Editor’s note: In the next months, we’ll be bringing you interviews with those who have first-hand experience with dual language immersion schools or programs: the parents who have their kids enrolled in them. The idea is to give you a closer look at what these programs are really like, how and why they work, as well as some of the challenges they face. Thanks to our contributor Elsie for coming up with this great idea!

Today, I’m happy to share my second interview with a Jackson Elementary Spanish Immersion parent, Liliana Awori.

Jackson Elementary is located in Pasadena, California on a lovely campus which includes an outdoor classroom and school garden. As Liliana notes, the biggest challenge for this school is perception as its neighborhood is mixed socioeconomically and they have been increasing test scores. Upon my visit to the campus, the students seemed happy and the community feeling was quite warm and inviting. It was one of the schools in our district with a library and part-time librarian (many do not have librarians at all). It can also boast it’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program which sets it apart from other immersion programs.

SpanglishBaby: Many of our readers are bilingual themselves, and hope to pass this legacy on to their children. However, there are also many Spanglishbaby readers who are monolingual. When did you become interested in bilingual education and why? Is it an old or new tradition for your family?

Liliana: My oldest daughter attends Jackson ES DLIP Kindergarten. My husband is Kenyan and is bilingual (English and Swahili). I am a first generation immigrant from Honduras. My parents were bilingual (English and Spanish) but I was never taught Spanish. My mother’s mindset was along the lines of “You are in America. You speak English.” As a result I’ve always felt disconnected from my heritage. I want my children to have a connection to some portion of their heritage. I heard about Pasadena Unified School District language classes back in 2008; I was intrigued and excited. After much research and speaking to other parents participating in the program we felt like it would be a great option for our family.

SB: What is your school’s educational philosophy? (Ex. play-based, traditional, developmental, etc.)

Liliana: Jackson’s educational philosophy is traditional with a particular focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The STEM program was one of the major draws for us. The science classroom and science teacher are impressive. Half the kindergarteners go to the science lab once a week, where the focus is mostly on life science. During science the other half of the class is in our community garden. In the garden they plant seeds, weed their bed and water the rest of the garden. Our classroom has a fire-belly newt named Panchito, they’ve also raised caterpillars/butterflies and a worm farm. In addition to the STEM program, Jackson has a partnership with the Center for Arts at the Amory. My daughter is thriving and loving learning.

SB: What was the transition like for your child when they started school? How did you notice their language ability evolve over time?

Liliana: My daughter has friends who are bilingual, she was anxious to learn Spanish “so I can talk to Mateo”. We participated in the Pasadena Educational Foundation summer program, which was an introduction to kindergarten DLIP. After the first two days in the program, she cried and refused to go to class. Complaining that her head hurt and she didn’t know what the teachers were saying. However after the first week she happily went to class all summer and even taught her younger sisters some of the Spanish she was learning. When the school year began she was ready to go, there was still some talk about not understanding her teacher but it wasn’t much. As to her language ability an excellent example occurred during the class holiday/Christmas party. I and another Spanish speaking mom were serving the children, and I needed the mom to pass me a plate. My daughter saw me searching for the Spanish words and came to my rescue and translated the request. I was completely floored, I knew she was learning Spanish but I had never heard her speak naturally and spontaneously.

SB: Language is not only an intellectual skill, but also a social skill. How has learning Spanish enriched your student’s social experiences and friendships?

Liliana: My daughter has always been an outgoing person, we call her the mayor of Jackson and now with Spanish she is even more able to make friends. She has even offered her translating service to our elderly neighbor, Mrs. Harris. When she found out that Mrs. Harris had to let go of the Latino pool guy her response was “You know I can communicate with him, if Mrs. Harris needs me too.”

SB: How does your school incorporate Latino/a culture and celebrate the diverse backgrounds of its students?

Liliana: Acknowledgement of diversity has been woven throughout the curriculum by using authentic folklore, fieldtrips and special classroom guest. During Hispanic Heritage Month we had a fun slide show of our own school staff from Latino countries, the DLIP teacher, M. Tovar, was even included in the El Salvador slide. Our staff is a mirror of our student population, from diverse backgrounds and ethnic groups. The staff works to model positive interrelations so that the students will do the same. Our class also participated in the Cesar Chavez Essay and Art Contest.

