I was with my children in a store last month looking at Halloween costumes.  As usual, our conversation was completely in Spanish. I noticed a mother observing our interactions, and when I smiled at her, she shared her own bilingual adventures with me. Having been born and raised in Mexico, she initially only spoke Spanish to her son. Unfortunately, when he started school, he rebelled against Spanish and refused to speak it. Sadly, this mother gave up and switched to using English with him. Her son won the language battle, but lost out on the chance to be bilingual.

What amazed me about this situation is that she is a native Spanish speaker, and has decided to use English with her children. Spanish is my second language. I didn’t even start to study Spanish until I was 17 years old, and yet, my children speak fluent Spanish. It has been a major effort, but the road to bilingualism has been one of my most rewarding parenting experiences.

Don’t give up on Spanish! There will be problems. Address the issues so that you will have better strategies for dealing with the challenges. These are some of the common issues I have had to address:

1. Spanish is not my first language. Even my husband, who grew up speaking German at home, feels that English is still his first language. Speaking to my children in Spanish was initially very difficult, but with time, speaking Spanish became more natural. Now that six years have passed, it would feel strange to speak to my sons in English. I feel comfortable using Spanish with them, and it is our special language. Keep using Spanish! No matter how tempting it is to switch to English, stick with it! It will get easier with time.
2. I lack vocabulary in Spanish. Now that my boys are getting older, some of our discussions are a bit more challenging. They have recently become interested in outer space and trying to explain gravity to them proved difficult. I watched some educational videos from Khan Academy in Spanish and learned, not only the scientific concepts to explain to my son, but the vocabulary in Spanish that I was lacking. We are learning together!
3. Your child refuses to respond to you in Spanish. Keep using Spanish and never give up! That was the advice my mother-in-law gave me. She continued to speak to my husband and his brother in German, including when they would only respond in English. Eventually they realized the benefits to being bilingual and started to use German, even taking courses to further their literacy skills. Don’t give up! The bilingual rebellion stage will not last forever.

 
You can do it! I have been successful so far. It has been a challenge, but the boys and I have learned together. Stick with it! Don’t give up! If I can raise bilingual children, you can too! It may seem difficult and challenging, but the rewards for you and your children will be worth the effort.

{Photo by CarbonNYC}

I love Sylvan Dell Publishing’s Fun eReader Picture Books App! The eBooks are a great way to introduce your children to nature, math, and science in a fun and entertaining way. I have used it at home with my own children and in my classroom, and both my children and my students loved it!

The eBooks stream from the cloud or can be downloaded to your iPad for traveling. There are over 90 books available, and best of all, there is a Spanish language option! There are also a variety of ways for reading the book too. It is possible to choose either the Read-to-Me, Read-to-Myself, or AutoPlay option. My kids love that they can listen to the stories and flip through the pages of the iPad stories all on their own.

The books are filled with beautiful illustrations and cover science and math subjects in a way that is interesting and fun to learn. At the back of each book, there are fun educational sections that enable parents and teachers to help further explore the facts and information covered in the book. The “For Creative Minds” section presents amazing facts about strange animals, faraway places, earth, space, science, and even math concepts. I especially love that the app provides parents and teachers with teaching activity guides. These guides contain pre-reading and post reading questions, activities such as word searches, vocabulary puzzles, and even map activities to help further learning.  The app even has on-line quizzes that can test for reading comprehension.

I love this app! My children are absolutely thrilled with the books and love learning about different animals, the ocean, and outer space.  I love that through reading stories, they are exploring science and math concepts. I have also used this app in my Spanish classes, and the students were very enthusiastic to learn and read with this fun app.

The Sylvan Dell Publishing’s eReader is a great way to make learning fun! The beautifully illustrated eBooks will captivate, entertain, and educate your child, and best of all, the stories can be read in Spanish too!

The Giveaway!

