BENCHMARK TLS 411 REYES

Gabi Cohen
 Home Engagement and Home Engagement Field Notes

Before taking this class, I was very unfamiliar with what funds of knowledge was. In the

beginning of the semester, I had heard the phrase being tossed around but I was unsure of the

true meaning of it. Throughout this course, I have learned that each person has their own funds

of knowledge based on their past experiences and home lives. They help define who we are and

are a way to show the individuality and difference between people. I was able to really reflect

on my life and past and come to terms with who I am as a person today and all the events that

shaped who I am as a person. After reflecting on myself, I was a little nervous about the home

engagements and going into someone’s home to learn about their funds of knowledge.

However, after completing my first 3 home engagements this semester, I am much more

comfortable knowing what to expect going into my next 3 home engagements in the spring

semester. I became very close with my case study family and feel very comfortable going into

their home as they were so inviting and welcoming with this whole process. I understand from

this, the importance of creating a strong relationship with each child and their family in a

classroom.

Home Engagement Field Notes #1:

My first home engagement could not have gone better. Their neighborhood was in the

foothills and it was a beautiful home inside and out. The boy in my kindergarten class, Caden,

and his little sister were outside to greet me. The mother and father then came to the door and

welcomed me into their home. They had just gone to the pumpkin patch that day so the
mother asked me if I minded if they carved the pumpkins while we talked. Of course, I said it

was okay and this allowed for a very relaxed and natural conversation setting. We talked a little

about ourselves and then I told the parents that I had a list of questions for them and would be

asking them a few. I learned from these questions that they are both grew up in Tucson and

both have family that live here. Before this home, they lived in a home not far away in a

different part of Tucson. The mom is a nurse practitioner and the dad is a high school science

teacher. Since the conversation was flowing so nicely, I did not want to just go through the list

of questions, but rather talk from the heart and get to know the family. I learned that Caden

comes from a loving and warm home whose parents care about him deeply. Towards the end

of the visit (about 35-40 minutes in), Caden and his sister were eager to show me their rooms

and toys, both inside and out. I wrapped up the conversation by telling Caden I would see him

at school the following week and asked his parents which day worked best for the second home

visit. I found this experience interesting and important in seeing where the child comes from

and how his home environment impacts him in a school setting.

Home Engagement Field Notes #2:

My second home visit went just as smoothly as my first one did. I was greeted again by

Caden, my case study child, as well as his sister Cameron who is only two years old but

remembered my name, which I was really impressed with. Since I got a good idea of the Castillo

family from the first home visit and had a good idea of where Caden came from, I felt more

relaxed and comfortable with the family and felt very welcomed and safe in their home. We

talked a lot about language in this second home engagement and I got to see how they
disciplined their children when they were misbehaving. For example, Caden saw his dad using a

sharp tool to fix something outside and when they came inside to join Katie (Caden’s mom) and

I, Caden was eager to hold the tool and play with it. The parents worked together by co-

parenting and told him how dangerous it was and that it was not a toy for children to play with.

Katie said before she became a mother, she came from a close family and a had a nice

childhood and wanted to mimic that for her family. I can see that she has done so, beautifully.

Halfway through my visit, Caden pointed out a game that was sitting on the table that we were

at and he asked if he could play it with “Miss Gabi.” We played the game which was called

“What Is in My Shopping Cart?” and it was a matching game. This was a great way for me to

interact with the family at the same time I was interacting with the child. Because Caden loves

dinosaurs so much, I decided to pick out a dinosaur pop-up book to share with him and his

family for the third home engagement. I look forward to sharing this experience with Caden

and his family.

I also learned how involved Caden’s grandparents are as the grandmother on many

occasions has picked him up from school. They also spend a lot of time with them on the

weekends and they really believe in the importance of family time. I think that the funds of

knowledge of Caden and his family are everything I have touched on. They are very loving and

supportive, and have very involved grandparents. I think these home visits were important in

seeing how the child interacts with his family at home and how that impacts him in school. I

think that because Caden has a little sister, he understands the importance of sharing and

playing nicely together which is shown by the way he treats all his peers with respect.
 Final Critical Reflection and Analysis