SB: What is the experience like for parents at your school? How much parent involvement is encouraged?

Liliana: When the school year started, I was ready to jump into volunteering and helping anyway I could. It was obvious to me that the administration was very supportive of parent participation. There is a parent group that runs the garden and leads garden classes. The DLIP kindergarten also has “Friday Fun Day” every week, which is planned and executed solely through parent volunteers. The PTA even sponsored a volunteer challenge, the class that had the most volunteer hours would win a fieldtrip, and the participation was astounding.

SB: No school is perfect. What are some of the challenges, budgetary or otherwise that prospective parents should be aware of?

Liliana: Perception is Jackson’s greatest challenge. People assume because of the socioeconomic make up of our neighborhood and our past test scores that Jackson is a failing school. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our test scores have been on the rise the past three years. Our faculty is dedicated and innovative in their approach to teaching. Our students compete and participate in district wide programs with the support of their families. A modernization of the campus was completed in the spring of 2012. I believe if we could get more perspective parents to visit Jackson they would be pleasantly surprised with all the great things happening there.

SB: What is your child’s daily schedule?

Liliana: Our schedule is pretty straight forward we have school 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., after school she has about an hour of downtime for snack and play, then it’s homework time for 30 to 45 minutes. Once a week she has gymnastics, we also make a weekly visits to the Altadena Public Library and Altadena Farmers Market.

SB: What does your child love most about your school?

Liliana: My daughter loves recess like most kids, but academically she loves the science essaylab.org with all the live specimens.

SB: How can a prospective parent learn more about your school and enrollment?

Liliana: Please feel free to call the front office and arrange a tour (626) 396-5700.

{Photo courtesy of Liliana Awori}

Editor’s note: In the next months, we’ll be bringing you interviews with those who have first-hand experience with dual language immersion schools or programs: the parents who have their kids enrolled in them. The idea is to give you a closer look at what these programs are really like, how and why they work, as well as some of the challenges they face. Thanks to our contributor Elsie for coming up with this great idea!

After sharing my experiences investigating Kindergarten options for my daughter, including some Spanish Immersion Programs, it occurred to me that it might be useful for our readers to hear from parents at these schools, whose kids are living the immersion experience day-to-day. Today, I’m happy to share my first interview with a San Rafael Elementary Spanish Immersion parent, Michelle Calva-Despard:

Spanglishbaby (SB): Many of our readers are bilingual themselves and hope to pass this legacy on to their children. However, there are also many Spanglishbaby readers who are monolingual. When did you become interested in bilingual education and why? Is it an old or new tradition for your family?

Michelle: For me, personally, Spanish is a heritage language. My father’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico just a few years before his birth. Spanish was his first language and he arrived at the Kindergarten door without a speck of English.

Spanish wasn’t an authentic home-language for me as a child, but I heard a lot of it through my extended family and always had an interest in becoming bilingual. Unlike my three kids who are recieving a bilingual education since kindergarten, I learned my “foreign language” as a teenager by dissecting sentences and conjugating verbs on worksheets. It took me 10 years of study (middle, high school, college) and then a year abroad at university to become a proficient Spanish speaker/reader/writer. My children will likely exceed that level of fluency before they leave elementary school.

Also, even though I speak/read/write fluent Spanish, it will never be as authentic to me as English. I think that for my children, who are acquiring their second language in that supreme window before the language centers of the brain fully mature (around age 14), this will be different. (How ironic that I began my formal Spanish language studies at the age of 14!)

SB: What is San Rafael’s educational philosophy?

Michelle: Although the plan is to move toward a more “project based learning” style, the model of instruction currently rests in a more traditional seat — which is ironic as Dual Immersion Programs are hardly traditional in the U.S. At San Rafael the 90/10 model of instruction is implemented. This means that in kindergarten, the partner language (in our case, Spanish) is used for instruction 90% of the day. The remaining 10% is taught in English. Each year, the percentages shift by 10%, so in first grade 80% of the day is taught in Spanish, in second grade 70%. By fourth grade 50% of the school day is instructed in Spanish and 50% in English.