We are giving away ONE annual subscription to a personal eLibrary, a $70 ARV, to the Sylvan Dell eBooks iPad app Fun eReader to one lucky winner. The subscription will get you iPad access and also access through your computer and other devices at home to all the ebooks in the library. All you have to do is visit Sylvan Dell eBooks page, check out the “test drive” option and tell us what you like best about this app. Then, enter the rafflecopter below.

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The past couple of summers, my family and I have taken vacations that have enabled us to be immersed in Spanish. Our goals have always been to improve our language skills, to learn about and visit the historical sites throughout the country, and to experience the culture.

My previous SpanglishBaby posts about our travel experiences always included information about our activities, our Spanish classes, and the home-stays. In the comments section, there were often requests for further information and more specific recommendations.  Our trip this summer was truly amazing, and I hope to provide details for other families who would like to take a similar trip.

We chose to visit Peru again this summer since there were so many places we still wanted to see. Peru is an excellent country to visit with children. It has so much to offer from ancient sacred cities to an incomparable cuisine and rich cultural traditions and festivities. We chose to stay in Cusco, the former capital of the Incan empire, since it provided an excellent base for visiting the Incan ruins around the city and throughout the beautiful Sacred Valley.

During our time in Peru, the boys gained a deeper understanding of the history of Peru and were fascinated by the Incan ruins. We spent hours exploring and hiking ancient sites. While we all loved Sacsayhuamán, Piscac and Ollantaytambo, the highlight of our trip was visiting Machu Picchu! Having a Spanish-speaking guide helped the children learn about the history and culture of the Incan civilization while they explored the ancient ruins.

I had planned for our visit to coincide with the Inti Raymi festival. In Cusco, this ancient Incan festival of the sun is reenacted with hundreds of actors in colorful costumes. In the days leading up to the festival there were parades and traditional dances in the plaza. Our family really enjoyed being a part of the festivities and the chance to learn more about the culture of Peru and its history.

As in other years, my boys, my husband and I all took Spanish classes. I specifically searched for a school that gave back to the local community. We ended up attending Amigos Spanish School. We had a wonderful experience at the school and learned a lot! Unlike other schools, the aim of Amigos is to teach Spanish while also providing a future for disadvantaged children and young people in Cusco.

The proceeds from the school run a program that provides invaluable language skills, care and academic support to some of Cusco’s most disadvantaged students.

We all loved our teachers and our classes. Luke and Patrick’s teacher, Ms. Vanessa, did an excellent job! She would have the boys singing songs, telling stories, and playing games in Spanish. She was a creative and energetic teacher who did an amazing job furthering the linguistic abilities of the boys. Since the program for the Peruvian children was at the same school, my sons also had the opportunity to play with and become friends with the local children. We had brought bilingual books to donate to the school, and the kids really bonded over reading together.

My amazing teacher Jesús Napancca is the founder and director of the Amigos Spanish School! He was so helpful and dedicated to helping my family have a good experience while in Peru. I highly recommend this school. The classes are excellent, the program is well run, and the teachers are innovative and creative. Most importantly Jesús is always there to provide advice and help your family.

Immersion travel is a great way to further your kids’ language while also traveling and experiencing the culture of the country you are visiting. As a family, you can learn and have fun all in Spanish, and Peru has adventures for everyone!

Recommendations:

–We booked our trip to Machu Picchu with United Mice. It is important to make reservations in advance since the number of daily visitors to Machu Picchu is limited.

–We visited the other Incan ruins (Sacsayhuamán, Piscac, Ollantaytambo, etc.) by hiring a private taxi. The director of Amigos Spanish school Jesús Napancca helped us make these arrangements.

–We were placed in a homestay by Amigos Spanish School. They made all of the arrangements for us. Our homestay family picked us up at the airport in Cusco.

–We studied at Amigos Spanish School. The director is Jesús Napancca.

–I used the Lonely Planet Peru guidebook for booking our hotels, learning about the ancient sites, and deciding what points of interests and museums to visit.

–I used IB Tours for booking our flights from Lima to Cusco. Ask for Gisela!

{Images courtesy of Susan Stephan}

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!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

I love the multicultural children’s literature written by bilingual teacher and author Rene Colato Lainez. His books feature minority children in a positive way, and his stories encourage all children to dream and work for a better future.

