Yo Quiero Links!

I know it’s been a couple of weeks without our regular Sunday, Yo Quiero Links! post and I’m sorry for that… Summers are just crazy that way! It was my daughter’s birthday last Sunday, so I was pretty much swamped the whole weekend preparing for an awesome party where she – from the contagious sound of her genuine laughter – appears to have had a lot of fun!

Anyhow, there’s much to share with you this Sunday, so let’s get right to it! Enjoy!!

1) Education Week: ‘We Need More Parents Like Sonia Sotomayor’s Mother’ – “U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged Latino parents to help create more of a college-going culture among Latino students in a speech he gave this week at a conference of the National Council of La Raza in Chicago.” With the high number of Latino students dropping out of high school, this is more relevant than ever. One of the most interesting parts of this article is the fact “that Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, a former ELL teacher and the superintendent of the Pomona Unified School District, has been confirmed as the Education Department’s assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education.” Hopefully her background will make all the difference…

2) Hispanic Trending: The Spanish language How it came to be – “Spain and Portugal…endured centuries of invasion by different ethnic groups, so it is no wonder that the Spanish (or Castilian) language developed a structure that encompasses and includes a base of words borrowed from the various people who first inhabited the peninsula.” Pretty interesting – and long – article on the origins of Spanish. Point of main importance: as long as the language is alive, it will continue to evolve – as it has been doing since the beginning.

3) MyLatinoNews.com: PBS Listens to Latino ‘Voces’ – “Just in time for this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, public-television stations nationwide will premiere Voces (Voices), a series curated by Latino Public Broadcasting and showcasing several aspects of Latino life. The new season of Voces kicks off Sept. 1, with Celia the Queen, Joe Cardona’s 2008 documentary about the Cuban salsa legend Celia Cruz. The weekly series will feature films about Latino music legends and several documentaries, including ¡Presente! about Puerto Rican activist Antonia Pantoja; Bracero Stories, on Mexican “guest workers” in the U.S.; and The Golden Age, documenting a soccer league in Queens, N.Y., made up entirely by former World Cup players from Central and South America. Each weekly episode will be presented by actor Edward James Olmos. Yay!!! This is what I consider Must See TV!

4) NYDailyNews.com: Spanish-language station V-Me shares kids’ shows with NYC-TV – “Spanish-language station V-Me and the city-owned NYC TV have quietly begun sharing some morning children’s programming. Weekdays between 7:30 and 10 a.m., NYC is airing “NYC TV Kids Presents V-Me Niños,” a block of Spanish-language shows simulcast from V-Me.” By now, you know we’re huge fans of V-Me, so this is great news for the network and for all New Yorkers – especially those raising bilingual kids!

5) Latin Baby Book Club: The LBBC Celebrates its First Anniversary – “We have decided to celebrate all week! Starting on Monday, the LBBC will be giving away some fabulous prizes, so be sure to check in with us EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!” Felicidades, Mónica y LBBC! We absolutely love your blog and believe you’re doing an awesome job! Thanks for all the wonderful and valuable info you’ve gathered this past year for all of us raising bilingual children! Adelante!!!
6) Latin Baby Book Club: Seven Latina Authors You  Should Know -”The children’s lit market has a treasure trove of talented Latino storytellers. Many are established writers and illustrators, while others are fresh voices with many cuentecitos yet to tell. We’ll be doing a series of posts discussing these Latino authors and illustrators on the LBBC. Some you may recognize, while others you might not. But here is a list of seven Latina authors that every Hispanic family with young children should know about. Clicking on their names will take you to their informative websites.” See what I mean about valuable information?

7) Pew Research Center: Latino Children in America – “The growing Hispanic population in America is reflected by the fact that 22% of all children under the age of 18 in America are Latino, up from only 9% in 1980.” I’m telling you, we’re unstoppable!

Before I leave you, I wanted to let you know that we’ll be dedicating part of the week to the topic of sign language and bilingualism. We’ve prepared some very interesting posts regarding this subject matter for you and can’t wait to get your input and feedback! Happy Sunday!