Friday, August 8, 2008

Joys and Challenges of Raising Bilingual Children


As an educator and business owner, I am always motivated and so impressed by my young student's enthusiasm for learning. Whether it is a 2 year old in my Bilingual Toddlers class, or a 9 year old in my Bilingual Big Kids class, their ability to absorb the language never ceases to amaze me. Of course my customers and students are willing participants in the language learning process because they have expressed an interest and desire to learn Spanish. I love working with these amazing learners!

Now for my role as the bilingual mom.... some days I just want to say ( in the words of my 3 year old) " Ay Chihuahua!". My husband and I have made the decision to raise our children in a bilingual household and Spanish/English has been a part of my children's lives since they were born. We are fortunate to travel to Spanish speaking countries and to have family that we can communicate with and practice. Additionally we have certain times of the day that we have ' Spanish only', which encourages our children to communicate and to keep their language skills alive. Of course with young children, things must always be focused on fun and relevancy in their lives.

My daughter embraces the language and her ability to understand and communicate. She is always a willing participant in our conversations and she enjoys communicating other Spanish speakers. My son ( el tremendo) continues to challenge us. We understand learning styles are different, so we have found the best way for my 3 year old to communicate in Spanish is if we are playing Super Heroes. I have made up some fantastic stories about Martian Manhunter, Wonder Women and Aqua Man in recent weeks! His currrent favorite game is to hide Spanish language bean bags all over the house and put a Super Hero figure underneath. We have to search for the color and then guess who is hiding ( all in the Spanish). Muy divertido!

Both in my classes and with my own chldren, I look forward to finding creative and stimulating ways to encourage the language learning.

I think a trip to Mexico is on the horizon for us......

3 comments:

Diane said...

I wonder if it's the age! I've been speaking French with my boys. The 5 year old is going to town, but my 3 year old is putting up some resistance. I'll try the superheros. Great idea!
Diane from foreignlanguagefun.com

Tati said...

It's so fun to hear about your experience teaching your children Spanish. I am teaching my 2 girls. It is hard work, but it is worth it! I wish we could travel more to Spanish speaking countries.

www.teachinggenerations.blogspot.com

Diane said...

Hola! Thanks for stopping by my Foreign Language Fun blog. When I clicked the link, I was surprised to find out that you're from my neck of the woods. I live in metro Detroit.