For example, you may agree that a child should be grounded in his or her cultural traditions. But it may not be realistic for parents to expect you to learn and then teach those traditions, especially if your classroom has children from a number of cultures. In this case, the parents may assume responsibility for teaching traditions to their child while you find ways to demonstrate in the classroom that you value those traditions. Likewise, if a child's family speaks a language other than English, you and the parents can set a goal together to help the child retain the home language as he or she acquires English. Once you've done that, you can talk to parents about the steps all of you can take to achieve the goal.
Some parents resist early childhood programs that promote bilingualism.
English-speaking families may think that if teachers are using other languages, they're sacrificing instructional time in English. Research shows, however, that exposure to another language can enrich children's ability to acquire and comprehend languages in general. They often feel they're sending their children to school specifically to become fluent in English and therefore may object to using their home language in your program. Such a loss can be significant and far-reaching for both the child and the family. Because language is such an important component of culture, a child's fluency in the family language will affect his or her sense of identity.