immigrantchildren.ca

People for Education has a series of useful parent tip sheets, in several languages, on a variety of topics related to starting school.

Topics include:

Starting school can be scary for kids and parents ~ Tips to help parents prepare their children for Kindergarten and Grade 1.

What is the role of the Ministry of Education, school boards, schools, teachers and school councils? Who does what.

Parent-teacher interviews ~ How to make the best use of time with your child’s teacher.

Homework help ~ How to support your child in their homework.

Health and physical education and activity ~ Physical, emotional and mental health as key predictors of future quality of life.

High School courses and choices ~ Making the right decisions.

Solving problems at school ~ Tips for parents and children if problems arise at school.

Special Ed ~ All about special education programs for children with challenges and/or learning disAbilities.

EQAO ~ What are the EQAO tests? How can parents help prepare their children?

Tip sheets are currently available in the following languages:

Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu.

Details have been finalized for the 4th annual On New Shores conference. The theme this year is Resilience of immigrants: Coping with stress in various cultural contexts.

The conference, organized by Dr. Susan Chuang will be held Sept 30-Oct 1, 2010 at the University of Guelph, Ontario. The line-up:

Day One: Thursday, September 30

8:00 -9:00 Registration.

9:00-9:15 Welcome and introductions: Serge Desmarais, Associate Vice President and Susan Chuang, Organizer.

9:15-9:30 Dedication: Tom Luster. Strangers in a Strange Land: The ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’, Michigan State University.

9:45-10:35 Michael Ungar, The Social Ecology of Resilience: Culture, Context, Resources, and Meaning, Dalhousie University.

Morning concurrent sessions:

Beyond Stress: Immigrant women facing domestic violence, with Effat Ghassemi and Reza Shahbazi, Newcomer Centre of Peel and New Canadians’ Centre of Excellence, Inc.

Compassion fatigue: Warning signs and practical tools for prevention and resilience, with Jane Bradley, certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist.

Strategy for building resilience in immigrant youth Youth: A Two-tiered mentorship program, with Petra Okeke and Nashila Dharsh, The Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth.

Achors Away, Anchors to Stay, with Rita Francis and Fadia Ismail, YMCA.

Parental exposure to life stress: Mechanisms of resilience in immigrant children, with Kelly Fife and Katholiki Georgiades, McMaster University.

Protection from the storm: Resilience and life satisfaction in US immigrant populations, with Vanessa Alleyne and Claire Wooloff, Montclair State University.

Early afternoon concurrent sessions:

Channels of mother-infant communication across task, development, and culture, with Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, New York University.

Mothers’ reports of fathers’ involvement with children in Mexican immigrant families in the US, with Ziarat Hossain, University of New Mexico.

Stress and resilience among Latino immigrant families, with Jo Ann Farver, University of Southern California.

The Promotion of resilience in the face of challenge among Chinese Canadian youth, with Catherine Costigan, University of Victoria.

Hostile hallways: Chinese American youth experience of peer discrimination in schools, with Erika Niwa, Niobe Way, and Desiree Qin, New York University and Michigan State University.

Ethnic composition of peer groups: Effects on Chinese Canadian and Euro-Canadian children’s adjustment, with Xinyin Chen, University of Pennsylvania.

More than a haircut: Building on strengths and mutual support at the barbershop, with Sarah Marsh, Lorraine Kirlew and Chevy King, Centre for Community Based Research, Macauley Child Development Centre, and York University.

Resilience in Sudanese Refugee Families in Canada, with David Este, Laura Simich and Hayley Hamilton, University of Calgary, and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Immigrants raising citizens: Undocumented parents of the second generation, with Hiro Yoshikawa, Harvard University.

Later afternoon concurrent sessions:

Settlement in the early years: The Distinctive needs of young newcomer children, with Judith Colbert.

Paradoxical patterns in early academic trajectories of newcomer children in Miami, with Jessica deFeyter, Adam Winsler and Yoon  Kim, George Mason University.

Ready, Set, Go: A School readiness program supporting a successful start to kindergarten, with Sarah Liddell, Aisling Discoveries Child and Family Centre.

