Refugee Families

Creating an environment of safety and security is crucial for inclusion of refugee students in the classroom. This article focuses on how teachers can support refugee students by respecting their experiences, offering routines and communication, and showing compassion.

Learn how educators of refugees can support students’ social-emotional health, academic instruction, and acclimation to a new life in the U.S. This article also offers strategies for smoothing the transition for both refugees and mainstream students and supporting students through the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article gives educators strategies to support dual language learners’ language development through family engagement, environmental supports, and dual-language models.

Learn more from Dr. Robyn Hess (University of Northern Colorado) about the importance of strengths-based approaches in working with refugees, the impacts of displacement and trauma on children, and the unique factors that affect outreach to refugees in rural communities.

This resource explains to teachers what experiences cause stress or trauma in refugee children, what symptoms a child might display, and how teachers and schools can help refugee children.

This website describes and provides links for many Illinois programs for refugee families including the Illinois Welcoming Center (IWC), the New Americans Initiative (NAI), and the Immigrant Family Resource Program (IFRP).

This Young Children article provides early childhood educators with strategies to support refugee children and their families in their classrooms including creating play experiences that do not require English, familiarizing families with classrooms, and connecting with related community cultural groups.