Educating the Teachers of our Children on Bilingual Fun

What an amazing morning! As usual, the nerves began to set in as I began to pack up the car and put on my Boca Beth outfit. I had been invited to be the keynote speaker for a wonderful group of 140 home care providers in Pinellas County ... celebrating what they do to mold the young children of today. Each attendee was receiving in their "goody bag" all three of my bilingual music CDs, BOCA the puppet, our cute musical shakers and more! It was like Christmas three weeks early!

It never ceases to amaze me, even after doing workshops and keynotes on this topic of bilingual fun for young children for over 4 years, how much people still do not realize the many benefits derived from bringing bilingual fun into their children's lives. What do I mean by "language fun" and how much is enough are the two most common questions I get.

Language fun is when you have two languages (the child's native language and the new target one) presented side-by-side with music, dance, coloring, singing, books and lots of smiles/sonrisas! Then how much is enough comes from thousands of children using our bilingual fun products over the past 4+ years and listening to what their moms, teachers, grandparents, caregivers have told us: 10 minutes a day with the babies, 20 minutes daily of bilingual fun for toddlers, 30 minutes each day for the preschoolers and VPK children and then about 45 minutes for those elementary aged children. All of those time frames are very reasonable and easy when you think of time in the car, playtime, homework time for giving this gift of language fun.

Most of the people listening to me speak last Friday had never even heard of me, Boca Beth, and I would venture to say few had even thought about doing some Spanish and English fun in their homes for the young children they care for. By the end of my "50 minutes of fame" I can proudly say that I touched many of these women (though there were a few token men in the room!) - I made them laugh, I made them dance, I made them sing & play just like a young child and most importantly I made them realize how much they are appreciated.

I began to tear up as I shared with them the story of my daughter who at the tender age of only two had shut down in a preschool setting and would not speak for the entire 6 hours she spent at our local preschool. I was then told about a terrific group of home care providers in our Tampa Bay Area, I was introduced to several of these providers, had informal interviews with a couple of them and knew that we had found a home (truly, a home) for our daughter. She flourished and came into her own under the loving guidance and care of a very special home care provider with whom I still stay in touch even though our little one is now in 1st grade!

You see, I connected with these 140 women last Friday as I shared my stories (oh, the stories!!!), my passion for bringing two languages into a child's life between birth and age five and my commitment to make that happen for all who want to listen and learn from me. I make it fun! I make it unforgettable! I make it real! Knowing that if they don't buy into it by the time I say "Adios/Bye" then I did not impact the communication of our young children.

It's going to happen . . . our country is at some point no longer going to be viewed as the country that does not teach their very young children second and third languages. It's a disgrace that so many European and Latin American countries continue to give the gift of many languages to their young children while their brains are ripe for the learning - before the age of eight - while here in the U.S. our educational system fails to give the gift of a second language to the youth of America.

Ours is a country that continues to become more & more global every day. How can we continue to turn our heads and say English is the only language our children will need to successfully travel this globe? Those of us with blinders off have accepted the fact that now is the time to look for realistic and workable options for bringing a fun and easy and affordable way of second language learning into our preschools and homeschools and homes where the minds of tomorrow are being formed.

We can make a difference! It's a choice! I only hope that as I continue to share my Boca Beth Program I continue to change the communication of our young children one song at a time.