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 go through. First and foremost, I am going to observe the potential classrooms our daughter could be placed in next year. Secondly, and this is the most difficult, we have to consider the long-term benefits and disadvantages of committing to, not just a definite high quality education, but to the hefty price tag it comes with.

I sincerely doubt that most of the SpanglishBaby readers need a list of the advantages of a dual language education, therefore I will expand in greater detail the reasons we are contemplating sending our daughter to a prestigious dual language school.

If we enroll our daughter, we are essentially committing to an education that will span 15 years! To avoid getting into financial details, I’ll just explain that over the course of those years (and we have another baby on the way) we could invest that same amount of money into something else, like a house.

We have been contemplating the ways we could supplement our children’s education if we decide to find alternative dual language programs in our community. For instance, we could take family trips abroad during the summer or winter breaks, and enroll our children in Spanish and French language programs. In other words, there is more than one route to become multilingual.

That being said, there is still the simple fact that research is pointing towards the ways varying levels of proficiency in multiple languages can also mean varying levels of cognitive benefits. Doesn’t every parent want to achieve the most optimal level of multilingualism for their children, which translates to the most optimal level of cognitive benefits? I think so!

So here we are at a crossroads. I keep reminding myself that I am not the average parent in pursuit of a multilingual life for my daughter. I am, after all, pursuing a doctorate in bilingual education, and surely I can find the multiple routes to make sure my daughter reaches an optimal level of multilingualism. I also recognize how the stats for second and third generation heritage speakers of minorities are grim, if not linguistically fatal. So where do we go from here?

This is a question I pose to SpanglishBaby readers. I sincerely want my daughter to speak, read and write in two or more languages at nearly the same proficiency. What would you do?

{Photo by Ivy Dawned}

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 love that it’s something she loves — and that it’s nurturing her in so many positive ways that the benefits could last her a lifetime.

Over the last three years, we’ve seen her mature a little bit every single Sunday and every single time she gets on stage. This is not a strict, classical ballet class, but a fun and creative environment where she can be free, yet respectful and mindful of the lessons.

Read full article and learn 5 positive and nurturing benefits of ballet for children HERE.

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 blocked off for each meeting, but when the boys transitioned into a regular-education setting in kindergarten, we were there for almost four hours. I’ve left some IEP meetings feeling pretty good about things; once, I had to pull the car over on the way home afterwards because I was crying too hard to see the road.

Either way, these meetings are intense. I’ve realized that I find them draining because really, the meetings are mostly spent discussing what are euphemistically called your child’s “areas of need.” This is logical: the areas in which your child needs support need to be broken down in detail in order for him or her to continue to receive the most appropriate services. There’s also a section called “present levels of performance,” in which the child’s strengths are listed.

But even when there’s so much good, even when you feel encouraged by how much progress your child has made, talking about your child’s needs in such detail can be exhausting. Especially when you add it to everything else that’s already going on — behavioral issues, emails to teachers, calls to see if the child psychiatrist has had any cancellations because you urgently need to see him.

Last week, I participated in a SpanglishBaby LIVE hangout on bilingualism and children with special needs. Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz, a fellow mother of a special-needs child, said something that particularly resonated with me because I’ve often thought the same thing: There are many reasons that I think learning Spanish is great for my children, but given the many challenges they face, one especially cool thing about it is that it gives them something at which they excel.

A few weeks ago, I picked the boys up at their Saturday Spanish school and their teacher wanted to speak to me. She was having a hard time keeping them busy, she explained. They finished their work quickly and she couldn’t get to them while she was busy helping other children. She wanted to move them up a grade. She had already spoken to the second-grade teacher and it was a done deal, if I agreed to it.

Read more: How to Raise Bilingual Kids with Special Needs

As I expected, my change-averse boys balked at the very idea at first. I tried to play it up, and even after I promised that they could go back if they didn’t like it after they’d tried it, they were skeptical. After the first class, though, they changed their tune.  They couldn’t get over the fact that in their regular school they were in first grade, but at Spanish school they were now in second grade. They loved their teacher and gleefully showed me the plastic figurines they’d used to learn about animals. And I was tickled when they bragged that they’d learned all of the pronombres personales, singular and plural, and proceeded to recite them to me. I never heard another word about wanting to go back to their old class.

