Bilingual Readers

I love finding out about new resources and sites to enhance my family's and students' bilingual literacy. I learned about this site from Latin Baby Book Club ( another fantastic bilingual literary resource) and it looks great!


Bilingual Readers is a brand new publishing company providing bilingual resources for families and communities. The resources, links, and articles are full of great information that will help to teach your children Spanish. Check out the Kids links for some great ideas and sites that support early language education.

Visit Spanglishbaby this week for some great product giveaways that will add some spice to your bilingual life!

Global Wonder's New CD

My famiy and I had the pleasure of listening to the new Global Wonders Around the World Music CD. We loved it! It is full of vibrant songs that take you on a cross cultural listening journey. The Irish and Cuban tunes were some of our favorites. It has consistently been the most requested CD when we hop in our car everyday! Global Wonders has created another top notch product, along with their dynamic DVD series, for exposing children to different cultures. Created by a mom of 2 young children, Global Wonders is a fabulous teaching tool! For more information, check out Global Wonders.

CINCO DE MAYO

CINCO DE MAYO

You may have seen the marketing hype about CINCO DE MAYO, but do you really know what it is celebrating? Many Americans think it is Mexican's Independance Day, but that is actually September 16. CINCO DE MAYO is the commemoration of the 1862 defeat of the French troops at the Battle of Puebla. Take this fun quiz and test your trivia knowledge of Mexican songs.

Vocabulary reinforcement for CINCO DE MAYO:

Colors of the Mexican flag- rojo, blanco,verde
Flag- la bandera
Battle- la batalla
Music- la música
Party- fiesta
Celebration- la celebración
Hat- el sombrero
Food- la comida

CINCO DE MAYO Activities for Kids

Coloring Pages

Mexican Culture Word Search

Mexican Craft & Activities

Bilingual Books/ Libros bilingues

Reading is so important in the development of young children. Those of us raising bilingual children should always be expanding our library of Spanish language and bilingual books. Reading is an excellent way to teach Spanish to your children. Books offer a fun, easy way to learn Spanish together. I love getting the fantastic recommendations from Monica at
Latin Baby Book Club. If you haven't signed up, do it today! You and your children will love the books that she highlights.

One of my favorite authors, Pat Mora has a new blog as well, Bookjoy!. She an award winning poet and author of books for children, young adults and adults. Check out her new title Book Fiesta.




Allowing children to hear the language in rich text and illustrations is such a gift and benefit for their bilingual development. Celebrate today with your children and grab a libro! A Leer!

Learning Spanish Here and There, Learning Spanish Everywhere!

We had a great trip and luckily returned without the swine flu drama that is sweeping the world. I pride myself on being the 'hand sanitizer queen', so my family was fairly safe while we had our Latin American getaway. My husband and I enjoyed a restful vacation, and my children spent precious time with Abuelita and practiced their Spanish. It was a pleasure to see our kids having practical experience using their skills and being immersed in the Spanish speaking culture.

One of our favorite experiences was a day trip we took in which we were the only American family on board El Barco Pirata! My daughter quickly made friends with the Mexican children and spent the day playing and interacting with her new Spanish speaking friends. This was a fabulous experience for her in that the learning was in a natural environment and she saw how her bilingual skills came in handy. Our shy son met a shy little mexicana, and they played silently together in the sand. Although there was little communication, our son too enjoyed his new playmate.

We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel, however my husband and I continually seek cultural events and opportunities to expose our children to Spanish here at home. We just spent the day at a beautiful celebration of El Día de Los Niños at the local library, listening to Cuban jazz and watching Ballet Folklórico. We love finding great opportunities to continue to teach our children Spanish and expose them to their Hispanic culture. Whether it be abroad with Mexican children, or in our own kitchen chatting about what we are preparing for dinner, my husband and I are intentional about giving our kids the chance to enhance their language development and learn more Spanish.

Travel & Spanish Fun for Kids!

In preparation for our annual family trip to Mexico, my children and I have been talking about what we will do, who we will see, and where Mexico is located. In trying to raise children that have a global awareness, my husband and I always have a globe or map handy to point out different countries, the languages they speak, and any fact we happen to know about that country. Our daughter is mesmorized by maps and loves to see the route that our plane will travel when we go on vacation with Abuelita. We have been pulling out old pictures from albums to help my younger son familiarize himself with the place we are going and the things we will do. Although our trip to Mexico is most definitely a vacation and a rest for us, we love to intergrate ourselves with the culture, hang out with local families, play with local children, frequent neighborhood restaurants, and connect with the community. With all of the Spanish practice we do at home and all of the 'horas de espanol', traveling to Mexico helps my children make a connection to their heritage and communicate with children their own age, and have fun learning more Spanish! I am also looking forward to a few evenings of babysitting from Abuelita! :)

I have found this site, Travel for Kids: Mexico to be a great asset for tips and recommendation for traveling with children.

A great book that we like that highlights many of the traditional Mexican customes and tourist spots is Off We Go to Mexico! By Laurie Krebs, Christopher Corr