Chapter 7: Nicaragua

Tunina is eight years old; she was born in the United States into a Nicaraguan family. Her mother Maritza, a former administrative assistant, decided to emigrate in 2007 in order to give her family a better life. In her third-grade class, Tunina is one of five students whose native language is not English. Her teacher reports that Tunina reads very monotonously, avoids answering questions in front of the class, and provides unexpected responses to homework prompts. She gets particularly nervous when given open-ended tasks and when having to make presentations. In addition, according to a recent reading assessment, Tunina was identified as ‘at-risk’ for reading difficulties. Consequently, her teacher is very concerned. The assistant principal suspects that Tunina may have a learning or a reading disability and is urging Tunina’s teacher to seek special education evaluation. At the same time, Tunina’s mother, Maritza, reports that her daughter is very active and responsive at home and helps her in several ways. For example, Tunina translates and explains conversations when Maritza is doing errands or filling out forms. Maritza reports that Tunina enjoys reading Bible songs and singing during religious services at the Baptist church the family attends. Maritza has two jobs at nearby stores, but she spends all her free time dedicated to her daughter and family. She wants to support her daughter in any way possible, but she has not been able to establish effective communication with her teacher.