Ana’s Blog

Hispanic Heritage Month is all abuzz with celebrations happening all over the country to recognize the richness of the Latino cultural heritage in the United States. From Sep. 15 through October 15 we have so many opportunities to immerse our children in the beauty of one of their cultures and teach others about it as well. Disney Junior is joining the celebration with four beautiful :30 second spots featuring Latino children and parents talking about elements of their heritage thatRead More ...

*Excerpt from Ch. 2, “Why Bilingual is Better” We could continue citing more research and studies on the benefits of bilingualism, but the truth is that, to many of us, scientific fact is just the icing on the cake. It helps to justify the struggles we might face, or to arm ourselves when we need to defend our decision to raise our children with two languages to those who don’t really get it. However, for most of us already embarkedRead More ...

Special thanks to Terri on Facebook for sharing this video with us. The 4-minute video takes us into the lives of a family that has made the decision to enroll their twins into a dual immersion program in San Rafael Elementary in Pasadena, CA. The beauty of the story is that the parents don’t speak Spanish, yet recognize the importance of a bilingual upbringing for their kids. The girl, Abby, and her twin brother are in second grade and youRead More ...

I have news to share: My husband and I have finally decided that we’re ready to become foster parents with the goal to adopt. It’s been beautiful and practical to be a family of three, but for months now I’ve been feeling the longing and even the readiness to welcome a new being into our familia. However, we’re still grounded in reality and know our limitations as far as the economic and time pressures we have. I just turned 40Read More ...

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!!! I have to admit I never, ever thought that it would feel this good! Touching it, feeling how soft and silky the cover feels, flipping through the pages and seeing my picture in the back flap just made all those endless hours and weekends at home trying to put this together make it all worth it. A huge ¡GRACIAS! to our publishers, Bilingual Readers, for putting out a beautiful design and just aRead More ...

We’re in our second week of school and I still haven’t brought myself to give my daughter the allowance I had thought I would be giving her as soon as she became a kindergartener. Just last week I shared an article over at Babble titled “7 Tips for Teaching Young Kids About Money and Managing an Allowance” where I mention: I recently had the chance to join a webinar titled “Moms Talking Money,” presented by Women & Co, a service ofRead More ...

The day we’d been awaiting for finally came: first day of school at Franklin Language Academy’s dual immersion Spanish class. Camila, my husband and I had been getting all the essentials like the backpack, lunchbox, name tags and such ready, but we had also been gently reminding the girl that this school would be different than her Montessori preschool because it was all in Spanish. I even took her with me on a trip to Cancun last week where sheRead More ...

Five years ago today, my husband and I brought Camila into this world. She was healthy as can be, active and awake from day one, and loved and taken care of with an obsession characteristic of first-time parents. Every year she’s hit her milestones right on target and continues to mature into an intelligent, creative and loving girl. Every year on August 18th we celebrate her life with a party of some sorts — cake, a piñata, friends, games andRead More ...