Recommended Practices for Working with Multilingual Families

Many early care and education settings serve multilingual young children and their families. Teachers and caregivers working in these settings may not speak the same languages or follow the same cultural practices as the children and families they serve.  

Administrators, teachers, and other program staff who wish to create a warm, welcoming environment for multilingual children and their families make it a priority to learn about each family’s language preferences and cultural practices. Multilingual families should feel positive about the culturally affirming education and care their child receives.  

This tool kit describes recommended practices for early care and education staff who work with multilingual families. 

Building Relationships with Multilingual Families

Program staff (e.g., teachers, home visitors) should build relationships with multilingual families by becoming familiar with and learning about individual children and families they serve. Families who speak the same home language (e.g., Spanish) or come from the same country may have quite different expectations of the early childhood program.  

The best way to learn about a family’s expectations is to ask them in a conversational manner. How long a family has been living in the U.S. as well as their experiences as a family in their home country informs what they may expect from their child’s early care and education program. 

Early care and education programs may obtain help with these conversations by engaging cultural liaisons through the public school district or a local community agency. Cultural liaisons are respected individuals familiar with the families’  home culture and language.  They assist with communication when multilingual families need to interact with schools, agencies, medical providers, or other settings. Cultural liaisons may assist families and early care and education program staff through serving as translators and by sharing information about cultural practices. Early Learning (ECFE/Preschool) Cultural Liaisons describes the many ways cultural liaisons provide support to multilingual families and early care and education staff. Working with cultural liaisons can be extremely helpful to early care and education staff when building relationships with multilingual families. The tip sheet, Building Relationships with Refugee Caregivers During Home Visits presents a framework for collaborating with families who have refugee status. 

Translating Materials and Working with Translators

Early care and education settings are responsible for having official program materials (e.g., family handbook, school calendar, flyers) available in the languages spoken by families. Translators who are knowledgeable about the early care and education program are paid to translate written materials for families.  

Schools should not assume that family members will function as interpreters during school meetings. Interpreters should be hired to interpret during parent-teacher conferences and other critical meetings (e.g., IEP meetings). If staff anticipate the need for an interpreter for family/school meetings the program administrator should be notified well in advance and arrange for an interpreter to be present. Written materials shared with families will need to be translated in advance of any meetings.The tip sheet, Collaborating with Interpreters and Families  and blog, Welcoming Parents of Dual Language Learners to Parent-Teacher Conferences provide more information about this topic. 

Creating a Welcoming Classroom Environment

The tip sheet, Let’s Talk About. . . Young Dual Language Learners and Their Families includes specific ideas for creating a welcoming classroom environment for young multilingual children and their families. Teachers and families may work together to help young children feel comfortable in the classroom environment. Families may be interested in lending items from their home culture to be available in an early care and education classroom. A family member may want to record stories or read books in their home language to share with the class. Some families may feel comfortable helping teachers and paraprofessionals place labels in their home language on common items in the classroom. The article Creating a Welcoming Classroom Environment includes suggestions for teachers educating children who are learning in more than one language. 

When educators encourage young children to use words in their home languages throughout the day as well as with their families at home and in the community, they show children that their home language is valuable.  

Hosting School Events that Welcome Multilingual Families

Cultural liaisons can be extremely helpful to early childhood programs in preparing multilingual families for school events such as an open house night or a classroom potluck dinner that are common in U.S. early care and education programs. Program staff should be made aware of any cultural and dietary restrictions that may impact program-wide or classroom specific family events.  

When early care and education programs plan all school events (e.g., parties) the staff must think carefully about including all the families they serve. Not all families celebrate the same holidays, if they celebrate holidays at all. In the blog, Anti-Bias Education and Holidays: Making Thoughtful Decisions, the authors explain how early childhood staff should think about making school-wide events inclusive of all the families who have children enrolled in the program. One strategy for doing that is to emphasize children learning about each other’s family holidays, rather than celebrating them.  

Early care and education staff can work with multilingual families to learn about their specific cultural celebrations. Some families may be interested in teaching their child’s class about special foods, music, or games they play in their culture. Teaching the class about a specific cultural celebration is another way early care and education staff can show that multilingual families are valued partners in their child’s education. 

Being Mindful of Cultural Differences

Early care and education staff can learn about child rearing practices in the families they serve. Young multilingual children may have different expectations at home vs. school in terms of self-care (e.g., feeding, dressing, cleaning up toys). Early childhood staff should be sensitive to any differences in developmental expectations. For example, some families may prioritize independence in dressing or eating at early ages, while other families focus on those skills later. 

In addition, early childhood program staff should keep in mind a family’s dietary restrictions when planning class and program level activities involving food (e.g., class cooking activities). Thoughtful, intentional planning goes a long way in making sure multilingual families feel comfortable sending their children to the early care setting. Sharing video clips of young multilingual language learners (e.g., Dual Language Use During Choice Time)  that show their child using both English and their home language during typical classroom activities demonstrates to families how their child’s language skills are valued and supported in the early care and education setting. 

Partnering with children’s multilingual families to share classroom routines and activities through text messages, videos, and photos can create a warm connection between the child’s home and early childhood setting. Many programs use communication apps that allow teachers to send photos and videos to families. The welcoming experiences that multilingual families and children have with staff in early care and education settings can set a positive tone for the rest of the child’s educational journey. 

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