Third Culture Kids Connections is a new business in Saskatoon which is basically what it sounds like. It brings children who have moved to Canada from around the world together, so they know they are not alone in their experiences navigating new languages and cultures.

Educational Director Jennifer Webb says she was an international teacher and is now a substitute teacher and she has seen some students are falling through the cracks in what she calls the inadequate and underfunded education system. She says kids may be too shy to speak up in school, or aren’t able to speak the language well enough, or there are cultural differences that are challenging to explain, so they can feel overwhelmed and alone.

Third Culture Kids Connections would bring these students together after school where she will try to answer any questions they may have and the students can connect. She gives the example of not knowing what games are being played because they are different from their cultures, so they don’t know what to do.
Webb says the kids can also practice interactions for the next day so they feel more confident.

Webb gives another example of what newcomers can go through. She met a child while substitute teaching who the class had said was Chinese and his name was Charlie, but she recognized the writing on his notebook to be Korean. The writing was his name which wasn’t Charlie, but sounded similar, so he had been at school for a month before anyone knew his true name.