Multiculturalism plays a major role in early childhood learning environments across the country, often influencing the behaviors of children. The children in the following scenarios have just moved to the United States from other countries. They’ve only been attending school for a few weeks.

For this discussion, choose one (1) of the scenarios (A-C) below:

1. Amara is a 4 year old. She is refusing to participate in any activity whatsoever during the time she is at school. She says, “No” over and over, no matter what is said to her.
2. Finn is 5 years old. He has started to throw temper tantrums in the morning when he is at Circle Time. He disrupts the entire group and the teacher has to often cut the lesson or activity short to deal with his behavior.
3. When the class has outside play time, Gabi won’t play at all. She only wants to sit against the wall by the classroom door and refuses to do anything else. She won’t respond to teachers’ questions. When anyone approaches her, she makes a grumpy face and squints her eyes, until she is left alone.

Based on what you know about the ways culture impacts children’s behavior, respond to the following questions:

1. What do you think might be happening with the child in the scenario you chose?
2. What specifically can you do or say to help the child out? Why? Please be specific and use examples.

Respond to a peer who choose a different scenario. What else should they consider? What would you have done?