Description of a child

Belle is a 13 years old African girl from Senegal, Dakar. She migrated to the United State to pursue her education and to live with her father; something she did not have the opportunity when she was growing up. While migrating to the United States of America in New York City she was accompanied by her mother and 3 younger siblings. She is the eldest of them all. Belle does not speak any English and her primary language spoken at home is French. Her parents cannot assist her much because they too are still unfamiliar with the language.

Belle only lives in East Bronx, New York and her first school year she attended Ps. 22. She was held a grade back based on the different school systems. Back in Dakar she would have started high school. The school she attended did not have many resourced in assist her with the language barrier. Belle was added in a general education 8^th grade classroom and for 1 period per day she was taken from regular instruction to learn the basic of the English language along with other peers in her situation.

Belle is a girl who is very mature for her age and she knows how to control her emotion and when to share them. Belle displayed two different personality at school. At first, she was very timid, and she would sit throughout the whole class period without saying a word. Overtime, this changed in her transition class, where she was learning English, she would ty answer as teacher questioned her, but she still struggled to interact and make friends wither peers. For Belle, she rather be home watching her television then at school.

Her interactions were very limited at school, but at home she was the center of attention and she was the one who had to take responsibilities of her siblings when the parents were too busy or not around. She loves her siblings as well as children, she relates easily with those younger than her, but she does not know how to interact with her peers. Belle still misses her friends back home; she finds that she has more in common with them than her peers here. She feels out of place. She has a great relation ship with her parents, but also tends to avoid other adults. She has built a wall that only allowed those closed to her to see and know what her personality is like.

Belle’s interest included watching Telenovelas both in Spanish as well as in French. She spends the majority of her time writing in her journals or drawing. She loves art, she loves to dance and sing. She believed one day she will partake in one of the dancing shows to show her skills. She enjoys learning or adapting new skills, which is easy and quick for her to learn once someone shows or she sees them doing it.

Formal Learning: Belle was disengaged during most of her 8^th grade general education classroom. Unless she was prompt and given guided instruction, she would not complete the work. She participated more in her English transition class because she understood, and it was fun for her to learn a new language. As time passed, she was more motivated to go in the seclusion class than her normal classes. She enjoys learning and doing her tasks when she understands the task at hand, otherwise she will be off task and wondering her mind around while others worked on their task.

DMU Timestamp: September 03, 2020 08:33