SB: What was the transition like for your child when they started at San Rafael? How did you notice their language ability evolve over time?

Michelle: I did speak to my children in Spanish at home, but even though they understood me, they consistently responded in English.

Then kindergarten began for my oldest daughter. During the second week she received a sticker for saying “¿Puedo ir al baño?” That was it. She came home and informed me that she was going to “hablar en español” all the time. As is often the case, with my third child I spoke less Spanish than I had with the first (I knew I would regret this and I was right!). My son entered kindergarten with far less Spanish language comprehension than his oldest sister had. The program still works though. As most of the students enter kindergarten with zero Spanish language ability, the teachers are prepared and ready to help them meet the challenges of a dual immersion program.

SB: Language is not only an intellectual skill, but also a social skill. How has learning Spanish enriched your student’s social experiences and friendships?

Michelle: Besides friendships with Spanish dominant Latino students at school, as they mature, my children are becoming more comfortable jumping into Spanish conversations away from campus. In Los Angeles County, it’s not hard to find Spanish speaking experiences. From ordering food in a restaurant to taking ballet foklorico dance classes, we try to take advantage of our surroundings.

SB: How does San Rafael incorporate Latino/a culture and celebrate the diverse backgrounds of its students?

Michelle: There are the obvious ties to holidays (Mexican Independence Day) and relevant historical figures (Cesar Chavez).

Our program has attracted quite a multicultural cadre of students outside of English and Spanish dominant students. We have a student whose first language was Polish, for example, and students of different religious faiths. The very nature of a bilingual program provides a dual “lense” through which to see the world. This opens the door to a variety of possibilities–from Chinese New Year (instructed in Spanish) and Hanukah, to taking a deeper look at the significance celebrations like Black History Month.

SB: When I toured your school, I was impressed by the active PTA. What is the experience like for parents at San Rafael? How much parent involvement is encouraged?

Michelle: Well you’ve struck a cord here–as I’m completing my second term as PTA President this spring! The dual language program at San Rafael is not something that any of us “stumbled into.” Enrolling our children in this program was a very intentional, informed decision. The types of parents who make a choice like this are more prone to becoming actively engaged in their child’s school. I have said to many an inquiring parent: “I came here for the program but now I stay for it and for the community we’ve built!

SB: No school is perfect. What are some of the challenges, budgetary or otherwise, facing San Rafael, that prospective parents should be aware of?

Michelle: Class sizes are larger than we would like. We’ve had a hard time funding a program coordinator which means the crux of program development, recruitment, etc… has landed in the principal’s/teachers’/parents’ lap. Like all public schools in California, we could use some more money!

SB: What is your child’s daily schedule at San Rafael?

Michelle: My children have a similar schedule to every student in the Pasadena Unified School District. They receive the same content and teachers instruct the same standards. The only difference is the language of delivery.

The school day begins at 7:50 am, and ends at 12:35 on Mondays, 2:15 Tuesday-Friday. It was hard, at first, to get used to such an early start to our day, but it didn’t take long and now I really like it. Even after a full day of school we can hit the park or library on the way home and still make it back before 4:00!

SB: What does your child love most about San Rafael?

Michelle: I know all three of my kids would answer this question the same: AMIGOS!!!

SB: How can a prospective parent learn more about San Rafael and enrollment?

Michelle: Parent volunteers hold weekly tours. A parent volunteer maintains our website which always carries up to date information and contact information for anyone with more questions.

Attend a PTA meeting (first Thursday of every month alternating after school/evening.) I welcome anyone interested to come get a taste of what we do at San Rafael. It’s been a challenging, sometimes crazy, adventure–and I wouldn’t trade my family’s experience for anything.

You can find more information here.

En el nuevo año, vamos a hablar más español. Vamos a cantar canciones en español. Vamos a leer más libros en español. En el nuevo año we are going to bring español into each part of the day, even if it means we are speaking Spanglish, even if it means we are little bit confused, even if it means we have to consult Google Translate.

