benefits

The verdict is in! Our daughter was accepted into the private dual language school I wrote about last month. The question now remains whether or not she will attend. We decided to start the lengthy application process because we wanted to have options. In fact, she remains on several rotating waiting lists at several daycare centers around town because one never knows. Before making our decision, there is a still a reflective process my husband and I need to goRead More ...

It’s been almost three years since my now 5-year-old girl took her first ballet class. Every single Sunday morning we leave the house in a mad dash to make it on time to my girl’s ballet class. What’s incredible is that it’s hardly ever been a hassle or a battle to get her there. She loves it and can’t get enough  of it. She loves the dressing up, the twirling, the sea of pink, the “girly-ness” of it all. We loveRead More ...

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 ...

Bilingual Children Better at Math, Reading — In case you needed more proof that bilingual is better, a new study has found that bilingual kids “develop better working memory that holds and processes large chunks of information faster than monolinguals.” “I Want to Be Bilingual” Letter from a Newborn Baby from Bilingual Monkeys — I love this letter written from the point of view of a baby talking to his parents. If your baby could talk, this is what she wouldRead More ...

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 ...