3 (Overlooked) Ways of Exposing Kids to the Minority Language
“Au revoir,” my daughter finally said to the owner of our neighborhood French bakery recently as we were leaving after getting our fill of the most yummy, buttery croissants and perfectly baked quiche Lorraine. I was beaming. She’s known how to say goodbye in French for a while now, but she always refuses to say it when I prod…I wonder why? We go to the bakery at least once every two weeks, after I pick her up from preschool .Read More ...
Punished for Speaking Spanish
Just when you think things are getting better, you find out outrageous news like this one: a bilingual secretary in a public elementary school in North Carolina has sued the school district claiming she was fired for speaking Spanish to students’ parents. According to the article in the Charlotte Observer, the lawsuit states that in 2006, Ana Ligia Mateo was hired as a bilingual secretary for a school with a student body that’s 42 percent Hispanic. Everything was fine untilRead More ...
Video of the Week: El Día de San Valentín
Valentine´s Day is the day to tell our friends and family how much they are loved. We are always full of love for this community of parents raising bilingual children and for the love and support you always show us. In Spanish-speaking countries,Valentine´s Day is called either El Día de San Valentín or El Día del Amor y la Amistad. This week´s video is from one of the favorite characters in our household: Caillou, learning about El Día de SanRead More ...
Starting a Spanish Language Storytime
My girl is finally at an age (2.6) where she can manage to sit still long enough to be read a book. I was always jealous of moms who could sit with their baby or toddler and go through a book without having it fly across the room or be torn, chewed on or otherwise destroyed. We couldn´t even really enjoy storytime at our local libraries because there was just no sitting still for Camila. Running, screaming, snacks in theRead More ...
2010 Pura Belpré Award Winners
Just wanted to share with you the winners of 2010′s Pura Belpré Award. Established back in 1996, the award goes to “a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.” Author Award winner: Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez – A YA (young adults) novel about the friendship between two children from different backgrounds, one an American citizen, the other one an undocumentedRead More ...
Using Music to Learn About Heritage
As I was rummaging through some baby toys and books getting them ready for Santiago, who just turned five months and is so much more interested in all kinds of things, I came across a CD of lullabies that I received as a gift from one of my mother’s sisters in Mexico. I immediately remembered how lucky my kids are to have family in South Latin America that can help them appreciate their culture even more through amazing examples. TheRead More ...
