Although the blog is titled Pasadena Latina a part of my being is in Oregon; my daughter and her family live Portland. We are lucky that a part of their family life includes trips to Pasadena.
They'll be visiting in August. We'll take them around parts of Pasadena so that they can have memories of the place where Nana and Dziadziu live. They'll visit Kidspace, the arroyo, and the Armory. I suspect given the heat of August they will also visit La Pintoresca; the water park portion is just great on a hot day.
The girls are comfortable in both states. And they are comfortable in speaking and understanding two languages. Lili finished her first year in a dual immersion class. Both girls earliest caregivers spoke Spanish to them. They are bilingual and they will have more choices because of that skill.
On Monday Latino Heritage's Hablo y canto summer camp will begin. Children who are in households where English is the dominant language will get a chance to spend 3 hours a day immersed in Spanish; having fun, learning rhymes, singing songs, playing outside.
The program has been developed by Latino Heritage, but DayOne, Mother's Club and All Saints Episcopal Church have provided referrals and resources that have allowed our pilot program to take place this summer. We owe them a great deal of thanks.
Learning more than one language is a skill that comes easily to children. PUSD now has dual immersion classes (Mandarin & Spanish) and I understand that the district may be developing a seal acknowledging biliteracy on high school diplomas. Soon, we will have more children who are like Cheli and Lili who can have fun and share their thoughts in at least two languages. Their view of the world might allow them to be more open to a variety of experiences and people. That is a good thing in any language.
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