Esperando a Papá introduces children to some of the many issues surrounding immigration and its impact on families. The story starts with Beto celebrating his eighth birthday and wishing once again that his father could be with him. Three years before that, Beto and his mother came to the United States from El Salvador, but his father was unable to get a visa. The loss of the family home and their possessions weighs heavily on Beto’s mind, but it is the absence of his father that is felt the most.

A school project gives Beto the opportunity to read on the radio a heartfelt letter to his father. His beautiful words to his dad help facilitate the family’s long awaited reunion. When Beto learns that his father will soon be with him, he works to purchase him a special present. With the aid of his classmates, Beto is successful in purchasing boots for his father, making the reunion even more joyous and special.

While children will enjoy the story, they will gain an understanding of some more complex issues. They will also come to appreciate the value of hard-work, tenacity and the need to have hope. This is a book that the whole family will enjoy!

     BOOK DETAILS

     Title: Waiting For Papá/Esperando a Papá

     Author:  René Colato Laínez

     Illustrator: Anthony Accardo

     Ages:  4-12 years

     Publisher/Year:  Piñata Books/2004

     ISBN:  1558854037

     Price:  $13.72 on amazon.com

As a Spanish teacher and mother raising bilingual children, I am always searching for resources to support my children and students’ language abilities.  I was absolutely thrilled to be given the chance to review Whistlefritz’s newly released Educator’s Collection!  This comprehensive collection includes the Spanish for Kids DVD series, music CDs, a Spanish Immersion matching card game, and an extensive book that contains original Spanish lesson plans for kids and innovative activity pages.  The collection is indispensable for providing children and students with educational activities to further their knowledge and understanding of Spanish.

My children absolutely loved the captivating and enchanting DVDs!  These award-winning episodes are well made and fascinated my children!  They are their favorite DVDs, and my boys want to watch them repeatedly.  The immersion method, which is essential for the learning of a new language, is used.  I especially appreciate the consistent use of comprehensible input throughout the video.  The Spanish is clear and easy to understand, with the repetition of new words and phrases guaranteeing that children will learn while watching.  The songs in the videos encourage the children to participate and sing along, but for my boys the fun and loveable mouse Fritzi was the star of the show.

We very much enjoyed the up-beat songs on the CDs, which include some traditional Latin tunes as well as some new songs.  The award-winning singer and songwriter Jorge Anaya create music that is easy to learn and fun for singing and dancing along with.  A songbook is included which contains the lyrics and translation for the songs in the DVDs and on the CDs.  Music is one my family’s favorite ways to learn Spanish, and the Whistlefritz CDs are our favorites!

The memory matching cards game was great fun for the whole family!  My boys loved the cleverly illustrated action cards, and my five year old took great pride in reading the verbs under each drawing.  Playing together was a fun way to learn and review new words all while interacting in Spanish.

By far my favorite part of the educator’s collection is the compilation of Spanish lesson plans.  The activity-based curriculum will be invaluable for teaching both my sons and my students.  The content-based units and cross-curricular lesson plans provide excellent ideas for furthering the understanding and speaking abilities of the students in my classes.  I especially love the materials and worksheets that can be copied and used in the classroom and at home.

I highly recommend Whistlefritz’s Educator’s Collection for parents and teachers who are committed to raising bilingual children.  This multi-media collection provides interactive, hands-on language-learning activities, video, and music that will significantly enhance the learning in the classroom and in the home.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one complete educator’s collection to one winner — a value of $175! All you have to do is visit the Whistlefritz website and tell us how you would be using the Educator’s Spanish Collection. Then enter the Rafflecopter below.

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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!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

I love the books by Alma Flor Ada, but Amigos is by far my favorite! The story teaches children about shapes, colors, and the concept of size, but there is also a deeper message.

The story details the lives of triangles, squares, rectangles and circles that all live in the same town, but keep separate from each other because of their differences. One day two circles venture out of their neighborhood and come to play with a rectangle. Soon all of the shapes realize that their differences lead to new and more interesting experiences. Through the story, children learn to appreciate diversity and acquire an increased multicultural understanding.

