Early Childhood,
Western Australia
I had a child in my class who, when they first came to the child care centre, only knew a few words of English and had just moved to Australia. This child was initially apprehensive of coming to the centre. I worked alongside their parents to schedule additional orientations for them before having them start fulltime at our centre.
I took the time to have one-on-one conversations and interaction with the child, which gradually lessened the screaming and crying at drop offs. Soon enough the drop offs were swift and filled with excitement for the day to come. This child soon became comfortable enough to ask for seconds and thirds at lunch (something so trivial but which reflected their trust in both educators and their environment).
They built up their vocabulary by leaps and bounds. Their parents provided feedback that they would recite all the English words they knew, followed by their mother tongue of Tamil right after, showing their clear grasp of the words they were learning. This filled my heart and has pushed me to want to keep catering for all the needs of children in my class.
