A family who recently moved from back home is experiencing some trouble with their kids being in school. The dad is at work most of the day and the mom who can’t speak English or in fact can hardly read or write it is clueless on how to help her kids with their homework/school activities. The kids are having trouble as well but they are very bright and enthusiastic. I offered to help but I can do that only 3 times a week when they come for their lessons at the Qur’an class where I take my kids. I also asked the lady to enroll herself and the kids at ESL classes. They can’t afford a tutor. Any other suggestions?
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
Which part of the world are we talking about? In Canada - high school are pretty good (at least when I was in them). Someone can point it out to the teacher - so they can keep a closer eye on these students and help them as necessary.
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
This is in the US. PrinceMS, the school is very supportive but obviously the family doesn't want the kids to feel left behind as they are very smart and are so willing to adjust. It's just a little hard right now but I was just looking for ideas to help their transition become smoother.
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
Not a big deal the kids learn and adjust fast , I have seen many such cases the kids ultimately ended up in Berkley , Harvard and other big name schools.
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
And these kids will too. They are very smart like I said. On a side note, Gosh, you should hear their Qur'an recitation. Amazing.
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
If you live in USA, there is a federal mandate that all children receive ESL tutoring at no cost to the parents. The school must provide this by law...but sometimes, the parent needs to request it in order to receive it. Perhaps you can help them with this? They'd have to start with the school principal who is supposed to assist in having these services put in place. This is one of the better uses for all the taxes we pay!
Schools are also required to provide reasonable accomodation to the parents as far as translations of school reports, translator available for parent-teacher conferences etc.
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
Thanks MO3. I will let them know about this. Thanks.
Re: Mommies who don’t speak English
Here’s a website that explains the “no child left behind” act that was put in place by the federal govt in US. All of the benefits and extra services that can be provided should be explained in there…
http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/involve/nclbguide/parentsguide.html
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
hey my mom doesn't speak a word of english and my dad can rarely continue a conversation longer than 10 minutes in english and us kids (5 of us of which 3 born here) have adapted and see no difference between those kids whose parents speak english. there are thousands of such families, don't worry, Allah has His own plans.. :)
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
Cricket, thats really wonderful! But I'm sure your parents felt bad occasionally when they couldnt have a good parent-teacher conference...or speak to parents of your classmates.
If services to assist in translation and ESL are mandated and available at no cost (well except for the taxes we all pay lol!)....why not take advantage?
Cricket, thats really wonderful! But I'm sure your parents felt bad occasionally when they couldnt have a good parent-teacher conference...or speak to parents of your classmates.
If services to assist in translation and ESL are mandated and available at no cost (well except for the taxes we all pay lol!)....why not take advantage?
yes i think so i and my sister would of performed a little better if the communication between our parents and teachers were there... but alhamdulilah, im in uni and sister in college..all fine. as for 3 little ones, i do the parent teacher thing.
and yes, when we first came here (Canada), i was 7, we were put in welcome classes where they taught us basic french (french system here) , so we had no trouble learning. as for parents trying to learn the language, quite difficult, dad always working and mom (a village girl lol) was/is a stay-at-home mom.
anyways, as for the OP, i think the school system here in the west is really supportive so there should not be any worries for the children, they will catch up fast. as for parents, i think some1 should be there as a translater,..
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
Thanks for the info MO3 and Crickey, that's wonderful. And that's so sweet of you to attend your siblings Parent-Teacher meets.
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
Niksik, ESL classes for the mom sounds good. I know in CHicago there are several non profits doing ESL and computer classes for immigrants. Hopefully there is something similiar in your area that this mom can utilize and take part in her kids' school activities. Also some libraries have free home work help as well incase the kids needed it.
yes i think so i and my sister would of performed a little better if the communication between our parents and teachers were there... but alhamdulilah, im in uni and sister in college..all fine. as for 3 little ones, i do the parent teacher thing.
and yes, when we first came here (Canada), i was 7, we were put in welcome classes where they taught us basic french (french system here) , so we had no trouble learning. as for parents trying to learn the language, quite difficult, dad always working and mom (a village girl lol) was/is a stay-at-home mom.
anyways, as for the OP, i think the school system here in the west is really supportive so there should not be any worries for the children, they will catch up fast. as for parents, i think some1 should be there as a translater,..
hey i'm a village girl and stay at home mom too.
hey i'm a village girl and stay at home mom too.
only difference ur my baji :D
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
ESL is great for the kids. They will get the hang of it in no time.
There are also free classses in community college for English for parents
in chicago area plz tell me name and adress if you can for ESL
Re: Mommies who don't speak English
The school the children attend should have some sort of community support officer that will help the parents.
Most schools I have worked in in the UK have ran ESL courses for parents and they have worked very successfully.
in chicago area plz tell me name and adress if you can for ESL
You should call the principal of your child's school and request an evaluation. I will also start a new thread when I can on "public education in US - rights of parents, children and available options" because there are SO very many services that are offered - free of charge and mandated by the government - that many parents may not know about.
My sister used to work for the Muslim Women Resource Center on Devon St. She used to teach computer classes there and did some other programs, and the women she met through there were awesome. I think kids also stop by there to use computers after school etc. Women loved this place since there were no men, all the staff is female too. Here is a link to their programs.
Programs
There is another called Indo American Center Chicago. My mom used to go there to prep for citizenship questions. Here is a link to their programs.
IAC Services
These are the only two off the top of my head. You can call and find out if they work out for you. I am sure there are plenty more organisations like that.
Sorry Niksik to hijack your thread. Now carry on 