I also purchased a recording of the author reading the story. My kids love to listen to the recorded book while in the car! Alma Flor Ada also rewrote the story in verse that was set to music by the talented folk musician Suni Paz.  Another bonus is the mini-lesson on the Del Sol Books website that uses the creative dialogue process for exploring the story and its message on diversity.

The books of Alma Flor Ada are a treasure to own and read with your children! Amigos is special because it explores individual differences and diversity in society in a way that children can understand.

   BOOK DETAILS

   Title: Amigos

   Author:  Alma Flor Ada

   Illustrator: Barry Koch

   Ages:  2-10 years

Publisher/Year:  Santillana/1999

   ISBN:  978-1581052008

   Price:  $7.95 on Del Sol Books

Website: www.delsolbooks.com

Courtesy of Donna Pham

Students from seventh through twelfth grade at the school where I teach are interested in comics. Actually, I have recently learned that the correct term for these books is graphic novels. I see them reading during lunch, on the school bus, and sometimes they even try to sneak reading them during class. I love when I see the kids so excited to read.

Learning Spanish can be challenging and tedious for teenagers. Older students often have to struggle to acquire the language. As a teacher, I have always tried to tap into my students’ interests in order to make learning fun. The comics that they so love to read were perfect for the Spanish classroom.

I started by introducing my students to the iconic Malfalda character from Argentina and found other comics on-line that were easy to understand due to the illustrations that accompany the dialogue. I wanted to give the students the opportunity to not just read comics in Spanish, but encouraged their creativity by having them write and illustrate their own works.

The library technician at our school, Tommy Kovac, is a talented and published graphic novelist. He has experience both in writing and illustrating some amazing stories. His graphic novel “Wonderland” was published by Disney and selected by the American Library Association’s “Great Graphic Novels For Teens” list. Tommy took the time to teach my students about the creative process of writing and drawing graphic novels. The students were enthralled and intrigued to learn the process involved with writing and illustrating in one their favorite genres.

Courtesy of Janet Doan

I assigned a project that had the kids take what they learned to create their own comics in Spanish. They were enthusiastic and eager to get started, and spent the next couple of days in class working. The work that the students produced was absolutely incredible! My efforts to teach Spanish benefit enormously when I take a creative and artistic approach for engaging the learners.

So much that I do in the classroom interests my own bilingual children. The activities that we do in class, the books that we read or the songs that we sing can all be adapted to further the linguistic abilities of my own bilingual children. My young sons loved looking at and having me read them the projects of my students. They too were inspired to create their own stories, draw their own characters and tell me their tales in Spanish.

Sometimes tapping into our children’s creative and artistic natures fosters learning and imagination beyond our expectations. Introduce your children to comics in Spanish, encourage them to write their own, and wait to be amazed by the results.

At my son’s preschool, they periodically do developmental screenings. I have never given much thought to these assessments since, having been a teacher for almost 20 years, I felt pretty confident that a learning disability or developmental delay would be obvious to me. Imagine my surprise when I learned that he had failed the speech and language screening. While discussing the evaluation with his teacher, I was shocked to learn that all of the children who spoke Spanish had failed.

Fortunately, I have a cousin in my family who is a speech pathologist and sought her advice and counsel on this matter. She encouraged me to have my son evaluated by a bilingual speech professional since his speech and language errors could be a result of his multilingualism (Spanish, English and German).

The director of the preschool was able to recommend resources and programs within my community where I could take my son for a more in-depth evaluation with a bilingual specialist. In my county there are regular developmental screenings provided free to the community. There are also referrals for follow-up care and therapy that is low cost or free.

I took my son to be screened and was happy to learn that his speech and language development are well within normal ranges for his age in both Spanish and English.  In fact, the speech pathologist thought that it was wonderful that both my boys were multilingual and went on to tell me how beneficial bilingualism is to the cognitive development of a child. While I never wavered in my conviction to raise my children to speak Spanish, I was disheartened to find that his speaking of other languages resulted in his English skills being assessed as below average and deficient by a monolingual professional.

