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WorkingwithBilingual
ParentVolunteers
byJudieHaynes

Developaresourceofparentswhocanhelp
translate,interpret,andcommunicate
Envisageaclassroomwhereyouhavebilingual
parenthelpersforeachofyournonEnglish
speakers!Imaginethatyourschoolhasa
resourceofparentswhocanhelptranslate,
interpret,andcommunicate.Thisdreamcan
becomearealityifyoubegina"BilingualParent
Volunteers"program.Bilingualparentvolunteers
areschoolandcommunitymemberswhospeak
thelanguagesofyourESL/bilingualpopulation.
TheyareawonderfulassettoclassroomandESL
teachers.Startingthisprogramiswork.Butin
theend,yourschoolwillreapthebenefitsin
yearstocome.

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RelatedLinks
EstablishinganAtmosphereof
Acceptance
HowDoesYourSchoolRate?
PairYourNewcomerswithBuddies
SensitizeYourMainstreamStudents

Startabilingualvolunteerprogram
Bilingualparentvolunteerscanworkinthe
mainstreamclassroomwithallfirstyearESL
students.Startbyrecruitingafewapproachable
parents.Theydonothavetobeparentswhose
childrenareinESL.Infact,moreestablished
bilingualparentswillprobablybemoreableto
help.Askthemtohelpanewsecondlanguage
learnerinthemainstreamclassroomforanhour
afewtimesaweek.Arrangeforthevolunteer
andtheclassroomteachertomeetandseta
timeconvenientforboth.Onceyourhaveafew
volunteersworkingwithstudentssuccessfully,
thewordwillspread.
InviteparentswhoarelimitedEnglishspeakers
tohelpalso.Theseparentscanbeanextrapair
ofhandsinalargeclass.Theycanhelpwith
specialprojects,makephotocopiesofwork,put
upbulletinboardsandcompleteotherjobs.

Trainbilingualparentvolunteers

DoyouhaveanESLorbilingual
educationrelatedquestion?Nowis
yourchancetoaskme.

Considertrainingyourparentvolunteers.Itis
worththetime.Anadministrator,ESL,or
bilingualteacherswouldbeobviouschoiceto
trainthem.Classroomteachersneedtobe
preparedforthevolunteers.Setupascheduleso
thattheclassroomteacherknowswhena
volunteeriscoming.He/sheshouldidentify
specifictaskstheywantdone.Providethe
volunteerwithinterestingandvariedmaterialsto
usewiththenewcomers.Givethevolunteer
concretefeedbackduringthefirstfewsessions.
Ifyouwantthemtousepositiveratherthan
negativereinforcers,forexample,lethimorher
knowrightaway.Ifitistoodistractingtohave
thevolunteerworkinyourclassroomfindaquiet
placeforthepairtowork.Teachersofstudents
ingrades4andupshouldaskthatvolunteers
workoutsidetheclassroomnewcomersatthis
ageareveryselfconsciousaboutreceivingextra
help.Besurethevolunteerknowswhattodoin
theeventofafiredrill.

Everyonegains
Everyonegainsfromtheparticipationofbilingual
parentvolunteersinaschool.Theschoolbenefits
fromanincreaseinthequalityof
communicationswiththeparentsoftheir
languageminoritypopulation.Theclassroom
teachergetsextrahelpwithhernewstudents.
Themainstreamstudentsbenefitfromthe
culturalinputofthebilingualparents.
Newcomersbenefitbothsociallyand
academically,andtheirparentsarerelievedof
muchanxietyabouttheirchildren.Bilingual
volunteershavestatedthattheybenefitfroma
growthofselfesteemandprideintheirculture.
Theyfeelmorecomfortableintheschooland
oftendevelopfriendshipswiththeteachersthey
help.

Bilingualparentvolunteerscanhelp:
Becomealiaisonbetweenanew
familyandtheschool
Ifyouhaveinformationyouwanttomake
suretheparentsofyourESLstudents
understand,onewayistoaskthe
volunteerstocallthemandintroduce
themselves.Theycanexplainthatthey
areworkingwiththechildintheschool
andgivetheirhometelephonenumbers
tothenewlyarrivedparents.Inthe

futureyouwillonlyhavetowriteanote
tothevolunteersorcallthemonthe
phonetomakecontactwithnewparents.
Manybilingualparentsworkandcannot
participateinsvchoolthewaytheywould
like.Theseparentscanbeaskedto
translateschoolcorrespondenceandhelp
interpretduringeveningparentteacher
conferences.Becautious,however,about
confidentiality.Parentsaresensitive
aboutotherparentsknowingtheir
children'sdifficultiesinschool.
ExplainAmericanschools
TheschoolsintheUnitedStatesmaybe
verydifferentfromschoolsinthenative
countries,ofyournewfamilies.Bilingual
Parentvolunteerscanexplaintonew
parentsinthesamelanguagegroupwhat
thesedifferencesare.Parentshavea
difficulttimeunderstandingwhole
language,inventedspelling,thinking
skillsactivities,cooperativelearningand
manipulativesinmath.Theymayhavea
hardtimewithschoolexpectations.They
certainlywon'tunderstandthe
partnershiprolethatAmericanparents
havewithschoolsintheirchild's
education.Registrationinsportsand
musicprograms,canalsobeexplained.
ThevolunteersinmyschoolinNew
JerseymadeKorean/Englishand
Japanese/EnglishSchoolHandbooks
aboutallschoolprogramswhichwehand
outtonewfamilies.
Establishatelephonechain
Bilingualparentvolunteerscanestablish
atelephonechainforemergencyschool
closingsandtopassimportantmessages
fromtheschooltothehome.Thisis
anotherwaytokeepintouchwith
parents.Trytohavea"key"parentfor
eachlanguagegroup.Ifyouhavea
messageforthatgroupyouonlyneedto
callthekeyparent.Theycanalsohelp
recruitnewvolunteers.Thisisespecially
importantforemergencyschoolclosings.
Weinviteparentstoformchainssothat
theParentTeacherOrganization
volunteersneedonlycallthefirstparent
oneachofthechains.Ifyou'veeverhad