As they get older, some things get tougher at school. Other children are increasingly aware of their quirks and when I visit the school they’re not shy about asking me about them. For now, they’re more curious than anything, but I worry about teasing or possible bullying to come. But also for now, Spanish school is their safe place, a place where there’s no pressure, no IEPs. And I love that, and am very grateful.

{Photo courtesy of Kim Lane}

Watch our SpanglishBaby LIVE Google+ Hangout on Bilingualism & Children with Special Needs:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atqgFndE53A

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 would tell you about wanting to grow up bilingual. Genius!

My Mother’s Tongue from Journal of a bilingual family — What happens when parents decide not to pass their mother tongue to their children? It happens all the time and, in this country, is the reason why heritage languages are lost by the third generation. A bilingual mom raising bilingual kids explores this topic in honor of Mother Tongue Day.

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 often have to stand up and speak in front of large groups of people, I’m speaking someone else’s words for them and that somehow quiets my nerves considerably.

Early on, in fact, one of the most difficult things for me about raising my sons bilingual was that I was constantly calling attention to myself. Whether I was chatting with my boys at our table at a restaurant or yelling for them across the park, I was out there every day speaking to them in Spanish, and that sometimes made people stop and stare. It made me hugely self-conscious at first — it was less a matter of caring what people thought and more a matter of simply being uncomfortable with the attention. So I put my blinders on and ignored it all.

Slowly, though, I’ve started to embrace it. I can’t actually remember an instance of anyone reacting negatively to our speaking Spanish when we’re out and about. People are generally nice, and interested in hearing more about bilingualism. Older Latina women, especially, are often really tickled when they realize that my two towheaded boys speak Spanish. I’ve even met several Costa Ricans in my neighborhood. In every case, they’ve approached me after hearing me speak to my boys — they’ve pegged me as a fellow Tica from my accent. Whereas once I might have kept quiet, now I often start conversations with people if I can tell they speak Spanish.

I even unintentionally started dressing my boys for the part. A couple of years ago, they each received a red- and yellow-striped soccer jersey from their uncle, lest they forget which soccer team to root for. I immediately decided that with the bright colors, they would make perfect airport shirts, and now I often have them wear them any time we’re out where there will be a big crowd. We’ve struck up conversations with immigration officials. Security guards. Two British Airways pilots. A Costa Rican gentleman in Miami who wanted a picture so he could post it to Facebook and show his nephew. A guy on the Metro who was from Arizona and knew a whole lot about Mexican soccer teams.

And so on. I never would have imagined it, but being adamant about bilingualism has brought me out of my shell. And it’s been an unexpected, wonderful side benefit.

{Image by National Assembly For Wales / Cynulliad Cymru}

Bilinguals Have Faster, More Adaptive Brains When They Get Older, Study Finds from ABC News — More proof that the benefits of being bilingual last a lifetime. You can also read Ana’s take on this study on her Babble post.

Babies Seem to Pick Up Language in Utero from The New York Times — We knew babies learn to recognize their mother’s voice while in the womb. This study says they also learn to recognize and learn bits of their native language before they’re even born.

Humor in Bilingual Couples by Prof. François Grosjean from Psychology Today — If English is your second language, did you have a hard time finding humor in your partner’s jokes in English? I know some couples who have hilarious stories to tell related to humor when two languages are involved.

My Best Tips for Raising Bilingual Kids from Bilingual Monkeys — 30 tips you will absolutely love! I particularly like the one related to reading and writing.

Change of Language, Change of Personality? Part II by François Grosjean on Psychology Today — Does your personality change depending on the language you’re speaking? I don’t think mine does… although if I have to give a speech or speak in front of a large audience, I do feel more confident if I do it in Spanish. Prof. Grosjean continues to explore this subject.

