Photo by viZZZual.com
Another week, another roundup of great stuff related to all things bilingual, including a summer reading list that you will love!
1) Census Bureau Estimates Nearly Half of Children Under Age 5 Are Minorities – The U.S. Census Bureau today released national population estimates showing that our nation is becoming older and more racially and ethnically diverse. The estimates found that nearly half (47 percent) of the nation’s children younger than five were a minority in 2008, with 25 percent being Hispanic. For all children under 18, 44 percent were a minority and 22 percent were Hispanic. I’ve said it before: we’re unstoppable!
2) Learning a Second Language is Good Childhood Mind Medicine, Studies Find – Learning a second language does not cause language confusion, language delay or cognitive deficit, which have been concerns in the past. In fact, according to studies at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), children who learn a second language can maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who know only one language. In case you needed another reason to raise your child bilingual.
3) Latinitas Magazines - Latinitas is a non-profit organization focused on informing, entertaining, and inspiring young Latinas to grow into healthy, confident, and successful adults. Latinitas Magazines are the first digital magazines made for and by Latina youth. Founded in 2002 in Austin Texas. Although my daughter is nowhere near ready for a magazine like this, it’s nice to know it exists. Plus, I can defitinetely think of several friends with older daughters who I can recommend this to.
4) Desafio de Verano – El verano puede ser una época llena de recuerdos, buenos momentos… y un deterioro en los niveles de lectura. Las investigaciones muestran que los estudiantes que no leen durante el verano en general tienen bajas notas en lectura al regresar a la escuela. ¿Cuál es la solución? Simple: ¡Que lean 4 libros o más! Lots of ideas for activities to promote reading this summer!
5) LBBC’s 2009 Summer Reading List – This goes perfect with the link above. If you need recommendations for books to read this summer with or to your kids, this is the place to go. They are separated by age group and some of them have already been reviewed by our friends over at Latin Baby Book Club!
6) Soundtrack – When motherhood was a theory impending practice, the soundtrack I had in my head was this: me speaking only Spanish to our children, my husband speaking only English, our children zinging forth adorable, fully formed, and unquestionably fluent sentences in our respective languages to each of us. I didn’t anticipate that I would want to speak both languages to them, often in equal parts, or that my husband would want to practice his Spanish sometimes, or that actual children might greet long-held expectations and inflexible plans with a belly laugh at best, a rebellion at worst. And so, with our older daughter and son, the way their bilingualism began playing out made me anxious that I had to be doing something wrong. I just love reading fellow mamá bloguera Violeta Garcia-Mendoza! This is a great read about how no matter how much we plan and prepare to raise our kids – in this case to be bilingual – in the end there are really no rules to follow except the ones they set forth and our instincts. Mi papá siempre decía: el hombre propone y Dios dispone!
7) El Cafecito – Coffee – The thing is I just heard about got milk campaign where they gave out some gourmet recipes that famous baristas made and we can make at home for less than a dollar. And they also promote it because by drinking a latte you are having part of your daily calcium, which is something I don’t really look into that much because I like milk so much that sometimes I know I drink more than I’m supposed. This is from another one of our fellow mamá blogueras, Dariela, and the recipes looks so yummy that even a non-coffee drinker (I know, how is that possible, right?) like myself wants to go make them right now – especially with the 90-degree weather outside!
Enjoy your Sunday!