astudentleftatschoolinasnowstorm
whiletheirparentsgoontowork,youwill
realizehowimportantthisis.
Helpwithnewarrivalsduring
registration,atouroftheschool,
inoculationandhealthrecords
Itisverydifficulttoregisterandcorrectly
placenewstudentsiftheirparentsdonot
speakanyEnglish.Askyourvolunteersif
theywouldbewillingtocometoschoolto
translatefornewfamiliesandhelp
introducethemtotheschool.This
enablestheschoolmakeimportant
decisionsaboutplacementifthechild's
schoolrecordsareinanotherlanguage
andprovidesanopportunitytoimpart
importantinformation.Italsoallowsthe
familytoaskquestionsandtoprovidethe
schoolwithinformationabouttheirchild.
Supporttheclassroomteacherboth
affectivelyandwithinstruction
Classroomteachersdecidewhatwork
theywanttheirvolunteerstodo.Inthe
beginningmostvolunteersworkwiththe
ESLLearningCentersoratthecomputer.
Thesevolunteersbecomeinvaluableto
theschoolastheirroleexpands.Bilingual
volunteerswhospeakthesame
languagesasyournewcomerscan
providecrucialhelptoyou.Newarrivals
andtheirparentscanberelievedofalot
ofstressandanxietybyhavinganadult
explainwhatisexpectedinAmerican
schoolsintheirownlanguage.Don't
worryaboutaccentedEnglish.Your
studentsareexposedtoaclassroomfulof
goodEnglishspeakingmodels.
Helpwith"sensitive"issues
Bilingualparentvolunteerscanhelp
specialsubjectteachers,administrators,
andtheschoolnursewith"sensitive"
issues:retention,referral,andsocial
problems.Theycananswerquestions
aboutculture,explaintheexpectationsof
aparticularteachertoparents,andcall
theparentonbehalfoftheprincipalor
schoolnurse.Remember,however,about
theconfidentialityofyourbilingual
families.Ifyouhavesomethingprivateto

discusswithparents,youneedtotellthe
parentvolunteertoaskthefamilyto
bringtheirowninterpreter.Iftheyshow
upwithoutanyone,yourdistrictmay
needtohireaninterpreterfromanother
districtinordertosafeguardthe
confidentialityofthefamilyinvolved.This
isespeciallyimportantwhendiscussing
possiblereferralsbychildstudyteams
andretentionofthechild.
Takeanactiveroleintheinservicing
Oneofthebestinservicedaysmyschool
everhadwasrunbyfourbilingualparent
volunteerswhodiscussedarangeof
culturalandsocialbehaviorsandhow
thosebehaviorswereseenbymembers
oftheirculture.AnESLteachercantell
mainstreamteachersnottoexpect
parentstospeakEnglishathome,andit
won'tsinkin.Whentheparentsofhighly
successfulstudentstelltheentirestaff
thattheyspeaknativelanguageintheir
homes99%ofthetime,itmakesabig
impression.Atanotherinservice,two
bilingualparentvolunteerstaughtuseful
phrasestoteachersinJapaneseand
Korean.
Secondlanguageparentscanalsohelpyour
schoolputonamulticulturaldaywherethey
teachstudentsabouttheircultures.Ofcourse,
parentscanalsogointoindividualclassroomson
specialoccasionsattheinvitationofthe
classroomteachers.

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RelatedLinks
EstablishinganAtmosphereofAcceptance
Discoverhowyoucanalleviatemanynewcomers'
fearsbycreatinganatmosphereofacceptance
andwelcomeinallofyourclasses.
HowDoesYourSchoolRate?
Participateinadistrictgoaltomakeyourschool
awonderfulplacefornewcomers.Herearesome
practicesyoucouldadopt.
PairYourNewcomerswithBuddies
Assignabuddyoracrossgradetutortoyour
Englishlanguagelearnerandwatchthemboth
blossom.Buddiesgaininselfesteemandyour
ELLswillfeelwelcomeinyourclass
SensitizeYourMainstreamStudents
Youwantyournewcomerstobeacceptedonthe
playgroundandontheschoolbus.Sensitize
mainstreamstudentstothechallengesthatnew
learnersofEnglishface.
19982004JudieHaynes,www.everythingESL.net