This September Enzo started in the pre-nursery school classroom. I was very excited when I got the supply list and I saw that Enzo would be having “homework” — until I got the first worksheets and I sat down to do them with him. The worksheet had a big picture of an apple: A is for Apple. Well… hhhmmmm. OK. So I went ahead and did the worksheets the best way I knew how, I just translated the sheets as I went along. “Mira mi amor. Una manzana. Pintemos la manzana.” (Look, it’s an apple, let’s color the apple.)
Talking to another parent, I realized that I won’t be able to do “Spanish only” 100 percent of the time because this is just the beginning. I am going to have to help Enzo with his homework, and that will be in English. Also, reading Ana’s post last week I realized that it is better to acknowledge English and work on his vocabulary and pronunciation as opposed to ignoring it.
So this week, I changed my approach. This week it was B for butterfly. So I said “Mira, es una B de bebe. Y esta es una mariposa, pero en inglés se dice BUTTERFLY.” Thankfully, the teacher seems to have gone over it in school because he knew it was a butterfly. Then I told him it is just like the butterfly we see in “La Oruga Muy Hambrienta.”
I have decided that it’s OK to acknowledge that in school, Enzo is learning in English and mom understands this. I’ll just reinforce that English is spoken in school, but that at home with Mamá we speak en español.
I realize that homework is just the beginning. Enzo will learn English, and it will most likely be his preferred language, as it is mine. My goal as a parent is to instill a love of Spanish (and French) and as he gets older; help him understand WHY it’s important to learn it. I want him to understand that it is important for him to communicate with his family and that he’ll reap the benefits later on.
To fulfill that goal, I think it is very important to continue making Spanish FUN! In an effort to do so, I’ve started making up silly songs and celebrating in Spanish. For example, we are potty training and since at daycare everything is in English, I’ve created a silly song in Spanish to celebrate every time Enzo pees in the potty. My potty song is “Pipi en el baño, pipi en el baño” (sang to the tune of the Conga song).
As we all now, raising bilingual kids is work! I am happy to have this community where I can question, learn and grow while on this journey. I’d love to hear any tips and tricks you used when your child started school and started homework in the majority language. Are there things you wish you had done or hadn’t done?
Hmmm….he’s in pre-nursery school and he has homework? Ditch the homework and play. Children learn most through play anyway, and he will have the rest of his school years to slave over worksheets Problem solved!
In a way, Lisa C. is right. But the real secret is that many programs send home that “homework” as a way to make sure the parents know what the child has learned that day. It also will give the parent a reason to stop and talk to the child about that learning. What they send home should be so short – it doesn’t really interfere with important play time. It does, however, connect home and school, keeping parents involved in the process every day. So – I think having that conversation in Spanish and mentioning how we say “mariposa” as “butterfly” in English is a perfectly good solution!
Thanks for sharing. I have an immediate emotional reaction when you share comments like “it’s OK to acknowledge that in school, Enzo is learning in English .” Maybe, because it seems like a good intention has swung the pendulum from language fun to language pedantry, or probably, it’s just because I fear that I’ve looked at my own journey towards multilingualism and my endeavors to raise my child the same way. I think you hit part of the nail on the head when you wrote ” I think it is very important to continue making Spanish FUN!” I say only part of the nail because you should make LANGUAGE fun. Playing between the two languages is inherently fun, and code switching is miraculous and natural with bilinguals. I think you’re doing a great job and am grateful that you’re out there sharing your experiences with the rest of us.
My two kids are bilingual, their 2nd language is English as we came to USA when they were 4 and 7 years old. My oldest was already reading in Spanish but with my younger, I worked very hard to teach him to read in Spanish before he learned to read in English. It has been wonderful, kids only learn to read ones, they transfer the knowledge (decode signs) from one language to another. He is 9 years old now and read above level in English and Spanish. At home, we only speak Spanish, we do school homework in English but we do activities in Spanish also.
We’re lucky. Our son is in a dual- immersion school (English-Spanish). We’re non-native Spanish speakers and we do homework in the language in whichit comes home (science, math, Spanish language arts — en espanol). But sometimes even we, who try to be consistent about our use of Spanish, just explain things in certain instances (if we’re tired at the end of a long day etc) in English. It is work, but it’s worth it.
My daughter is 8 months old and I speak to her in both Spanish and English. Living in South Florida they offer programs on TV that I could not get when I lived in Maryland. The Baby First Channel has 24 hour programing in English. They also have the Spanish Baby First Channel that show the same programing at the same time as the English. I love this because it allows me to alternate her favorite shows between English and Spanish. She loves Yo Gabba Gabba and the Notekins.
So very happy to have found this blog. 