español

I hate to use the word “mistakes” because I think the journey can be difficult enough without adding any more pressure. Mostly I just wanted to compile a list of some of the things that parents have been known to do which have hindered the process of raising a bilingual child. They’re really meant more as reference than as a list of “thou shalt not” dos. While I was researching this topic, ...

Last year, after my daughter Vanessa turned two, I enrolled her in a Parent’s Day Out (PDO) program at our local church. She goes once a week for 4 hours and seems to get a kick out of it. During orientation, we made sure her teachers were aware that, up to that point in her life, she had been exposed only to Spanish with very few exceptions here and there–we live in Colorado, after all. The first day of theRead More ...

Every year toy manufacturers from all over the globe get together to unveil the newest and coolest playthings during  the American International Toy Fair held in New York City. It’s that time of the year, and as I sit here writing this, the fair is well underway. Although it’s not open to the public, SpanglishBaby got a sneak peak at the hottest bilingual toys that will be released this year. First, let me warn you: there’s not that many, butRead More ...

The Storyteller's Candle" is a book about New York City's first Latina librarian, a puertorrican named Pura Belpré, who was a gifted storyteller back in the late 1920s. Belpré's story is told through the eyes of two cousins, Hildamar and Santiago, who recently moved from Puerto Rico to NYC and are wondering how they're going to celebrate El Día de los Reyes or Three Kings' Day now that they live so far away from the island. In comes Belpré, who pays Hildamar's class a visit, and tells the children about the public library and how it belongs to everyone - no matter what language they speak. And, best of all, she let's them know about the library's Three Kings Day celebration!  ...

Basically, every expert on the subject agrees that if you want your child to learn a new  language, just exposing them to “educational” media in that language won’t-on its own-increase their chances of learning it. For maximum language absorption, children need to be actively involved with caregivers, family and/or friends who verbally interact with them through play and daily activities. ...