A Qualitative Investigation of Chinese Youth ‘Growing up in NYC’, with Uwe Gielen, Jonathan Palumbo, and Ting Lei, St. Francis College and Borough of Manhattan College.

Internal migration in Mongolia: The Meaning of being a proper Chinese citizen, with William Jankowiak, University of Nevada.

Dragon seed: A Visual tour of  NYC Chinatown, with Uwe Gielen, St. Francis College.

Fitting in: The Roles of social acceptance and discrimination among Latino youth, with Krista Perreira, Stephanie Potochick and Andrew Fuligni, University of North Carolina and UCLA.

School influences on levels of emotional-behavioural problems among immigrant and ethnic-minority youth, with Katholiki Georgiades, Michael Boyle, and Kelly Fife, McMaster University.

Day Two: Friday, October 1

9:00-11:40 Michael Ungar Workshop: Clinical interventions to nurture resilience among culturally diverse youth and their families.

Poster presentations:

Sudanese Families ~ In Honour of Dr. Tom Luster, Michigan State University.

The Influence of racialized experiences on the identities of Sudanese refugee youth, by Deborah Johnson, Andrew Saltarelli and Desiree Qin.

“My culture helps me make good decisions”: Cultural appropriation and adaptation of Sudanese refugee youth, by Desiree Qin, Andrew Saltarelli, Laura Bates et al.

Successful adjustment among Sudanese unaccompanied minors: Perspectives of youth and their foster parents, by Tom Luster, Desiree Qin, Laura Bates et al.

Fostering Sudanese refugee youth: Parent perspectives, by Laura Bates, Deborah Johnson, Meenal Rana et al.

Immigrant parents and adolescents negotiating time and space
Lynda Ashbourne, University of Guelph.

Newcomer youth from five provinces: Exploration of challenges and coping strategies, by Susan Chuang, Sarah Rasmi, Maria Garces et al., University of Guelph.

Understanding Violence and Healing: Voices of Racialized Young People in Vancouver and Toronto, by Neringa Kubiliene, Miu-Chung Yan, Sarah Maiter et al., University of British Columbia and York University.

A Model of alcohol use among Latino adolescents: Exploring the influence of generational status, by Miriam Martinez, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The Settlement sector: The Profession, by Jacqueline McAdam and Caroline Lai, Global Trek.

Inquiry in English with different proficiency: A Youth leadership program at Toronto’s Chinatown, by Yamin Qian, University of Toronto.

Acculturation and family relationships: Uncovering the narratives of Chinese-Canadian immigrant youth, by Christine Tardif-Williams,
Brock University.

Afternoon Concurrent sessions:

Promoting resilience in war-affected youth, with Chandi Fernando, University of Toronto.

Stress and resilience among Liberian and Burundian refugee adolescents and their families, with Madeleine Currie, Hiro Yoshikawa, and Steven Weine, Harvard University.

Impact of war on teaching and relations among teachers of Buduburam refugee camps in Ghana, with Salome Priase Otami, Christiane Noi-Akwei1 and Benjamin Aflakpui, Central University College, Cape Town, South Africa.

Conceptualizations of resilience in refugee mental health, with Laura Simich and Wade Pickre, Ryerson University and Central for Addiction and Mental Health.

Conceptual and methodological issues for studying immigrant child mental health and school achievement, with Katholiki Georgiades, Michael Boyle, and Kelly Fife, McMaster University.

Diversity in action: Adapting mental health services in Canada, with Anne Dupré, Psychology Foundation of Canada.

El Vaivén: Return migration and education in Puerto Rico and Mexico, with Sandra Soto-Santiago and Luis Moll, University of Arizona.

Transnational entrepreneurship: Immigrant family perspective, with Benson Honig, McMaster University.

4:00-4:30 Future directions & Concluding remarks

To register, or if you have questions, contact: Dr. Susan Chuang, schuang@uoguelph.ca | 519-824-4120, ext. 58389.

