I haven’t written in a while simply because I haven’t given myself any time to do so. No other excuse necessary, just stating a fact. It has come to my attention that I haven’t given myself time to do much of what I should be doing. For instance, today I realized that, although a safe and amazing place to raise a child, my little bubble may be too restricting for my kids’ developing minds. I don’t mean academically…I mean culturally. As much as I try to speak to my kids in Spanish and teach them about the world around us through books, I honestly don’t think it’s enough and I need to find time to change that. Granted, I have no teaching experience, do not (at times) have the required patience and have no idea what I am doing most of the time, I still thought we were on the right track…until today. One of my kids told me not to speak in Spanish because it is “not our language”. I was shocked (to say the least). I asked him to explain to me what he meant and he pretty much said that we speak English in the U.S. I KNOW that this is something he heard in school. As much as I hate to admit it, this is not the first inappropriate remark I have heard in the school from other kids (more on that later).
I tried to explained to him (in my shaky voice as I tried to sound calm and collected) that:
- Spanish IS our language because it is my family’s language, my first language, and it has been a part of his life ALL of his life.
- It is wrong to shut the door on learning new things because those in your bubble don’t want to learn about it as well. Never stop learning about the world and those in it. The world is big and beautiful place.
- You NEVER act like you are better than anyone else. No matter what language someone speaks, how they look, what they wear, where they are from or what they believe, we are all one. We are all equal and we are all beautiful. Yes, there are bad people in all parts of the world, but we always look for the kindness and share our world with kindness. Stick with the good people and the world will be a better place.
Not sure how much of what I tried to explain sank in or if he even knew why his comment made me sad. He is little, the world is still very unknown. He was apologetic and very sweet as always. I know he has a good heart and he cares and loves unconditionally. He is my old soul and I love him so. This is why I need to find new ways to teach him about the world. I need to burst our bubble and let the learning flow freely.
I found this article by a fellow Multicultural blogger that I need to incorporate into our world some how. It is called Interfaith Activities for Children. It is more about learning from and accepting other faiths, but the same idea could be applied to experiencing other languages and fun activities (I think). I am looking for ideas that we can realistically do in the time we have. Do you have any? I’d love to hear how you teach your littles to love and be eager to learn about the world. TIA
Bilinguazo 