It is so easy to forget to speak Spanish when I am the lone native speaker in the house. After a long day of working in English, my mind gets stuck in the rut of English and my palabras en español are nowhere to be found. But in 2012, I saw that unless I remain committed to OPOL, it doesn’t work. This “one parent one language” thing is not easy, but it’s also not that hard, and it’s free, so while I can, I know I need to get las palabras flowing, no matter how tired I am.

For 2013, there are some things I need to recommit to in order to foster our bilingualism:

• Español primero: When naming something for the first time, I will do it in Spanish. Kids seem to remember that initial naming more than any other. So if I name the “frog,” it seems to be much harder to rename it “sapo” later on. This means pausing for a moment to find the right palabra, but it is so worth it!
• Español en la calle: Living in Los Angeles, it’s easy to find places where Spanish is spoken. We need to spend more time in those places.
• Spanish play: There are good options for summer immersion camps and classes. This summer, those will be at the top of our list.
• Model in Spanish: Our kids watch what we do. I’ve gotten much better at speaking in Spanish to Spanish-speakers outside of the home, but sometimes when I can’t find the right word, I slip into English. I’m trying to get more comfortable with my stumbling Spanish. If they don’t see me willing to stumble, they won’t be willing to either.
• Revive the Spanglish playgroup! Even in situations with Spanish-speaking moms and babies, we forget to speak Spanish. I’ve got to remember to make Spanish our default language.
• Settle for felicidad! Sometimes I get bummed out that we aren’t as fluent as I had hoped, but it occurred to me the other day that a lot of people don’t learn a second language until high school and still reach fluency. As long as my girls are getting a taste of Spanish and developing positive association with Spanish, that’s okay.

 
What are your Spanglish Resolutions for 2013?

{Photo by  Keneth Cruz }

I am lucky enough to be in a public school district with a 90/10 bilingual immersion program from K-5, and growing. The district currently offers a Mandarin and Spanish program, and is about to expand the Spanish program to a second elementary school. Because my daughter will be eligible for Kindergarten in Fall 2013, this Fall has been spent touring our public, charter, and private options. It’s been exhausting and eye-opening.

With preschool we were lucky enough to find the “perfect” place which met all our priorities — diverse, play-based, holistic, small, affordable, and in a natural setting. They even include Spanish throughout the day, although it is not a “bilingual” program per se. It’s run by teachers and a director who truly love the children they care for and clearly enjoy every day with them. It is really a place that our entire family loves.

For kindergarten, we have come to realize that we will have to pick which of our priorities we are willing to sacrifice and pick the “good enough” school rather than focus on finding the “perfect school.”

There is no private Spanish bilingual elementary school in our area, so even if we could afford a private school, we would have to sacrifice a bilingual education and for the most part, racial diversity. These schools have been the most progressive in terms of philosophy — they understand that children learn through play and while there are desks in these schools, student have ample time to move around, play, and spend time outdoors. These schools have lovely music, art and science programs. They tend to be on pretty campuses and include many enriching field trips.

There is no Spanish biliingual charter school in our area either. While there are two excellent, and fairly progressive charters nearby, again, bilingualism is not a part of their curriculum. We are entering these lotteries, knowing they are a long shot, but hoping that we might have one of these as an option.

There is, as I mentioned, a promising public Spanish biligingual immersion elementary in my district, San Rafael Elementary. I toured the school yesterday and left with mixed feelings. The school has some great things to offer:

You see, while I just celebrated my 33rd birthday, and my 32nd year in the U.S., it was the first time I was eligible to vote in a Presidential election. While my family was lucky enough to immigrate with green cards, I did not become a citizen until 2009. I had tried to naturalize in time for the 2008 elections, but the process in Los Angeles takes so long that I missed that historic election.

Why did it take me so long to even start that process?