I think we read about the educational, cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge of

diverse groups in this country as a part of ECE teacher education because not only are we

learning in a state where many people come from all around the world, but it is so important

for us to learn about where each child in our classroom comes from so we can better

understand each child in the classroom based on their past experiences and home life. “As

noted, central to our project is the qualitative study of households. This approach involves, for

one, understanding of the history of the border region between Mexico and the United States

and other aspects of the sociopolitical and economical context of the household” (Gonzalez,

72). Since we are studying at the University of Arizona in Tucson which is close to Mexico and

driving distance from the border, it is important for us as future educators whether we end up

teaching in Arizona or somewhere else, for us to have an idea of the households of each child in

our classroom. As ECE educators we need to be aware of the diverse groups in this country and

of those groups, families within them who might be joining our classrooms. I think the literature

tells us about why it is critical that future ECE educators understand and be informed about

how sociopolitical issues related to race, culture, ethnicity and language diversity impact

education because you never know who will be joining your class each year and it is important

to understand each child’s funds of knowledge. Parents from different cultures may have

different parenting styles which can be challenging if they are not similar to a teacher’s. This

can make it difficult for a family to feel a sense of belonging to a community. As a future

educator, have learned about the significant of these issues in my own preparation to become

an ECE educator. Through chapter 8 of Funds of Knowledge, I have learned how to empower
parents of multicultural backgrounds and make them feel as if they are no different to any

other family. “If the teacher places value on this knowledge, then the parents suddenly feel

important. They feel empowered. This alone can dramatically change the climate of the

teacher-home relationship” (Gonzalez, 146). Having a strong teacher to parent relationship is as

important as having a strong teacher to child relationship. In my first journal reflection in the

article Literacy Practices in Mexican Immigrant Home, it talks about how when children are

exposed to a different language at home than they are at school, they can slowly begin to

forget their native language. This is another important thing for me to remember as a future

educator so I never let my students lose sight of who they are and where they come from.

Throughout this class and our course readings, I have learned the importance of building strong

relationships and being aware of each child’s culture, race, ethnicity and language diversity.

Reflective Journal Response #1

For my first reflective journal response, I chose the article Literacy Practices in Mexican

Immigrant Homes. I found this article to be very interesting and eye opening, and decided to

choose it for my first reflection because I enjoyed watching the videos in class from it and it

stood out to me thus far. I think that the author’s thesis was to give the reader an idea of how

children of Mexican families that speak Spanish as their first language, who immigrate to the

U.S., learn in schools where English is taught as the predominant language and how it takes

away from maintaining their native language at home.

 Minority groups do not receive enough school support to maintain their home language

or to develop literacy in their native language while they are learning English as a second

language. The problem is that there are laws that prohibit the use of languages other than

English in the public discourse, which has occasionally led to the elimination of bilingual

educational programs. “For instance, in Arizona, Proposition 203 eliminated most types of

bilingual education-excluding foreign-language instruction-and replaced them instead with

programs in which students who are not proficient in English have to spend one year in

structured English immersion before being mainstreamed into regular English language classes”

(464). While children are working hard to learn English as a second language in the classroom,

they then go home and neglect their native language when they are around their family or in a

setting where their native language is being spoken because they are not maintaining it in the

classroom.

In this article, case studies were conducted with two different families that emigrated

from the south of Mexico to the U.S. In one instance with one of the families, the child and the

mother both relied on the father for help with the child’s homework, who was more proficient

in English since he worked outside of the home. In another case, the mother used her prior

knowledge to help her son, Sercan, spell his last name. She is using her funds of knowledge to

help him write. In the other case study family, the child Yuli, is not only learning English from

school, but also from popular media such as Dora the Explorer and with the use of her toys.

“We need to further investigate how parents’ active involvement in young children’s emergent

literacy development and practices at home in L1 or L2 help first generation Mexican-American

children develop foundations to successfully acquire and develop language and literacy skills in
two languages” (466). It is important for children to be learning English both inside and outside

of the home but the purpose of this article was to show how it is also important to remember

your native language and to have a balance between the two.

I think that the author’s presentation of facts seems fair and accurate because she has

supported evidence from the case studies that were conducted. After reading this article, I now

have a better idea of how families that either immigrate or emigrate from Mexico and come to

the U.S. deal with learning a new language, and how easy it is to forget your native one. Going

into student teaching, I am going to be very cognizant about each child’s background and never

let them lose sight of who they are and where they came from.