bilingual education

They say that once you learn to ride a bicycle, you never forget – but is it true? Do we actually retain all skills and knowledge once learned? The truth is a skill usually must be consistently practiced or it can be lost, at least partially. This is especially evident in school children who go on summer break. At the start of each school year, precious weeks are wasted in the classroom as teachers try to get the children backRead More ...

I went to a British school back in Peru where I was taught the majority of my courses in English. The school has been around for a very long time (1938) and even my mother and her sisters went there when they were little. It has a great reputation and it’s undoubtedly responsible for my being bilingual since it was there where I learned English in a formal setting. When I attended the school in the 1980s, there used toRead More ...

Anyone that gets to know my little girl will notice that she is very observant. Yes, even at the tender age of eleven months the girl soaks up her surroundings before taking the plunge to interact. To watch her reactions on our first family vacation was, as cliché as this may sound, priceless! There are numerous stories about my time in Miami that replay in my mind each time I am about to visit the vibrant, colorful, Latino city! TheRead More ...

Joining a Spanish speaking playgroup is a great support for raising bilingual children.  Soon after my first son was born, I joined my Spanish speaking playgroup, and through our participation, I have really seen the value in the Spanish development of both my sons.  More than anything else, the group has also been a lot of fun for all of us. The educational benefits to joining a playgroup were obvious for me.  Having a group of friends that know SpanishRead More ...

Editor’s note: This is Part 3 in a continuing series by Amy Conroy. To read the first two parts, go here. I would like to revisit one of the golden truths I’ve learned, Point C: our children are our best allies, our most gracious and charming ambassadors (when they’re not throwing berrinches or acting like super-ninjas in the local supermarket).  What I mean by this is that my experience right now would not be as rich without my children. TheRead More ...