Actually, my son’s case is not all that uncommon. My March issue of California Educator magazine had an entire article on just this issue, Language disorder — or just learning a new language? In the article, Pamela Greenhalgh, a speech-language pathologist, pointed out that students learning English are often misdiagnosed with language disorders when really they are just in the process of acquiring a new language. Sometimes a misdiagnosis can even lead to students being incorrectly placed in special education classes.

When my son was initially diagnosed with having a speech disorder, I knew that a follow up evaluation by a bilingual specialist was essential for an accurate analysis of his linguistic abilities. Parents, teachers, doctors and developmental specialists need to be aware that second-language acquisition can lead to a misdiagnosis. If possible, have another evaluation done in both languages to determine whether follow-up therapy or interventions are necessary. Talk to your pediatrician, school district or county to find services that will help you. Until there is a greater understanding of bilingualism in this country, we must be advocates for our children to be sure that they are being accurately assessed on their abilities.

For families living in Orange County, California, I recommend the Family Support Network. They provide free comprehensive screenings for children 0-5 years.

{photo by woodleywonderworks}

Editor’s note: To go along with our SpanglishBaby Live Google+ Hangout about immersion travel, we’ve prepared a whole week of posts about this topic. Our first one is by Susan, one of our regular contributors, whom we would’ve loved to have as a guest on the Hangout, but who’s unable to join us because of her job as a Spanish teacher. Susan, her husband and her two trilingual kids will go on their third immersion trip — their second to Peru — this summer and she has tons of info to share.

Visiting and traveling in Spanish speaking countries is an educational and fun way to enrich your child’s language abilities. While traveling with children can be challenging, the rewards are well worth the effort of planning such a trip. A journey abroad exposes your child to another country and culture, improves their Spanish skills, and is a great way for the entire family to bond and learn together.

Schools and Homestays

I have always been an independent traveler, and like to set up our Spanish classes, homestays, and excursions by doing my own independent research on the Internet. Once my husband and I have decided on a destination, I do a Google search of Spanish schools in the area. I read through the websites of many different schools to see what classes and programs they offer, and then visit different travel forums to read the reviews of former students. Once I have narrowed down the selection, I email the directors to see if they will be able to accommodate our special situation — a bilingual family with young children. This process does take some time, but the research and planning of our trip is a lot of fun.

It seems that traveling with children is becoming more popular. Most schools have a teacher that works with children, but it is always important to emphasize that your children are bilingual to avoid the teaching of the basics such as colors and numbers. I always request that the kids are read to extensively and immersed in children’s literature since educational research emphasizes that reading expands a child’s vocabulary and improves their language skills. I bring some books and always buy a supply of Spanish books to take back home.

A homestay experience can be a wonderful way to get to know the culture of the country that you are visiting, but it is important to be with a good family. I have always used homestays that have been arranged by the school. In an earlier post, I described our experiences at wonderful homestay and a horrible homestay. Last year’s experience was so bad, my husband was reluctant to do another homestay this year. To avoid an awful situation, I have stipulated beforehand that we can change houses or even go to a hotel instead of staying in a homestay where we are miserable. I am confident that things will go well, and that we will once again have the experience of getting to know a local family.

Medical and Security Concerns

My husband and I traveled a lot and even lived and worked abroad before having children. I didn’t worry too much about health issues or security concerns. That all changed when we had children. Unfortunately, I learned the importance of researching health issues the hard way.

Two years ago my husband and I had decided to take the children to Peru, a country we had visited as a couple several years earlier. I had the airline tickets purchased and plans made. When discussing with the doctor which immunizations we would need for the trip, he expressed serious concern at taking our children to Cusco where the altitude is around 11,200 feet. Since we live at sea level, there was real concern of altitude sickness. Since our children were only 3 and 1½ years old at the time, the doctor advised us to change our plans and visit cities at a lower elevation. We still traveled to Peru, but I had to change our plane tickets, reservations and plans, and we faced financial penalties for changing the flights. Now I look into the medical recommendations months before making my travel plans.

