Kimberly Stevens Lane was born to a Costa Rican mother and an American father and was raised in both countries. She is the mother of four-year-old twin boys, both of whom have special needs and are in full-time special education programs. She has a Master of Arts degree in Conference Interpretation and is a freelance translator and interpreter in the Washington, D.C. area.
31 Days of Reading in Spanish: Froggy y su papá
Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish! This is the last week, so you have until July 31 to enter. BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW I’ve found some children’s books in Spanish that are so beautiful they take my breath away. I spend a small fortune on them…then many of them sit on the bookshelf, unread, until IRead More ...
Keeping My Growing Sons Interested in Reading in Spanish
In my father’s grand tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving in April — or whenever else he felt like it — he and I didn’t celebrate my birthday in May. We did celebrate it with cake or maybe a family gathering. But I always got my big gift, the one I looked forward to all year, in July. Back in the eighties there was only one place to find books in English in Costa Rica — where I grew up. It wasRead More ...
The Benefits of Bilingualism for Kids with Special Needs
It’s spring, which means it’s IEP season again. Time to get together with a team made up of my boys’ teachers, special education teacher, speech therapist, occupational therapist, the school psychologist and a school administrator or two and reevaluate the school year. We will talk about how much progress my sons have made in reaching the goals we set for them last year and decide on new ones for next year. This year, only half an hour has been blockedRead More ...
The Unexpected Benefits of Bilingualism
In Costa Rica, I was always known as gringa or macha (Costa Rican speak for blonde), and my very American-sounding name was mangled every which way when I was growing up. Then I moved to the U.S., and my name was suddenly easily pronounceable, and blending in was much, much easier. I loved it. I don’t like drawing attention to myself — I can be shy, I’m not a natural-born storyteller at all, and although as an interpreter I oftenRead More ...
Our Bilingual Family’s New Year Resolutions
There’s so much floating around the internet about New Year’s Resolutions this time of year! I don’t tend to make resolutions, but I do love setting a few goals for myself and getting myself organized. As for my boys’ bilingualism, we’ve been chugging along the status quo has been working for us, but I thought I’d take stock of things this January and maybe formally set a few goals for myself in this area, too. So here you have it,Read More ...
Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups {Giveaway}
I didn’t watch the original Santa Paws movie, but after watching Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups, all I can say is, puppies. Puppies that were so insanely cute that to me, the plot was almost irrelevant. I watched the movie with my sons and it put us right in that (Disney assisted) Christmas mood. (Spoiler alert: the puppies save Christmas!) My boys’ favorite part? They couldn’t stop laughing while watching the dogs bust Mrs. Claus out of jail (theRead More ...