The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women and Women Living Under Muslim Laws has released a new study  by Shaina Greiff. No Justice in Justifications: Violence against Women in the Name of Culture, Religion and Tradition (PDF). From the study:

“It is important to demystify the concepts of culture and religion, exposing the vested interests of those who claim to represent authen- ticity, and bringing to light alternative visions in order to protect womens human rights. As Ashish Nandy argues, the greatest tradition of all is the reinvention of tradition. This concept represents the key strategy of the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning women: what oppresses women is the patriarchal reading of Islam, or any religion or culture, articulated and violently maintained by men in power. Women must reclaim and redefine their culture(s) as legitimate members of local and global communities”.

Mothercraft, with funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, will  offer a 2nd year of their ‘Caring for Canada’s Children’ webinar/in-class course for practitioners working with newcomer children and families. The series builds on year one and will “delve further into the issues that many newcomer families face through the immigration process. This examination will be done through presentations, case studies and practical interactive learning opportunities” (Source: Email blast to former participants).

Archived presentations from Year 1 are available here in English and also here in French.

Year 2 offerings:

1. Building cross-cultural competence (Sept 22, 2010)
2. Building trusting relationships with families: Towards a motivational understanding of change (Oct 13, 2010)
3. Promoting children’s mental health (Nov 10, 2010)
4. Understanding attachment: How early relationships influence the brain’s architecture (Dec 8, 2010)
5. Building circles of support through service coordination (Jan 19, 2011)
6. Developing relationships with child welfare services (Feb 16, 2011).

For more information, including how to register, visit the Mothercraft Caring for Canada’s Children website.

The Childminding Monitoring, Advisory and Support initiative (CMAS), the federally funded organization mandated to monitor and support childminding services associated with LINC programs (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) has produced a series of tip sheets for both caregivers of newcomer children, and administrators of childminding programs.

The current set includes “Inclusion in Newcomer Children’s Programs” and “Building the Caregiver Infant Relationship”. Download the PDF tip sheets here.

Mothercraft‘s Caring for Canada’s Children webinar series for settlement workers (announced on immigrantchildren.ca in Sept, 2009), has concluded. The series of 12 online lectures is now available for viewing at their archives page set up here. The series is also available in French.

Today’s Globe and Mail (G&M) reports on a story about a young Christian woman who converted to Islam as a teen, without her parent’s knowledge. She empathizes with Aqsa Parvez and other teens who are not in step with their parents beliefs. She wishes she had someone to talk to when she was navigating/negotiating her beliefs with her parents.

The story tells us that such help is available: a help line, called Naseeha, or “advice” in Arabic has been in existence since 2005 and operates out of Mississauga. Ostensibly, like the Kids Help Phone line (est. 1989) the advice line provides advice and support, but specifically support to Muslim youth who are, according to the story experiencing “the pull between two worlds”. The now 27-year Muslim convert says the murder of Aqsa Parvez and other so-called “honour killings” are not Muslim issues, but cultural issues and that phone lines like Naseeha respond to the specific issues experienced by newcomer children and youth.

If you surf over to Kids Help Phone, you can see that among the FAQ kids pose are questions related to discrimination, prejudice, diversity and inclusion. The G&M says that Tarek Fatah, a frequent critic of Fundamentalist Muslim practices in Canada, calls the advice line “anti-Western” and believes advice provided would be critical of Canadian ways.

In response, the co-founder of Naseeha defends the need for a separate advice line: ‘You have a Mercedes, you take it to a Mercedes mechanic’. Further: “We lead them to the facts in the Koran, and to what they want to do. We don’t decide on someone’s behalf”.

What do you think? Do immigrant/refugee children and youth need a separate advice help line?

immigrantchildren.ca ends its top ten series with the Top 10 tweeps on issues specific to immigrant and refugee children and youth. Thanks to all for suggestions via DM, comments left here or by email to me directly.

1. http://twitter.com/CRINwire ~ “CRIN is a global network coordinating and promoting information and action on child rights”. CRIN stands for Child Rights Information Network.
   