Top 10 Reasons Your Children Aren’t Speaking Your Language from Multilingual Living — From lack of resources to not enough exposure to the language, Corey Heller, the founder of Multilingual Living, shares reasons and solutions to why your kids aren’t speaking your language.

Easiest Foreign Languages To Learn (for English speakers) from The Telegraph — Just for fun! I was surprised to see that the first one was Afrikaans, a language I was exposed to briefly as a child when we lived in South Africa. Now I wish we had lived there long enough for me to become fluent.

Utah Immersion Program the Envy of the Nation from NBC Latino — I had no idea this was going on in Utah. Did you? Again, we can only hope more school districts start following Utah’s lead!

Why It Pays To Be Bilingual from Voxy —  A super cool graphic on the cognitive, financial and cultural benefits of bilingualism. Hat tip to my colleague and fellow journalist Alicia Civita for the find!

I’m the product of a bilingual school and I will be forever grateful to my parents for making the decision to give me such an amazing educational opportunity because I’m sure my life would not be what it is today had I gone to a regular school.

Unfortunately, I’m currently not able to do the same for my kids. As you’ve probably read here before, my options in terms of bilingual or dual language immersion schools in Denver are pretty limited and, for now, Vanessa is just going to our neighborhood school. I would love nothing more than for her — and eventually for her brother to — to be able to get a bilingual education. But until our family situation changes, I’m in charge of her instruction in Spanish.

Since I know first-hand the benefits of a bilingual education, I figured I’d share these with you, in case you’ve been thinking about it for your kids and need a little push.

1. Biliteracy — While it’s great to speak two languages, it’s even better to read and write in both languages or be biliterate, like myself. I thank my bilingual education for this ability since I was taught all of my subjects in both English and Spanish.

2. More choices in resources/literature — I can’t count how many times I’ve been doing research and I’ve been unable to find the information I’m looking for in English and I’ve turned to Spanish and a whole new world has opened up (or vice versa). In terms of reading, there’s nothing like enjoying a novel or a poem in its original version instead of the translated one as something is always lost in translation.

3. Opportunities to study (& work) abroad — A lot of kids who have the opportunity to get a bilingual education have a much easier time going to study abroad and continue to practice and expand their second language. Many times, this also translated into the opportunity to work abroad, which opens a whole new set of opportunities.

4. Easier to learn additional languages — I’m convinced that since I was educated in two languages, adding a third one came fairly easy. The school I went to believed so much this was true, that we were introduced to a third language of our choice by the time we were in fifth grade.

5. More professional opportunities — Being schooled in both English and Spanish is the one and only reason I’ve been able to have a successful career as a journalist in both the English and the Spanish media. Being bilingual has given me a lot more professional options as well as a higher salary.

Notice that none of the benefits on this list include all of the cognitive and health benefits of being bilingual. Taking all this into consideration, it’s impossible to argue that speaking two languages is not a huge advantage in today’s society.

{Image via woodleywonderworks}

Disclosure: This sponsored post is part of Univision’s Education Week and the Es El Momento campaign. As always, all opinions are my own.

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 embarked on the bilingual journey, the initial spark came not from the brain, but from the heart.

The heart of a parent who so desperately needs to feel constantly connected to her child. The heart of a parent who always wants what is best for her child. The heart of a parent who wants to see himself reflected in his child.

For many bilingual households, language is the bridge to the essence of who we are and to the heart of our heritage. In my case, there is no better way for our girl to understand and love where we come from than by experiencing it for herself through our food, customs, family and the language which binds us to all of that: español.

We are now part of a growing segment of the population which has decided to go against the monolingual norm—and even social oppression—to give our children the gift of a second (or more) language, a connection to our heritage and an open door to explore diverse cultures.
The main reasons why we choose to raise bilingual children are usually more personal than not, but all those studies help back up our efforts. If we were just looking to improve our children’s cognitive development, we could easily teach them a musical instrument or sign them up to play on a sports team, but the reasons behind our choice to raise bilinguals usually go beyond simple rationale into the personal and emotional realms.

