Designing Online Cultural Resources to Support Ezidi Refugee Parents of Young Children / <i>Diseño de recursos culturales en línea para apoyar a las familias yazidíes refugiadas con niños pequeños</i>

The Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) is a home-based program that supports the learning and development of children and families. This project was part of a larger study that examined the parental involvement of Ezidi refugees in the HIPPY program to improve outcomes for the families and their children in a regional area of Australia and was informed by Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory. The families received home visits as part of the HIPPY program to implement activities with the parent and the child. It was observed that some families had low involvement with the program due to their limited English proficiency. The researchers developed online cultural resources in the Ezidi oral language and English in consultation with parents and with the assistance of the University Media Team. This paper reports on those cultural resources designed to engage families in their children’s transition to school and to give children the opportunity to maintain their home language. The findings indicated that the resources supported familyºchild collaboration, extended children’s educational experiences, and helped preserve native language.