2. http://twitter.com/UNICEF ~ “Founded in 1946, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized”.
3. http://twitter.com/Anniekidder ~  The woman behind People for Education.
4. http://twitter.com/supportKIND ~ “Protecting the rights of refugee and immigrant children in the United States”. But not just tweets about US.
5. http://twitter.com/RightToPlayCAN ~ The Right to Play movement.
6. http://twitter.com/immigrantyouth ~ “Conceive ideas. cultivate leadership. connect youth”.
7. http://twitter.com/yLINC ~ “online web portal for newcomer youth between the ages of 18-24, designed to serve as an enriching and interactive online experience”.
8. http://twitter.com/freethechildren ~ Brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. News on migrant children’s rights and global movements to support child rights.
9. http://twitter.com/wrcommission ~ “Advocating for laws, policies and programs to improve the lives and protect the rights of refugee and displaced women, children and youth”.
10. http://twitter.com/Girls20Summit ~ 2 days before the “official” G20 Summit, this organization will bring together women and girls from around the world to Toronto. No doubt migration, refugee and racism will be among top issues. Cool website too, with lots of useful information.

Top 10 international twitter accounts. Inclusion on my lists does not imply endorsement or support for these organizations; it’s just that they are some of the tweeps I follow to keep me informed about what’s going on in immigration, multiculturalism, diversity and etc. And, as in previous editions of this series, I’ve included the bio provided by the tweep itself in quotations, with my comments following. This list is overly American, I know. Please send suggestions for more international flavours.

1. http://twitter.com/CitiesMigration ~ “An international project showcasing innovative ideas on immigrant integration from major cities across the world”.
2. http://twitter.com/migrationwatch ~ “(A)n independent think tank chaired by Sir Andrew Green. We have a distinguished Advisory Council from diverse ethnic and professional backgrounds”. The UK. Interestingly, they don’t follow anyone.
3. http://twitter.com/ImmPolicyCenter ~”PC is an immigration research and advocacy org that seeks to shape a rational national conversation on immigration through its research and analysis”.  USA.
4. http://twitter.com/forcedmigration ~ “Forced Migration Online (FMO) provides instant access to a wide variety of online resources dealing with the situation of forced migrants worldwide”.
5. http://twitter.com/ImmigrationTwit ~”Reliable immigration news updates, in plain English. Expert-practitioners filter dozens of sources; you get all the facts: Your Immigration Insiders’ Digest!”.  US focus, with some international content.
   
6. http://twitter.com/langology ~ “Fun with language, language and linguistic news, links, events, research and more”. Where do they find this stuff?
7. http://twitter.com/statelessness ~ “(P)rogram coordinator @ OPEN SOCIETY JUSTICE INITIATIVE. tweeting & thinking about citizenship & statelessness”.
8. http://twitter.com/DiversityExec ~ “awareness – impact – action” from the US-based Diversity Executive magazine.
9. http://twitter.com/nprpolitics ~ “Political coverage and conversation from NPR News”.
10. http://twitter.com/TheEconomist ~ “Official site for The Economist“.

Coming next . . . top ten tweeps on research sources and top ten tweeps on immigrant, refugee children and youth. Send me your picks!

This is my next installment of “A Little Bird Told Me”, a series of of the top ten twitter accounts that I follow to keep up with news, information and resources on immigration, multiculturalism, citizenship, diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. The twitter URL will be listed, along with any official description provided by the tweeter(s), or my own synopsis, if there isn’t an official bio.

Let me know who I’m missing!

1. http://twitter.com/marcopolis ~ Marco Campana. “I post about social media in social services/for social change, immigration, integration and diversity issues in Toronto, Ontario, Canada”. If you care about immigration/settlement issues, you need to follow @marcopolis.
   
2. http://twitter.com/MinJK ~ the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. MinJK, nick-named Curry-in-a-Hurry, due to his many appearances at cultural events across the country, used to tweet a lot. Now, not so much? Maybe because @CitImmCanada, the official government department is tweeting? (NB: I also follow all of the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration who are on twitter).
3. http://twitter.com/nicknoorani ~ Nick Noorani, the man behind canadianimmigrant.
4. http://twitter.com/gaystephenson ~ Gay Stephenson, the “Online communications manager at People for Education”
   
5. http://twitter.com/DrEricHoskins ~ Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (and co-founder of War Child).
6. http://twitter.com/timhudak ~ “Leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party and MPP for Niagara West Glanbrook”. Mr. Hudak is also the PC critic for citizenship and immigration.
   
