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Where to Start?

We’re celebrating our first anniversary this week with lots of new features and awesome giveaways. We know many of you have been following us from the beginning—and for that, we are extremely grateful—but for some, SpanglishBaby is a recent discovery. Regardless of which category best describes you, it’s never a bad idea to get a refresher on some of the great content we’ve covered since inception—after all, it has been a whole 12 months!

If you’re brand new here, I suggest you start with the following general articles related to raising bilingual + bicultural children. These articles contain the kind of background information you’ll need if you’re just getting started:

• Why Raise Bilingual Children and Even More Reasons to Raise Bilingual Kids: The Latest Studies and Yes, it is a Great Idea to Raise Them Bilingual
• Away with the Myths and 3 Common Myths Debunked by a Speech Therapist
• Two Languages, Many Methods
• The Mistakes we Make
• Is There Such a Thing as a Critical Period for Language Learning
• Top 10 Books for Parents Raising Bilingual Children

For tips on how to successfully raise bilingual kids and ideas on how to deal with some of the most common issues/problems related to bilingualism, you can read the following:

• Five Ways to Boost the Minority Language Outside the Home
• Are Playgroups Really that Important
• Simple Tips for when Your Child Refuses to Use the Minority Language
• How to Create a Perceived Need for the Minority Language
• 5 Ways to Enrich Your Child’s Vocabulary
• How to Turn any Event into a Learning Opportunity

We’ve spent a lot of time writing about bilingual education and we’re happy to say we’ve learned a lot along the way. Now you can too:

• Bilingual Education: A Definition
• What are Dual Language Immersion Programs
• Foreign Language Academies of Glendale: A Dual Immersion Case Study
• What if There are No Dual Immersion Programs in Your City?
• Useful Links to Resources: Bilingual Education
• Full Immersion Language Schools: An Explanation

We also spent a whole week writing about the most popular method used by those raising bilingual children, the OPOL method or the One Parent/One Language method:

• An In-depth Look at the Most Popular Method of Raising Bilingual Kids
• Why this is the Way to Go if You’re Raising a Bilingual Child
• Why and How this Method Works for Our Family
• Useful Links: OPOL Method

Finally, we’ve had the opportunity to interview some awesome role models who are poniendo su granito de arena in this great journey of raising bilingual kids. Check them out:

• Jorge Ramos…On Raising Bilingual Children
• Pat Mora: El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros
• Jeannette Kaplun and her Bicultural Family
• How Dora the Explorer was Born
• Alina Rosario: Los Niños en su Casa + Her Bilingual Family

Looks like a lot of reading, huh? The good thing is that now it’s all in one post which you can refer back to whenever you need. Come back tomorrow for  highlights of some of the questions we’ve gotten in our most popular category: Ask an Expert. And don’t forget to check out all of this week’s giveaways in celebration of our very first anniversary! (By the way, thanks for bearing with us while we worked out all the little issues with the new design and the different browsers.)

What would you like us to write about more? We’d love to know, so please leave us a comment!

Just a quick search on Etsy.com with the keyword “Navidad”  delivers pages full of beautiful hand-made objects reflecting the spirit en español. One of my favorites was this simple, yet elegantly gorgeous boxed set of ten cards with the phrase “Feliz Navidad” laser printed on the front.  When you open it you read:  “that means Merry Christmas in Spanish.”  The artist behind this Sweet Perversion Designs shop will also personalize the cards if you request it.  There’s only one set in stock right now ($16.00).  I would hurry to get it!

The oral tradition of villancicos, or Christmas carols, is a huge part of all Christmas celebrations along Latin America and Spain.  This book, Merry Navidad: Christmas Carols in Spanish and English, does a beautiful job at preserving 19 of these verses and translating them to English.  There’s also nine brief descriptions of how the holiday is celebrated in many countries including Perú, Chile, México, Puerto Rico and Argentina. ($12.23)

Of course Dora the Explorer wouldn´t miss out on the holiday celebrations! Dora´s Christmas is a CD with 16 classic holiday songs with a Dora/Latino twist. If your young child is a Dora fan, this is a great CD to introduce them to the songs which make our Navidad celebrations special. Our favorite song is “La Nochebuena!” ($10.99)

Part of the Putumayo Kids Presents collection, the Christmas Around the World CD is a collection of Christmas songs performed by artists from around the globe. The 12 songs in this CD are sure to give an eclectic mix to your holiday playlist. I had never danced to “Joy to the World” before, but this version from Cuban musicians sure got me salsa-ing to it!

Photo by A30 Tsitsika

Many Latin American nations celebrate both Noche Buena and, two weeks later, Reyes Magos. One of the traditions on Reyes Magos is to eat together a sweet bread know as Rosca de Reyes. The fun part is that someone will get a little plastic baby Jesus in their portion, which means they get to have the whole family over to their house weeks later on el Día de la Candelaria for tamales and atole. I´ve stood in long lines in Mexican bakeries in Los Angeles waiting to get my hands on one of these roscas. Now, I found I can actually order one online. How convenient! I found them here and here.

Kids are all about “mine, mine,” so anything with their name on it is sure to be a hit. Frecklebox is in the business of creating cool designs on puzzles, placemats, stickers, coloring books, etc that you can personalize with your child’s name. They have several holiday-themed objects, including this hanukkah puzzle and snow stickers.

Why should we create another guide when our friends at Latin Baby have it covered with the Latino Family Gift Guide? They’ve put together a great collection of gifts for la familia, los niños, los amigos, and a separate category for gifts under $20. They´ve included today´s hottest bilingual and affordable toy line, Ingenio. Check out the guide here.

Tis the season to give. Donor´s Choose is a great option if you´re looking for a charity to support this season. This site connects you to classrooms around the nation that are in need of funds for different reasons. We know how much our classrooms have suffered during the last years and this is a great way to support the efforts of teachers leading the way to educate our children. Browse around the site and you´ll find several bilingual classrooms in need of books and such. The best part is that you really do connect with the classroom you help and can see for yourself how your donation was put to use.