Raising children to be bilingual is a rather daunting task. I think anyone who has been on this journey has felt overwhelmed and not up to the task at one point or another. This is why it’s so important to use all of the resources available to us and one of the most important resources is the community.
If you are on a journey to raise your children bilingually, then you know how much work it actually entails. And if you’re just beginning, I am by no means trying to dissuade you or trying to bring you down! The work and effort is totally worth it and fortunately, there are high-quality programs, books, games and ideas that will help you on this journey.
2 cousins, 2 pregnant bellies, 3 children and a whole lot of fun (or is disaster the word I am looking for?) Sounds like the makings of a silly joke, right? Well, no joke! It has been our lives for the past 4 months and it has turned out to be a wonderful experiment in co-parenting, co-working, learning English and learning Spanish.
As a former high school Spanish teacher, bilingual parent, and now preschool teacher in a bilingual classroom, I brought a lot of my experience from the field, but I had no idea how to make it into a tangible “something.”
Kid’s have one job to do: Play. It’s the most important thing they do in order to learn and develop. Many of us adults underestimate the value of it. When kid’s play they learn to foster relationships, get along with each other, settle disputes, self-regulate, problem solve, use their imaginations, and of course, they are learning language.
We have all heard how kids are brilliant at learning new languages. Their brains are wired to do just so and the earlier they learn a new language, the greater the likelihood they will achieve native status in it. But if it’s so easy for them to learn, then why don’t more children speak multiple languages? Why do so many second and third generation children of immigrants not speak the native language of their parents?
