by Davy James, Staff Writer
Overcoming the language barrier can be a daunting task for residents who don’t speak English, and a clear line of communication is especially important when parents try to speak with their child’s teachers.
In an effort to ease the process of learning English for both parents and young children, the Jewish Community Center of North and South Brunswick Nursery School is introducing FUEL, Families United for English Language.
”This is the first program of its kind in New Jersey,” said Director Phyllis Denenberg. “It’s a free ESL program that deals with parents and children together during lunch.”
The program was conceived as a means to facilitate communication when dealing with parents of children in the school.
”At a staff meeting we were talking about the difficulties of calling the parents of children who don’t speak English,” Ms. Denenberg said. “Many times there will be one member of the family who speaks English that acts as an interpreter, and it all falls on them. When you can’t speak directly with a parent about their child it can be difficult. We wanted to start this program and have it be a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.”
Ms. Denenberg said that parents, grandparents and children can help each other learn outside of class by taking the material home with them.
”If both the parent and child do not speak English, they will learn together and practice at home,” Ms. Denenberg said. “If the parent speaks English but doesn’t know how to teach the child then they will learn how to do that.”
For students at the school who are unable to speak English, there can be problems adjusting to school and relating with peers, according to Ms. Denenberg.
”It can be difficult for the kids socially and getting their wants and needs addressed,” she said. “They tend to stand on the side and not socialize instead of playing and making friends.”
The one-hour classes will meet at noon every Tuesday and Thursday. Ms. Denenberg said the lunchtime atmosphere will help make the class more comfortable.
”With the parents or grandparents taking the class they may be turned off by the idea of going to school again,” Ms. Denenberg said. “So the class is based on the schedule. We have pickup at noon anyway, so instead of leaving they can just bring their lunch, sit in a relaxed atmosphere and learn English. We don’t want to scare them, we want them to look forward to it. We hope to bring this program to more than just our school families. It’s open to the entire community and public at-large.”
FUEL is open to children ages 2½ to 5 years old with a parent or grandparent. Ms. Denenberg said the program should be starting within the next week and it currently has six families signed up.
The program is sponsored by the Literacy Partners of New Jersey Alphabet Lunch Program. For more information, call Ms. Denenberg at 732-297-0295, ext. 22.