I could have naturalized at 18, when I became a legal adult. Or when I was 22 and married a U.S. citizen, but something always prevented me from making the commitment to citizenship, despite being very opinionated about politics and social movements. I could say it was the exorbitant fees: over $500 at the time and several days off work (those costs are even higher now), but while that was a hardship, it wasn’t the biggest obstacle.
As an immigrant, I inherited a sense of nostalgia for my home country, El Salvador.

It was my mother and father who dreamt for decades of returning, and my siblings who flew back for reunions with high school friends, not me. I left El Salvador at 11 months old, so there are no real memories bringing me back to that place. Still, I felt, and sometimes feel, a kinship and a longing for that place, that identity, which is so different from this place, and this identity, my identity.

While I am proud to be Salvadoran, many people are surprised to learn that I am Salvadoran, assuming…I’m not sure what. Whatever it is that others picture when they picture a “Salvadoran,” apparently, it isn’t me. It might be what I must admit is a “valley girl” accent, or my stilted Spanish, or it might be that I grew up in the San Francisco Bay and that is where I was socialized to be the hippy geek that I am today.

For years, I felt ambivalent about becoming a U.S. citizen. The U.S. involvement in the civil war that killed 80,000 Salvadorans and caused my family to flee to the U.S. was something that made the idea of becoming an official “American” a dark prospect, as if I’d be siding with the “bad guy” in the context of El Salvador’s history. For years, I thought of doing a dual citizenship, but the U.S. doesn’t even recognize dual citizenship with El Salvador, so that was out.

Finally, it wasn’t my yearning to have a say in American politics, or even my sense of belonging in the U.S., that forced my hand. It was the birth of my first daughter, an American citizen.

When I got pregnant, I realized that it was insane to stay a legal “alien” with children who were American. What if something awful happened and the U.S. decided to expel immigrants like me? I didn’t want anything to be a barrier between me and my children. So I did what my parents could never bring themselves to do and I naturalized.

It was the right thing, not just for those personal reasons, but because as an educator I am working every day to empower young (and not so young) people — to help them use their voices in pursuit of their goals. I believe in the spirit of community and service.

I will raise my girls to know that they count; therefore, they are obligated to use their voices and their hands and their power for the good of others. It’s my responsibility not only to vote in this country where I have built my life, but to commit myself to this place, as a full citizen and do my best to make it the kind of place I am proud to call home.

Am I still Salvadoran? Por su puesto! But am I American too? Totally.

{Photo by  ©HTO3}

I heard this really interesting story on NPR the other day about Macon, Georgia public schools which are now becoming Mandarin immersion programs. While I thought this was a cool idea, I was shocked by some of the community reactions.

There was anxiety on the part of some parents due to the fact that the Chinese instructors were being funded by local nonprofits backed by the Chinese government. NPR reported that, “Some parents see a Communist regime enacting its geopolitical agenda on their children.”

At this point, I will admit I laughed out loud.

The idea that some political agenda is magically transmitted when a person learns a language is silly. But it’s not actually funny; it’s scary.

It’s unsettling to know that my fellow Americans are threatened by the idea of their children learning a language other than English. The level of xenophobia inherent in this attitude makes me mourn for the children of parents who fear non-English speakers and the cultures we represent.

One mother apparently didn’t see the point in teaching students a second language when the schools overall were struggling to meet standards. She remarked, “Do you want to teach them how to say, ‘Do you want fries with that?’ in Mandarin?”

Nowhere in the article did the writers mention the proven benefits of being bilingual. I can relate to parents who want the best education for their kids. It just so happens that one “best practice” is bilingual education. In fact, in many ways, it’s the gold standard. In many countries around the world, students routinely learn in dual languages. It is in the U.S. with our fear of cultural or political “infiltration” that our students miss out on the important opportunity to be fluent in more than one language.

Towards the end of the report, other parents were cited as expressing a desire for a  Spanish program instead of a Mandarin one, but if people are ruffled by the idea of a Chinese “agenda,” given the level of anti-immigrant sentiment present today, I can only imagine the fear that would be caused by any program funded by a Latin-American country in our schools.

There is an “opt-out” choice for parents in Macon, Georgia. Because it’s a free country, after all, that seems appropriate. I just hope they can explain to their kids why they chose to prevent them from learning one of the most useful languages on the planet.

