Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Kids Spanish 101

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There are some things in my life that have been BURNED into my mind  from the past.

Some things that affected ME so much that I am DETERMINED to make it different with MY CHILDREN.

One of those things is NOT BEING BI-LINGUAL.

There was a time when Jay and I were living in Costa Rica(the 1st time)and we were sitting around a table of travelers.

They were from everywhere:England,New Zealand, Germany, Brazil.

As I sat there listening to them ALL speak Spanish AND their native language, It was a real EYE-OPENER for me.

To be honest…they all spoke at least 3 language…FLUENTLY.

I was STUNNED and SHAMED that in AMERICA, the land of ALL PEOPLE, we were only taught OUR LANGUAGE.

As if it were the ONLY LANGUAGE.

I know, I know…we have Spanish and German as an ELECTIVE in High School.

BUT---We are not STUDYING THESE LANGUAGES for fluency.

We are not studying these languages from a YOUNG AGE.

In Texas we studied CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH in HS …mostly to communicate with the people around us.

But not for real fluency.

I sat there and was SAD and MAD all at the same time.

I decided right there…when we had NO KIDS, that my children would NEVER sit around THAT table again.

I never wanted them to feel THAT WAY.

BEHIND, NOT AS SMART, AT A DISADVANTAGE.

I felt all those and more sitting at that table.

Sooooo……………..

Because of that experience I decided to make a change.

This summer we started KIDS SPANISH 101 with my friend Senorita Shawna.

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It was awesome.

She taught them to introduce themselves and greetings and then she taught them colors.

After class we had a SPANISH LUNCH.

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We will be alternating btwn Spanish and art this summer.

I love SECRET SUMMER SCHOOL!!!

ARRIBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This brought a tear to my eye. You are sooo sweet and an awesome mother!

Grandma said...

You are so smart, mommy!!!

Anonymous said...

Do you have a blog from when you lived in Costa Rica?