bilingual education

Note: Up until now we never wrote on this blog or our Facebook change who our candidate was or which party we endorsed because this site is not about politics. But now that the election is over, I have many thoughts I want to share. Thanks for this space. We always try to stay away from politics in SpanglishBaby, but it’s unavoidable to talk about the most important event in our recent history: the reelection of our first African-American President,Read More ...

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 prettyRead More ...

Yesterday was the first day of the 2012 “Education Nation” National Summit, taking place from Sept. 23-25 in New York City. The three-day event – which draws more than 300 of the country’s thought leaders in education, government, business, philanthropy and media, is focusing on successful examples of innovation in education, including bilingual education. Summit sessions, moderated by top NBC News journalists, and NBC’s on-air programming will highlight a series of case studies from communities across the country, providing toolsRead More ...

I heard this really interesting story on NPR the other day about Macon, Georgia public schools which are now becoming Mandarin immersion programs. While I thought this was a cool idea, I was shocked by some of the community reactions. There was anxiety on the part of some parents due to the fact that the Chinese instructors were being funded by local nonprofits backed by the Chinese government. NPR reported that, “Some parents see a Communist regime enacting its geopolitical agenda onRead More ...

Special thanks to Terri on Facebook for sharing this video with us. The 4-minute video takes us into the lives of a family that has made the decision to enroll their twins into a dual immersion program in San Rafael Elementary in Pasadena, CA. The beauty of the story is that the parents don’t speak Spanish, yet recognize the importance of a bilingual upbringing for their kids. The girl, Abby, and her twin brother are in second grade and youRead More ...