Chapter 2: I Just Don’t Belong: A Latina Immigrant Mother’s Journey from Locker Room Attendant to Teacher

In the vignette is the voice of a 3-year old immigrant, Maya,¹ conversing with her mother, Gianna, about the changes she saw and felt in their new life after immigrating to New York City from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. In the United States, immigrant children² like Maya comprise 25% of the child population, and this number is continuing to rise (Woods, Hanson, Saxton, & Simms, 2016). Early education is especially important for this particular population of children, not only for their development and learning but also for their well-being as they transition from “home” to an “American” mainstream setting (Adair & Tobin, 2008; Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2001). This transition, however, can be a difficult process for many immigrant children, as it was for Maya, who had stopped speaking in her first year of schooling while navigating a new people, culture, and language.