, 2010 in Toronto. Two sessions are focused on newcomer children and families:

Anti Bias Literacy Environments

In this workshop we will look at creating anti bias literacy environments that promote the concept of empathy. Supporting a child’s transition from home language over to English language learning will also be a focus of this workshop. Ideas for creating anti bias literacy activities will also be included through early authoring, book nook transformations and parent involvement. Small group brainstorming will identify challenges that we face and the successes that we share. A portion of the workshop will also be devoted to common myths around English language learners, and some mainstream ideas around home language preservation and the best practices in promoting bilingualism. Presenter: Alka Burman, Early Literacy Specialist, Region of Peel.

Listening to Families: Reframing Services

This interactive workshop will give participants an overview of the Listening to Families: Reframing Services project, which is premised on our belief that if service providers knew the rich and complex stories of the families they serve, they could reach out to more families who are not benefiting from their services, and increase the effectiveness of their work for families they already serve. Examples of family narratives will be shared with participants and a comprehensive bibliography will also be provided. Presenters: Mehru Ali, Patricia Corson and Elaine Frankel, Ryerson University. (Source: conference program).

For more info, visit the conference webpage or email conference2010@fsio.ca.

The 2nd call from the Harvard Educational Review, HER (see above), is specifically made to immigrant children and youth (Source nameorg.org listserv):

How has my family, school, and/or communities impacted my educational goals and experiences in the United States? To All Children & Youth Growing Up in Immigrant Homes and Communities

“Dear teachers and students, The Harvard Educational Review (HER) is planning to publish a special issue on Diverse Experiences of Immigrant Children and Youth in Education in order to extend and reframe the dialogue on immigration issues in the United States by bringing multiple voices and perspectives of researchers, practitioners, families, and students in conversation.

“As part of this project, we are looking for personal essays, stories, and visual art from children and youth who have been directly shaped by immigration experience.

“Student writers could be a child of immigrant parents or have immigrated to the U.S. with or without their families. We are interested in publishing stories related to children and youths’ educational experiences, and in particular, how these experiences are shaped by their families, communities, religious institutions, community organizations, or society at large.

“While the topic of immigration is always relevant, the recent enactment of new immigration laws in Arizona and the surrounding protests, debates, and legal battles, have once again thrust this ongoing theme into the forefront of our collective consciousness. Unfortunately, the discussions surrounding this and other immigration-related news stories tend towards simplified understandings of immigration and the immigrant experience, and often portray immigrants and their children as a national crisis, or burden that must be managed, rather than as a complex, rich, and growing part of our national fabric. Equally important, the voices of immigrants, and immigrant youth especially, are too often excluded from mainstream media, policy, and academic outlets even in discussions of education, where youth experience is central. Contrary to such approaches, we as the editorial board of HER summon other immigrant stories left untold, and at times, silenced by seeking the direct involvement of young people as authors and experts on their lives and
educations”.

Proposal submission information:

“We are accepting submissions from PreK-12 students whose lives have been touched and shaped by immigration experience anywhere in the U.S. We are particularly interested in stories related to educational experience, but we realize that “educational experiences” can occur in many locations besides schools.  We are open to receiving multiple types of personal stories about growing up in immigrant homes and communities. However, we are not looking for an overall generic essay about your entire life. Rather, we are looking for specific in-depth stories you choose to tell with illuminating details and rich descriptions”.

For submissions and questions, e-mail HER at the following address: HER_youth_submissions@gse.harvard.edu

Proposal Submission Deadline: December 15, 2010.

It looks like Ryerson University is working to launch a research institute devoted to immigration and settlement issues. Good luck to them. As part of this initiative, they are calling for proposals for a conference entitled “Migration and the Global City”. The conference, a launch to the proposed research centre, tentatively called the Ryerson Institute on Immigration and Settlement (RISS), will be held on the Ryerson campus from October 29-31, 2010.

A call for papers has been released here. Of particular interest to immigrantchildren.ca, conference themes include; Children and Youth; Citizenship, Migration and Identity; Precarious and Temporary Status; and Settlement Services.

The conference will feature a range of activities, including day-trips to local immigrant/settlement locations, a film-documentary screening and art-show, and a possible “CIHR-funded pre-conference on immigrant and refugee children and youth” (Source: Ryerson website). Ryerson – do let us know at immigrantchildren.ca how we can support this important inclusion!

Deadline for abstract submission is June 15, 2010.

The Canadian Association of Family Resource Centres (FRP Canada) has released a special edition of their journal, Perspectives in Family Support with a focus on immigrant families:

In “The Participation of Immigrant Families in the Activities of Family Resource Programs”, Marie Rhéaume reports on a research study conducted in Québéc that examined the issues and “distances” between immigrant mothers and Québécois mothers and found that, overall, family resource centres because of the “values that underlie the work of these community-based organizations, particularly the climate of respect, help build bridges between the two groups”. For more on the study, see here.

In “Taking an Advocacy With Approach”, as opposed to an advocacy for approach, Lianne Fisher argues for the importance of self-reflection of family resource practitioners who work with newcomers to recognize and resolve possible stigmatizing and marginalizing that may occur when practitioners seek to help newcomers.

An excerpt of “Phase 2 of FRP Canada’s Welcome Here Project: A Summary Report of Lessons Learned”, also available on the FRP Canada website welcomehere.ca.

The issue of cultural adaptation and/or interpretation v. simple translation is covered by Betsy Mann in “Reflecting on Issues of Translation and Interpretation”.

Researcher Dr. Judith K. Bernhard writes on “What are the Essential Elements of Valid Research? The Problem of ‘Data’ and their Collection in Cross-Cultural Contexts” from a personal viewpoint as both an immigrant to Canada and now a practicing academic in immigrant-family related studies.

Two more sources for children’s books about immigration, culture, and etc., following on three of the most popular posts on immigrantchildren.ca:

Children’s books about immigration, originally posted January 2008

Children’s books about immigration II, originally posted March 2008

Children’s books about immigration III, originally posted Oct 2008.

See the page “Anti-Bias and Multicultural Books for Children” on the website by A World of Difference. Also recommended on the NAME listserv is an annotated bibliography by Gresilda A. Tilley-Lubbs, of the Second Language Education program at VirginiaTech. Here is the bibliography in PDF.

We’re building quite a comprehensive selection of multicultural, multilingual books for young children to learn about culture, multiculturalism, anti-bias and equity. Please add more!

In response to community-level needs for empirical data on special populations and on small populations, Dr. Magdalena Janus and her colleagues at the Canadian Council on Learning presents “Patterns of school readiness among selected subgroups of Canadian children: Children with special needs and children with diverse language backgrounds”.

School readiness between children without special needs and whose first language was either English or French was compared to the school readiness of children with special needs whose first language was neither English/French.