7. http://twitter.com/IrshadManji ~ “Director, Moral Courage Project @ NYU”. Author of The Trouble with Islam. Although she currently lives and works in the US, she’s Canada’s answer to Camille Paglia (talks and thinks fast and is provocative and funny).
8. http://twitter.com/SamanthaNutt ~ “Founder and Executive Director of War Child North America. Assistant Prof at UofT. Public speaker, writer, activist and squeeky wheel”. Good tweets with an international persepctive.
9. http://twitter.com/georgefwill ~ “The unofficial George F Will. Conservative columnist, television personality and author”. Brilliant, articulate and insightful pundit, offering US perspectives.
10. http://twitter.com/rickmercer ~ because who in Canada doesn’t follow Rick Mercer?

The first “A Little Bird Told Me”, was my top ten Canadian organization tweeps.

Starting today, immigrantchildren.ca is running a series of top ten twitter accounts – those that I follow to keep up with news, information and resources on immigration, multiculturalism, citizenship, diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. The twitter URL will be listed, along with any official description provided by the tweeter(s), or my own synopsis, if there isn’t an official bio. Let me know who I’m missing!

This week:

Top 10 Canadian organizations

1. http://twitter.com/maytree_canada ~ Maytree Canada. “Promoting equity and prosperity with a focus on immigration, integration and diversity”.
2. http://twitter.com/ICCICC ~ The Institute for Canadian Citizenship. Putting the culture in multiculturalism.
3. http://twitter.com/canimmigrant ~ Canadian Immigrant magazine. Lots of info.
4. http://twitter.com/cdnexperience ~ “News & info for unique civic literacy project – 52-week Canadian series for all Canadians. Launching May 2010″. Fun, interesting and useful.
5. http://twitter.com/ccrweb ~ Canadian Council for Refugees. “The Canadian Council for Refugees is committed to the rights and protection of refugees in Canada and around the world”. Not just refugees, the CCR also tweets on immigration generally.
   
6. http://twitter.com/imminewscda ~ “Offering a wide range of current news articles about immigration issues in Canada”. Not a lot of followers yet, but promising.
7. http://twitter.com/issbc ~ Immigrant Services Society of BC. “Helping immigrants build a future in Canada with ESL, settlement and career services”. Good info for newcomers, and those who work with them.
   
8. http://twitter.com/LoonLounge ~ The Loon Lounge: “LoonLounge is a place to meet people and learn about life in Canada and the Canadian immigration experience”. Good tweets for newcomers.
9. http://twitter.com/rdrpeel ~ Regional Diversity Roundtable, Region of Peel. “A network of organizations and institutions committed to building inclusion and diversity competence that results in the institutionalization of equity in their core values, structures, workforce, policies and services”.
10. http://twitter.com/MosaicInstitute ~ The Mosaic Institute: “Harnessing Diverse Resources for International Peace and Development”. New-ish, not a lot of tweets, but potentially very interesting.
    

Next in this series, the top ten individuals I follow. Could you be one of them?

The Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Services Agencies of BC (AMSSA) in February (see immigrantchildren.ca post) launched The Newcomer Children Information Exchange (NCIE) to share information, resources and announce events related to newcomer children in British Columbia.

One of the proposed activities of NCIE was to regularly put out an information bulletin. From the March 2010 Bulletin:

“The Bulletin will explore different topics related to newcomer children. There are a number of service providers, educators and researchers currently working with newcomer children to help them succeed, but their work is rarely documented. The ANCIE Bulletins will provide an opportunity to feature some of their work, strategies, service models, success stories and/or research. Each issue will also include a relevant case study“.

The March 2010 Bulletin is now available. It highlights some demographic facts about newcomer children in BC. The next bulletin will focus on English as a Second Language. Future bulletins will focus on:

• Early Childhood Education
• Health and Wellness
• Refugee Children.