5 ways I will prepare myself to meet my new Russian student and his family.
- When I meet the new student I will give a firm handshake to him and his dad and look them directly in the eyes. It is Russian custom that whenever you greet each other that the males will give a firm, almost bone crushing handshake, maintain direct eye contact, and give the appropriate greeting for the time of day. The handshake for a woman is less firm. If I were good friends with the mother I would kiss her on the cheek three times starting with the left and then rotating.
- I would be able to tell the new student's fathers name the students middle name which would be the fathers first name with "vich or ovich" added to it.
- If I were invited to their home for dinner I would dress in office clothes because this shows respect for the hosts. I would take a small gift along with me. If I were a guy I would take flowers, but not yellow flowers because they are seen as bad luck.
- I should know that Russian children attend school from ages 6-17, and elementary education lasts for 9 grades. After the 9th grade they either go to secondary school or vocational school. So I will have to help the child adjust to his new school system. After secondary education the student can go onto high education which is equivalent to college for us.
- I will need to keep in mind that the Russian schools have classroom that range from 20-30 students, the students are together from the 1st grade to the last grade, the students in primary school will stay with the same teacher for all subjects and do not change classes, the school day is from 8:00-1 or 2:00.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting how different school systems are. The teacher/child ratio in other countries is much higher, the ones I looked at, than allowed here in the states.
The country I lived in Africa also spanked their children.
Gaining a respectful relationship with the parents is so important.
Thank you for your informative post.
Barbara
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteYou sure did your research on Russia. Knowing,understanding and embracing other families culture will make them feel important. It is good that you integrate other people's culture to your program, showing this family that they are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for your posts.
Anabel
Great post, i also talked about having a child from Russia, but your information is in more details than mine. Great post and keep up the good work, i feel as though this child will feel very comfortable and relaxed after meeting you.
ReplyDeleteMelanie,
ReplyDeleteYou found some great information that I could have really used when I was just beginning in early childhood. I actually had a Russian student in my class that was four who had been adopted by an American family. As a teacher I would have liked to know more about his culture as it was very hard in the beginning because he spoke no English and we had a hard time communicating with him.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your post this week. I admire the lengths to which you researched cultural greetings and relationship building with Russian families. This information will be stored in my teacher brain. We recently have begun to experience an increase in Russian immigrants in my community. Thank you for your posts in this class. I am looking forward to the last one.
Hi Melanie, it is always good to know more detailed information on the child and family that you will be building a relationship with. The welcome that you demonstrated really showed compassion, respect and dignity to the culture coming to a different location.
ReplyDelete