Teaching your child about your own culture, language and religion is an essential part of sharing the world with your child. Discuss this with your partner from the beginning especially if you come from a different cultural background than your partner.
Demonstrate the importance of diversity to your child by learning about different cultures, religions and languages. To feel accepted and be a genuine member of diverse society, each member must be able to accept others from all religions, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Learning these values will make your child feel confident about their identity and being a true part of multicultural Australia.
Language
Teaching your child languages other than English
Children who learn to be multilingual from a young age gain a lifetime of benefit. If you or your partner speak languages other than English, you both possess a unique opportunity to pass this on to your child. Understanding another language contributes to the foundations of self-esteem, expands your child’s horizons and maturity as they grow, and can lead to wider employment opportunities later in life. Learning a second language improves the way a child’s brain learns all languages, helping them go on to learn other new languages, at school and even as adults.
Plan to start talking and reading to your child in your language/languages early on in their lives. Knowing how to best teach another language alongside English may be tricky at times. It helps to be consistent about who speaks what language and in what context. It is important that parents or grandparents, aunties and uncles and even siblings work out who will talk to the child in what language. For example, one parent could always speak in English to the child, while the other parent speaks another language to the child.
It can be hard work to maintain a commitment to speaking to your child in a language other than English. Often young children will go through a phase when they do not want to speak in a language other than English, because English is what they hear outside of the home and want to feel the same as everyone else. This is totally normal but if you stick with your plan, it will get easier over time. Keep talking to them in your language and make them feel good about their bilingualism.
Teaching your child a language other than English will allow them to connect more richly with other people in your language community and family still living overseas. This in turn strengthens a child’s connection to culture and heritage, their sense of identity and feeling of belonging.
Plan to start talking and reading to your child in your language/languages early on in their lives. Knowing how to best teach another language alongside English may be tricky at times. It helps to be consistent about who speaks what language and in what context. It is important that parents or grandparents, aunties and uncles and even siblings work out who will talk to the child in what language. For example, one parent could always speak in English to the child, while the other parent speaks another language to the child.
It can be hard work to maintain a commitment to speaking to your child in a language other than English. Often young children will go through a phase when they do not want to speak in a language other than English, because English is what they hear outside of the home and want to feel the same as everyone else. This is totally normal but if you stick with your plan, it will get easier over time. Keep talking to them in your language and make them feel good about their bilingualism.
Teaching your child a language other than English will allow them to connect more richly with other people in your language community and family still living overseas. This in turn strengthens a child’s connection to culture and heritage, their sense of identity and feeling of belonging.
Role of families and community
What role will extended family have in your child’s life?
In some cultures, extended families have an important and supportive role for new parents. If you or your partner have extended family in Australia, you each may want to have the support from your own family. Sometimes this involvement of family can be very helpful, and at other times it can become stressful or feel a bit intrusive. It’s important that you and your partner discuss this issue as a couple, in a respectful and honest way. It may take work to ensure that the mutual needs and boundaries of both you and your partner are being considered, and that you accept the right balance of support from both families.
When extended family members look after your child, it can be helpful to talk to your family about what you and your partner’s parenting style is, so that family can do the same. For example, you may use positive discipline (see the ‘Managing behaviour’ section) and ask for your family members to do the same.
Similarly, in some cultural communities, elders and community leaders play an important role in daily life. This may include helping you teach your child about their heritage and cultural traditions. You can get together to celebrate traditional holidays or occasions, share meals and spend time together.
If you or your partner’s extended family is not in Australia or living close by, it can sometimes feel like you are missing out on their involvement and the additional support they would provide. If this is the case, it is even more important to build relationships with other young families and parents, to provide advice, support and solidarity for you and your partner on the journey of being new parents. If you don’t already have other families that you are friends with, parenthood can be an opportunity to extend your social networks. This can be done by attending playgroups, parenting groups, local community centres, places of worship and later on when your child is enrolled in childcare and school.
Explore further:
- Check the list of support services available to find out where you can get advice and find more information on being a father and meeting shared parenting goals with your partner.