Bilingual Education

When I was ten years old, after eating breakfast and saying good-bye to my older siblings who headed out for high school, it was time for Spanish dialogue class with my dad.  He had a book of dialogues he had used while learning Spanish to be a missionary in Mexico.  We memorized dialogues and I had to put dramatic expression and movements to them.  I still remember the dialogue about waiting in line for a buffet lunch, “Ay, que colaRead More ...

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” — Mark Twain One of the main purposes of SpanglishBaby’s existence is to share with our readers the kind of useful information that can make the journey to raising bilingual children a bit less daunting. Education is not a new topic to this blog. We write about it often and, in fact, we’ve even dedicated a whole week to exploring the topic of bilingual education. If you’d like your childrenRead More ...

Playgroups, I can’t praise them enough. Not only has ours been a great way to expose Vanessa to Spanish spoken by her peers, but it’s also become like a second family for me. I’ve become really good friends with some of the other mamás and we rely on each other for anything from babysitting to accountant recommendations. And, just the other day, it was through one of the mothers, actually through the founder of our group, that I found outRead More ...

This post was originally published on March 26, 2009. Although I believe I already was a supporter of dual language immersion programs prior to the extensive research I’ve done to put together this education series, now that I’ve learned more of its intricacies I can definitely say I have become one of its fervent advocates. Allow me to  tell you why. A well-designed dual immersion program encompasses the “best of both worlds,” as I was told repeatedly by the educatorsRead More ...

Thanks for stopping by and being part of this special week where we gathered useful information for parents who are choosing the bilingual homeschool, or even afterschool, route. You can visit the whole series with the links below: An Introduction to Bilingual Homeschooling Ask an Expert: What is a good resource for homeschooling parents? Your Story: A Generation of Bilingual Homeschoolers A Creative Activity for Bilingual Homeschoolers Celebrating Día, Libraries and Bilingual Homeschooling Resources for Bilingual Homeschoolers We invite youRead More ...

We’ve spent the last few days exploring the realm of bilingual instruction and I have to admit I’m truly fascinated with the subject and its possibilities as it relates to my daughter’s future education. However, all the research has lead me to the realization that, unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of options where we currently live. I used to think I still had plenty of time to figure out what will happen when she enters kindergarten — about 2Read More ...

We’re on our third day of our series on bilingual education, but before we get into today’s case study, I’d like to remind you the topics we have explored so far. On Monday, we started the series with a post about the difference between bilingual education and dual immersion programs. On Tuesday, we gave you a more detailed description of dual immersion models. Today, we present you with an example of how one school district in Glendale, California has beenRead More ...

Although I believe I already was a supporter of dual language immersion programs prior to the extensive research I’ve done to put together this education series, now that I’ve learned more of its intricacies I can definitely say I have become one of its fervent advocates. Allow me to  tell you why. A well-designed dual immersion program encompasses the “best of both worlds,” as I was told repeatedly by the educators I interviewed in the last couple of weeks. ExtensiveRead More ...