Photo by: fiskfisk

Editor’s note: During the next few weeks, we’re going to be doing things a bit differently here as Ana and I concentrate in meeting the deadline for the forthcoming SpanglishBaby book. We hope you bear with us.

Because we’ve been around for almost three years (wow! when did that happen?), this week we’ll be sharing some classic posts from when it all got started. This post was originally published on January 3, 2011.

Last week, Chelsea Kyle shared on our Facebook page an excellent opinion piece by New York Times columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof, titled Primero Hay Que Aprender Español. Ranhou Zai Xue Zhongwen (First learn Spanish. Then study Chinese.) The point he cleverly, and even bravely, makes is that even though Chinese is growing in popularity as the language of choice for parents who want to give their children an educational advantage, Spanish is the language every child in the United States needs to learn. Kristof states:

Look, I’m a fervent believer in more American kids learning Chinese. But the language that will be essential for Americans and has far more day-to-day applications is Spanish. Every child in the United States should learn Spanish, beginning in elementary school; Chinese makes a terrific addition to Spanish, but not a substitute.

In recent years, the Mandarin language has acquired a level of prestige for over-achieving and competitive parents who want their children to be able to fairly compete in our 21st Century’s business world.  However, the argument is made that the real social and economic advantage in today’s world comes from knowing how to communicate en español.

The reasons are very clear:

1.  Spanish is the second most-spoken language in the United States. In fact, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureaunumbers, 34 million people in the U.S. speak Spanish at home, making this the country with the second largest population of Spanish-speakers in the world.  That’s ahead of Spain and following only México. Think about that a second or two.  You would allow your child to grow up, say in Argentina, and not teach him the native language?  We have more Spanish speakers here than they do in any of the countries in Latin America, except for one!  A child that does not speak Spanish is at a disadvantage when it comes to engaging in many of the day-to-day activities and interactions that make up the thread of this nation.

2.  U.S.–Latin American relations are increasingly more closely knit. Barriers have blurred and, no matter how high the walls we try to build, we live a co-dependent existence with our neighbors across the border.  The NYT columnist points out that the economies in the Latin American region were some of the few which nicely survived the economic crisis.  We are more and more doing business together, as well as traveling back and forth as Latin America becomes highly attractive in every sense.  Our children will most likely encounter many career, business and lifestyle opportunities south of the border, and speaking Spanish will be essential.

3.  Spanish is becoming the language of business in the United States. No matter which career you choose nowadays, you will likely encounter a need to speak in Spanish in the U.S.  Not only is it usable in daily interactions, but also to expand business and reach a wider net of the population.

4. Spanish is an “easy” language to learn and get exposed to in daily American life. Kristoff argues that although it is important to learn Chinese, it is pretty much a career to do so because of the complexities of the verbal and written language. Spanish, on the other hand, is easy to grasp, practice and put to use in every day life.  There are many opportunities to engage in it, to find peers to practice with, to inexpensively travel to immerse yourself in it and to feel an immediate sense of accomplishment by using it often.

I really hope there comes a day when it will be absurd to write a post listing reasons, as if convincing people, about the need to learn Spanish at an early age.  I know that if you are reading this you probably have more personal reasons–such as heritage, family connections, academic benefits, etc–to teach your child Spanish.  I hope this article serves to reinforce your decision and as a document to share with those who are hesitant to make the sacrifices necessary to guarantee a bilingual education for their children.

The benefits are just so clear.  We’ve written about it many times in the past:

• Why Raise Bilingual Children
• Yes, It Is A Great Idea To Raise Them Bilingually
• A Closer Look At Why Raise Bilingual Kids

Tell us, what are your reasons for teaching your child Spanish?

Encuentra este y más de nuestros artículos favoritos en español en el blog Mamás Latinas: Hijos Bilingües de Discovery Familia.