Host Family Topics
- Upcoming holidays/events in home country to be aware of – cgrams (CL)
Are you aware of any upcoming holidays or events in your students home country? Can you think of a way to celebrate these events and learn about your student’s culture? (CL)
- Check in with school teachers to see how the student is doing, discuss importance of daily assignments, look in every month if you know the student is struggling (CA, G&E)
Have you checked in with your students teachers? Is your student struggling at all with their schoolwork? Can you think of ways to help your student do better in school? (CA, G&E)
- Assess progress on expectations/goal (G&E)
Looking at the expectations and goals that you had at the beginning of hosting, how have they been met or not? (G&E)
- Check to see if the student are feeling a part of the family and suggest ways that we could get more into the family (CA)
Does your student seem comfortable with the family? Do you think of your student as a part of the family? What could you do to make your student feel more like a part of the family? (CA)
- HF to check in with their student about budgeting (G&E)
How has budgeting been working? Is there anything about budgeting that you might want to discuss with your student? (G&E)
- See if an article about us could be put into the newspaper (A&U, G&E)
Participant Topics
- Assess progress on expectations/goal (G&E)
Looking at the expectations and goals that you had at the beginning of your stay, how have they been met or not? What adjustments are you making to your expectations and goals? (G&E)
- Help student to deal with reversal or defense stages (CL, CA).
What is one thing that you are thankful for in your home country and one that you are thankful for in your host country? (CL, CA)
- Be there and ready to listen to student’s times of homesickness (CA)
How have you been feeling? Can you think of some activities you could do to take your mind of being homesick? What positive feelings are you experiencing even though you are also homesick? (CA)
- Check to see if we are feeling a part of the family and suggest ways that we could get more into the family (CA)
Do you feel comfortable with your host family? Do you talk to them about your experiences and how you are feeling? Can you think of ways to get to know your host family better and feel more like a part of the family? Suggest ways. (CA)
- Encourage the student to continue with the commitment to having an alcohol free remainder of the year (PSW, G&E)
Have you experienced any peer pressure with regard to alcohol use or other behaviors that go against your values or AFS rules? How did you handle this? (PSW, G&E)
Key
A&U = AFS and You
PSW = Personal Safety and Well-being
CL = Culture Learning
CA = Cultural Adjustment
G&E = Goals and Expectations
RL = Required Logistics