FAMILY MENTORING
When refugees resettle, they face many challenges as they try to integrate within a new culture with an a unfamiliar language and customs.
We recognize that refugee parents have additional burdens as they try to navigate the American school system and learn new expectations of them as parents of a school-age child.
This is where the Refugee School Engagement Program (RSEP) comes in. As participants in a seven week session, parents and their student(s) receive coaching from a volunteer mentor/tutor assigned specifically to work with their family.
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Students and their parents are invited by the child's teacher to join the program, and the school provides the mentor/tutor with a list of resources to review and other specific goals for the student and their family. The refugee family should also come with questions.
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The mentor-tutor uses the RSEP parent curriculum to work through school navigation topics from free and reduced lunch applications to what to do if their child is sick and cannot attend school.
The mentor also engages both the parent and the student in working through homework and points out language patterns that are repeated in subsequent homework.
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And most importantly, the mentor-tutor reads with the parent(s) and student(s) and helps them to discover the magic of reading (this starts with looking at pictures and talking about them in their native language) and learning together as parent and child.
Books open a window to the magic of reading and learning together as parent and child.
TO LEARN MORE
Thank you to our supporting partners!