The CDC’s travel website is an excellent source of information on health and immunization recommendations and requirements. If you are unable to see a doctor who specializes in travel medicine, it is a good idea to print out the information and take it to the appointment so that your pediatrician can use it as a guide.

I also find it prudent to check the State Department’s Travel Website. I always like to read the country specific information and to check if any travel alerts or warnings are in place. While I won’t necessarily change my plans based on what I read, it is a good idea to be informed. For our trip this summer, I have found the Facebook page for the U.S. Embassy in Lima to be informative. There are also recommendation for places to visit and fun activities in the country.

Traveling with Children

When we first traveled to Peru, my youngest was still in diapers. While most big cities do carry the same products that can be found in the United States, smaller cities and towns don’t necessarily have these same products. We visited some remote villages and even hiked to the bottom of the Colca Canyon. Diapers would have been impossible to find, so I was glad that we had carried them with us.

I do not recommend taking a stroller. They may be useful in big cities, but for the most part, the roads and sidewalks are not conducive to rolling around your child. I prefer carrying my kids in a child carrier backpack. Peruvian mothers carry their children on their backs using beautiful decorative cloths. They loved talking to me about my carrier and just being a mom. I really became aware of how much we as mothers have in common in spite of our cultural differences.

Most importantly I think it is important to prepare your child for the trip to a new country. I get books out of the library and we discuss where we will travel and the sites that we will see. Children’s books and YouTube videos can help give a deeper understanding of the country and culture before traveling. Having some prior knowledge of the country will enhance their learning and experience during your travels.

A lot planning goes into putting a travel immersion experience together for your child. The language learning, the cultural understanding, and the knowledge of another country provides an invaluable learning experience that will always be remembered.

{Photo courtesy of Susan Stephan}

Things started out well. The day that the moving truck officially brought all of our furniture into the house, our next-door neighbors brought us freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Initially, everyone was so friendly, and there were days when the kids played together. Unfortunately, as time went on, I noticed that the new neighbors were not quite as sociable as they once had been. Initially, I just assumed that it was because everyone was busy, but then I started to think that perhaps there was a bit more to the change in their demeanor.

My husband and I are very consistent, perhaps even a bit obsessive compulsive in our following of the OPOL strategy. I have never spoken to my sons in English and neither has my husband. Even when others who do not speak Spanish are around, I still continue to use the minority language with my kids. One day I noticed that when my sons and I would use Spanish, the facial expressions and body language of my neighbors changed. It dawned on me that perhaps they weren’t so friendly with our family anymore because of the different languages. Language was alienating us from our new friends.

Our previous neighbors and good friends were from Indonesia. We never had any issues with different languages being used when we were together. I would continue use Spanish, my husband would use German, and they would speak to each other in Indonesian while English would be our common language. No one ever seemed uncomfortable with not understanding the different conversations all of the time. We rather enjoyed learning new phrases in each other’s languages, but more importantly, we were supportive of the effort involved in raising bilingual children.

The more I think about the situation in our new neighborhood, I am starting to wonder if people who only speak English are uncomfortable around other languages. Perhaps already being bilingual makes us less fearful or suspicious of ones that we do not know. I know that for me, this is the case. When I hear a new language, I want to learn new words and phrases. It also makes me especially happy to hear other parents speaking to their children in another language, since I know that they are giving their child the gift of bilingualism.

I realize with my new neighbors it is actually going to take a bit of effort and understanding on my part in order to develop a relationship. At Christmas, we took our neighbors chocolate and had a nice time visiting with them while the children played.  I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that the father in the one family is now even taking Spanish classes because his job requires him to go to Peru on a regular basis. His new need to learn Spanish emphasized for me the importance of raising bilingual children even in the face of many challenges. At the same time my neighbor has gained a deeper understanding of why my husband and I are so consistent in our efforts. Perhaps a friendship will develop after all.

{Photo by Mike Babiarz}