Latin American Family Observation

Latin America I had the privilege to observe one of my students where I work. His name is Israel, and he is in the fifth grade. Israel is Latino, and I wanted to get to know a little more about his culture so it would help me better understand why he and his friends learn differently than American students. I wanted to know how his family values compare and contrast to my family values. In addition to getting to know Israel, I also wanted the opportunity to get to know Israel’s family. Knowing his family would give me a better understanding of several things. (1) I would know who he was talking about when referring to a particular family member. (2) I could ask questions to Israel about people within his family referring to them by their …show more content…
Joel drove a logging truck while living there which is how he was able to get a good job easily when they moved to America. Maria has never worked outside the home. Although she has always cared for her nieces, nephews, and grandchildren when needed their culture frowns on the women working outside the home. Maria explained that she could have worked though it would have been too much, as her sole priority is caring for her home and family. She and Joel met through their parents who were close friends for many years. They married in Mexico City at a large Catholic church in 1946. They raised five active boys, of course, one of them being Israel’s father. Like other cultures, the Latinos have a strong emphasis on family. The family model expands beyond mom and dad. It continues to include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even people who are not blood-related but considered to be a part of the family. The Latinos place absolute loyalty to family; this includes financial support when necessary. I found this to be fascinating because much like American families the Latino families are strongly connected. However unlike American families Latino families will do whatever it takes to make sure their other family members are taken care of including allowing multiple families to live with them; this would explain why I often see various Hispanic …show more content…
I later found out this is natural for his culture. Latinos waver to discuss family problems. They are adamant about establishing trust first and foremost before opening up about their family life. While they always remain friendly unlike Americans, their friendliness is not mistaken as an open book. Once I learned this, I made it a point to take my time and allow Israel to warm up to me. I shared things about me that I thought would help him understand who I was. The hardest part about this was I had to remain in my teacher protective wear and not allow all my walls to come down. I guess we had a little something in common, but for different reasons. Our first official activity we chose to hang out at Israel’s house and make paper mache masks for Halloween, which happened to be the following day. I think this was a good choice as previously mentioned Israel was still feeling a little shy around me. It also gave me the opportunity to see how his family functioned on an average day. I arrived shortly after dinner. Israel’s grandmother had already made the paper mache masks to fit their faces all we had to do was paint them. Though I did not do a lot of painting, I enjoyed watching Israel and his sister interact and paint their masks. I was hoping to talk with Maria, but she spent the majority of the time I was there on the phone to her family in Mexico. I did, however, meet two aunts who were fun to get to