Here’s hoping that parents in Macon, Georgia will pick up a copy of our own Bilingual is Better, so that they may better appreciate the opportunity being offered to their children.

{Photo via: IvanWalsh.com}

If you grew up like me, you remember being pushed to give an abrazo to relatives you didn’t remember or who just plain gave you the heeby jeebies. I survived all those awkward moments, but I’m not planning to put my children through them.

When Ana recently posted about piercing her daughter’s ears, it was the occasion for our first disagreement (friendly, of course). In explaining my reasons for not piercing my girls’ ears, I referred to my belief in bodily autonomy. This is a family value that sometimes clashes very distinctly with my familial and cultural traditions.

I grew up a part of a very affectionate familia — hugs, kisses, cuddles all around. I have fond memories of lying like a litter of kittens all on my mom’s bed to watch T.V. or smushing ourselves onto a couch too little for the many of us at the holidays. I have long equated love and caring with physical touch.

I think that for many Latinas this is the case — entramos con abrazos y besos and even if it means we kiss 40 people before we sit down, that’s what we do. The same ritual is practiced when it’s time to go home. The physical connection with friends and family members is second nature to me and helps me feel connected to those I care about.

Even as a teacher, one of the sweet things about teaching Latino/a students is that outside of class they are the only students that will come give me a hug and kiss. It’s a shared cultural bond that brings us closer in a way that is quite lovely.

So it’s been a pleasure for me to see how my girls have adopted a lot of my affectionate ways. I wrote about this cultural body language when I noticed it first with Marisol. However, since then, I’ve also learned about the reasons why I should not enforce this custom.

To put it bluntly, forcing my girls to show physical affection is dangerous. It teaches them that they do not have control over their body and that they will be forced to do things that make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable in order to please someone. Even if it pleases me to see my girls give Abuelita a big sloppy kiss, it is not worth teaching them that they owe anyone a physical act of affection.

I know this sounds extreme. But the facts are these:

• 90% of children who are sexually abused knew the perpetrators
• 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused
• One of the top safety guidelines given to parents in order to protect their children is to not enforce physical affection and to respect their “no”s.

This is something I never talked about with my mother, who is light-skinned, like me. But it’s something that I realized matters when a woman told my dark-skinned sister to “go back to your country” when my niece started talking during an outdoor movie. I had never been the target of such blatant and public racism. My sister had. The color of our skin shapes the way others perceive us and the way they treat us, whether as alien or familiar.

I haven’t talked about skin color with my girls, except in passing as we talk about our friends and pictures in books. We have not begun to discuss how color is judged by others. At this young age, it remains just one more physical detail, like hair texture or eye color which can vary, but doesn’t really matter. I know that we will have this talk, or many talks about this, because one of the lovely differences between my two girls is the color of their skin. Marisol’s skin in the summer becomes a rich caramel color. Lucia’s skin is creamy white and rosy. I think both of them are gorgeous, of course, but I have started to wonder how their skin color might affect them in school and beyond.

How might their color affect their sense of identity and power in different environments? They are growing up with a very typical Los Angeles multiracial group of friends and family, but if the world they enter as teens and adults resembles the world today, they will be minorities at their universities and in many of their potential professional workplaces. Will they, as even this light-skinned Latina did, encounter racism in the classroom? This is one of those parenting questions that I don’t know how to answer. Each question just leads to more questions…

Have you discussed skin color with your children? What do you tell them? What do they already know? Have they experienced racism? How did you help them process it? Please share your wisdom.

{Photo via mmolinari}

As the daughters of two writers and teachers, our niñas really can’t escape the world of words and books. They fill our bookshelves and theirs, spill out of drawers and pile up on most of the surfaces of our house!  One of our great joys is finding beautiful Spanish or English/Spanish bilingual children’s book for their collection. Since some of you might be embarking on summer reading, I thought I’d share some of our very favorites. Each of these is suitable for children up to age 10 (according to the School Library Journal recommendations): buydissertations.net