Bilingual Education

When my eldest daughter and son began to read in kindergarten a couple of years ago — in English— I was ecstatic. I love books, and had been reading to them in both Spanish and English since they were little. And then, it hit me. When would they begin to read in Spanish? Being able to read in Spanish is not just an advantage during travel in Latin America or Spain. It’s so much more! Reading (and writing) in SpanishRead More ...

We all have such clear ideas about how we’ll raise our children, even before they’re born. Breast vs. bottle. Co-sleeping vs. crying it out. Homemade baby food. Screen time. And though in some areas I was able to stick to my guns, I was humbled by the fact that many things really didn’t work out the way I’d planned at all. The same was true when it came to raising my children with two languages. I knew we’d probably useRead More ...

I feel like such a wimp, but I’ve been crying like a baby the last few days. They’re mostly tears of happiness, but they’re tinged with a bit of sadness too, for time come and gone. Vanessa graduated from kindergarten yesterday and I’m so happy to report that it’s been an incredible first year of school for her — and for me. For starters, all my worries about my daughter’s English abilities (since we only speak to her in Spanish)Read More ...

As some of you might know, Ana and I just got back from an amazing trip to Washington D.C. where we were honored to take part in LATISM’s first ever #TopBlogueras Retreat. As part of the event, we received a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to go to the White House to attend a special policy briefing about education, health and the economy, among other topics. As soon as we saw that one of the panelists was Andrea Ceja, the chief of staffRead More ...

Via: BestCollegesOnline.com We’re totally loving this Bilingualism Across the U.S. infographic created by BestCollegesOnline.com! The graphic speaks for itself and we’re sure many of you are already aware of the info included, but we think it’s a great way to share with others why we consider bilingualism such an amazing benefit! ...

Puerto Rico announced yesterday that it aims to make all its public school students bilingual by the year 2022. To that end, Gov. Luis Fortuño has proposed a plan to require all public schools to teach all courses in English instead of Spanish — except for Spanish grammar and literature, of course. On the surface, this might seem like a good plan, after all, we all know the power of bilingualism. But once you look at it for what itRead More ...

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of attending the National Latino Children’s Literature Conference, held every two years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The conference is organized by Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo, an expert on the portrayal of Latino cultures in children’s books and media (and recently consulted by Sesame Street as they focus on their Latino storylines!). Dr. Naidoo had organized an event at his local library as part of the conference to celebrate El día de losRead More ...

Many Spanish-speaking parents hesitate to teach their children to read in their home language because they worry that this will make it more difficult for their children to learn to read in English. Nothing could be farther from the truth! In fact, the more children know about reading in their first language, the easier it will be for them to learn to read in English. Thinking first about pre-readers, we know from years of research that there are certain foundationalRead More ...