Persian Let's Learn Program: A collaboration with the North Shore Multi Cultural Society

Project Description

The purpose of the project is to provide a structured environment for Persian parents and young children (2.5-5 year-olds), who are isolated from our community by language and cultural difference, to learn through play, increasing school readiness of children, and knowledge of pre-school programs and community resources for parents.

This program has been developed to provide a culturally sensitive and inclusive program that will meet the needs of this client group. Issues such as bi-cultural parenting (raising children in two cultures) are explored with parents. As well parents are introduced to pre-school activities that will enhance the school readiness of their children.

North Shore Multi Cultural Society has developed community partnerships that support the introduction of families to other community resources and services that will provide support to ensure children meet their potential for success, and provide knowledge for community service providers on the needs of the client group.

Rational for the Program

Families with young children and little or no English remain isolated from existing services and programs on the North Shore. Even when they do participate they often hold back, feeling isolated in the group due to cultural and language differences. We chose this strategy because Persian families have identified that this program model meets many of their needs. It has demonstrated that it provided participants with increased self-esteem, enhanced relationships with their children, fewer behavior problems with their children, knowledge of Canadian parenting norms. Children are learning literacy skills in their first language – parents are reading to their children in both languages. Parents have reported that in the English programs their children attend they hold back and in this program they are not as shy. Parents have reported that they felt this model took into consideration their own culture, helping them to blend the two cultures into a workable parenting model that supports their children’s development.  Similar programs are running at MOSAIC in Vancouver, and this program is connected to them by having the same coordinator train staff. 

There is wealth of research and information we have taken into consideration: Examples: Urban Institute – The Health and Well Being of Immigrant Families; Centre for Family Literacy (Alberta; National Centre for Culturally Responsive Education Systems, Centre of Applied Linguistics.

Issues: Poverty: Research finds that immigrant children are more likely to live in families with substantially lower median annual incomes than those living in native-born families,; Parent-Child Involvement - immigrant children have less parent involvement in terms of outings and  being read to than native-born families; Parental Community Involvement - Children of immigrants are less likely to have parents engaged in social or volunteer activities outside of the family – which may mean they are less able to advocate or find resources for their children,  Parent Mental Health – Immigration is a stressful experience which often upsets the emotional balance of the family.

Planning for Let's Learn Together Spring 2007